Opposition councillors say they will be watching closely after Conservative and Labour leaders on North Yorkshire Council denied a deal had been struck between the groups.
Rumours are circulating at County Hall in Northallerton that the Labour group had agreed to help the Conservatives after their group lost its majority on the authority.
It has been claimed that Labour has agreed to abstain on future votes in return for one of their councillors being appointed vice-chair of the authority and another becoming the chair of a committee.
The rumours have, however, been denied by both Conservative and Labour group leaders.
Council leader and leader of the Conservative and Independents group, Councillor Carl Les, said: “There is no deal with Labour or anybody else.
“Indeed, even if I offered a deal to Labour their party rules prohibit it.”
Cllr Les said he often reached out to other political groups “concerning the efficient and effective political running of the council” and had done so after the departure of Councillor John Mann, which meant his group no longer had the majority.
He added: “It seems right to me that now having no overall majority, we should consider the chairs of committees and council.
“Such changes will be proposed and debated and voted on around the time of the next council meeting, when we will be setting our budget for the coming year.”
Cllr Les said he looked forward to suggestions from opposition councillors on how the authority could fill its budget gap which he said was “a more relevant issue for the residents we serve”.
Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright, leader of the Labour group, also dimissed claims a deal had been done.
“As a group, we operate within Labour Party standing orders. The Labour group can’t, and won’t, form any agreement to keep the Tories in power.
“Neither would we form a Rainbow coalition with other opposition groups, again not permitted under our standing orders.
“We will, as ever, work in the best interests of our constituents, communities and lastly the party.”
The rumours were voiced publicly by the leader of the Reform group, Councillor Tom Seston, who posted the claims on social media.
He said he had been told by several councillors a deal had been discussed at a meeting of Conservative members before Christmas.
The councillor suggested the talk of a deal could lead to further Conservative councillors joining his party in the future following the defection of Councillor Karl Arthur in October.
He added: “This deal has not gone down well with the Conservative rank and file and there are a couple of people that I’ll be sitting down and having a beer with.
“I’ll leave it as that for now as nothing is confirmed yet, but they are exceedingly furious.
“From a Reform point of view, this has written all our (election) leaflets for us.”
Councillor Kevin Foster, leader of the Green and Independents group, said he had also heard rumours of a deal.
He added: “There was a conversation about what happens now they’ve lost their majority and what that means with regards to chairs of committees and other things.
“But I’ve been offered nothing and we’ll be watching closely to see if there’s deals that have been done.”
Councillor Peter Lacey, leader of the Liberal Democrats and Liberal group, said he had discussed the loss of the majority with Cllr Les but had not been offered any deals.
“Whilst rumours about deals abound, Lib Dems are focused on being a constructive opposition and will continue to work hard to present solutions that address the lost opportunities for positive and sustainable change in the context of the challenges we face.”
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