Council with no leader faces government takeover

Government commissioners could be brought in to run a leaderless council, after councillors once again failed to form an administration.

Members of Oldham Council held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday evening to resolve the stalemate of no political party having an overall majority.

The authority's chief executive is now advising the government of the situation, which came about after Labour lost eight seats and Reform UK took seven in the elections in May, leaving no party with an overall majority.

An Oldham Council spokesperson said: "As a result, the council's monitoring officer will write to the Secretary of State to formally advise of the situation."

The spokesperson said council services continued to operate as normal, and arrangements remained in place to ensure the council could fulfil its statutory responsibilities and continue delivering for residents, communities and partners across the borough.

"We will now await further correspondence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government," they said.

The latest meeting was called following a report by the council's top legal officer, Alex Bougatef, who said it was his legal duty to declare the local authority is breaking the law.

Presenting the report, Bougatef said the lack of anyone in charge raised serious concerns about decision-making, accountability, and effective governance.