Negotiations are underway on Cherwell District Council as it is anticipated that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens will work together to form a coalition.
The council swung from a Conservative majority to no overall control in the latest round of elections held last week.
This means that no party has enough seats to take over the running of the council.
READ MORE: Motorist arrested on suspicion of drug driving
16 seats or one third of the council were up for grabs on Thursday.
The Liberal Democrats and Labour both won five seats each, the Green party claimed two and one went to an independent candidate.
Green party councillor, Ian Middleton said: “We are still in negotiation but as far as I am aware the Oxfordshire Progressive group which consists of the Lib Dems, the Greens and the Independents will stick together which would give us a total of 14 seats on the council.”
He suggested that the Progressive group would then go into talks with the Labour party to form an overall majority.
No official announcement has been made yet on a collaboration between the Lib Dems, the Greens, the Independents and the Labour party.
Leader of the Labour group, Sean Woodcock, said: “We’ve not made any decisions or had any discussions on that.
“The priority up to Friday was winning as many seats as we could.
“Now there’s a position where no one party can run it on their own.
“Now the Coronation weekend is over, we'll see what our options are and then make a public announcement in due course.”
Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, David Hingley, said on Friday (May 4) after the election results were declared: “I think the results at Cherwell have gone really well today for the Liberal Democrats.
“It has been a terrible day for the Conservatives, they are down by quite a number of councillors.
“We are now looking forward to what comes next but a fantastic day for the liberal democrats both here and across the region.
“All the new councillors will be looking to meet as soon as possible to discuss what we think we might like to do.
“But we haven’t made any decisions yet so I can’t tell you any more at the moment.”
The leader of the Conservative party on Cherwell District Council, Barry Wood, confirmed that he was working on the assumption that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens would work together to form a coalition.
His party won just three seats in the elections.
Barry Wood said: “I anticipate that the Liberals, Greens and Labour, much as they have done in the other councils in Oxfordshire, will work together.
“At least I am currently working on that assumption.
“They will be in negotiation, and it will take them a few days to sort out what is happening.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here