What next for council Tory-Green-Lib Dem deal?

At approximately 11:00 BST on Thursday morning, Reform was kicked out of power at Worcestershire County Council and replaced by an elaborate Conservative-Green-Lib Dem-independent coalition.

Then followed the saga of trying to sort out cabinet titles, committee roles and all the other responsibilities that go with such a massive political shift.

But by 15:29 - with the ink barely dry on the paperwork - the whole deal was thrown into chaos when the national Conservative Party waded in, saying the deal did not have its permission and should not go ahead.

The message was said to have been approved by Kemi Badenoch, who was aghast at what local Tory councillors had done.

The BBC has been told that Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) has informed councillors it regards the arrangement as being "dissolved", with Worcestershire's Tory group leader councillor Adam Kent now suspended.

The big question now is: what on earth happens next?

The new rainbow-style cabinet currently includes four Tory councillors as well as two Lib Dems, two Greens and an independent.

Following the CCHQ intervention, the Conservative quartet with cabinet roles cannot go along with the power-sharing arrangement and remain in the party, so as it stands the council is in a state of unprecedented uncertainty.

Since Thursday, some politicians have asked the local authority if an emergency full council meeting needs to be held to thrash it all out - especially as the next planned cabinet meeting is just days away on 21 May.

The next full council meeting is not until July as it stands.

There are 57 county councillors, and for the past year it has been led by a minority Reform administration, which started off with 27 seats.

The party's ranks have slowly reduced down to 22, including one defection on Friday to a newly formed Worcestershire Independent Group, leaving the political balance of the council on an even more acute knife-edge.

Assuming the Conservatives emphatically bail out on the coalition, it would leave the new partnership with no more than 21 assumed votes, one short of the largest single party, Reform.

The magic number is 29 votes in order to get important stuff done at the full council, such as the crucial yearly vote on council tax.

However, if the hands "for" and "against" are tied at 22 each, the chair would hold the casting vote - and currently the chair is a Lib Dem.

That means any future defections at this stage could be crucial in deciding what the council's administration looks like post-summer.

No wonder the parties involved in the new deal are still angling with some hope that the pendulum could turn their way.

Reform councillor Rob Wharton, who was ousted as deputy council leader on Thursday, told the BBC within minutes of the vote that the coalition "just won't last".

"There's no chance whatsoever - they don't agree on stuff, it just won't work," he said.

Labour Councillor Richard Udall also insisted it had no chance of succeeding, and said he had serious concerns about the stability of the authority.

"It's an unholy coalition of people who hate one another - what we'll have is a cabinet that resembles a sack of ferrets fighting each other," he said.

"It will be complete and utter chaos. This is not the way to run Worcestershire."

People at the top of this alliance now hope further defections come their way, with some of them saying they expect it, given Reform's controversial leadership battle kicked this whole saga off.

Independent David Taylor, a former Reformer who quit the party on live TV, said on Friday he was hoping to recruit more into his group, with potentially a fifth member next week.

On that situation, Green councillor Matt Jenkins, the leader, said: "We may be getting other people joining us. These are interesting times at the council."

Lib Dem group leader Dan Boatright-Greene said the different parties had sat down and there had been "some very difficult conversations".

"That's why we landed on Matt Jenkins as the new leader - I do believe he's the right person for this job to bring the council forward," he said.

"I have no idea if it will work, but we've got to give it a go. Reform clearly won't hold it together if we put them back in power.

"If people aren't in positions [like the cabinet], the leader can appoint to any vacant positions, it's not like things at the council will just stop dead."

In the meantime, CCHQ is believed to have told the Conservatives they need a new Worcestershire group leader to replace the suspended Kent, as the story rumbles on.

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