Parties form group to run Oxfordshire County Council

(R-L) Liz Brighouse, Pete Sudbury and Liz Leffman will lead the new coalition

Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green councillors have formed an alliance to run Oxfordshire County Council.

The coalition was agreed after the local elections resulted in no party winning the 32-seat required majority.

The three party leaders said they have "put differences aside" to deliver shared policy objectives as the Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance.

Liz Leffman, leader of the Lib Dem group, was appointed the new leader of the council earlier.

Ms Leffman, councillor for Charlbury and Wychwood, was elected as her party's leader on Saturday after former leader Richard Webber stepped down.

Tory leader Eddie Reeves said the party had "more in common" with Labour in terms of policies

Following the election, the Lib Dems increased their share by eight to 21 seats, Labour won an additional seat bringing them to 15, and the Green Party won three seats.

The Conservatives were left with 22 seats after losing nine, but remained the largest party.

The Lib Dems and Labour held talks over a coalition last week and the Conservatives also proposed a deal to share power with Labour, but that idea failed to get off the ground.

In a joint statement, new Lib Dem leader Ms Leffman, Labour leader Liz Brighouse and Green leader Pete Sudbury said: "We have put party differences aside to develop a shared vision that is underpinned by the principles shared across our manifestos, with climate change and the environment at their heart.

"We look forward to delivering real and lasting change for the people of Oxfordshire."

Although Mr Webber was leader of the Lib Dems going into the local elections, he said regardless of the outcome of the talks he would step down and would not try to become leader of the council.

The councillor, who led the Oxfordshire group for seven years, was replaced by Ms Leffman after a leadership election

Ms Leffman has run her own business which provides quality control and manufacturing services to clothing companies since 1992. She is also the founder of a solar farm built near Charlbury in 2017.

She became a county councillor in 2017 and has previously stood as an MP candidate for the Lib Dems.

Among the Tory councillors who lost their seats was Ian Hudspeth, the county council's leader since 2012.

The county council is the upper-tier local authority which is responsible for running services such as libraries, schools and social care to the more than 680,000 people who live in Oxfordshire.