THE vote of an individual independent councillor has helped to shape the power structure of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

With Eston Independent Ann Higgins only voting in the selection process of the mayor, where she supported the Labour Group candidate Cllr Brenda Forster, she effectively handed over control of the authority to Labour.

Control of the authority was finely balanced before this morning's (Thursday, May 28) annual general meeting of the council with Labour falling one short of the 30 seats needed for overall control of the authority in this month's election.

A third recount was needed to separate the candidates in the Skelton ward with the Labour group requiring all three seats to secure an overall majority. They fell three votes short of the third seat and an overall majority.

As result of the recount, Labour secured 29 seats, Liberal Democrats 11, Conservative ten, Independent eight and UKIP the remaining one of the 59 seats up for election.

During today's meeting at Redcar's community heart, Cllr Forster was elected as Mayor by 30 votes to 29, when Cllr Higgins supported the Labour group's proposal.

Cllr Higgins then abstained from all further votes - including for the leader - which were tied at 29-29.

This ensured Labour’s proposals went through on the new mayor’s casting vote.

The result means Labour’s Sue Jeffrey is now the new council leader - after defeating Tory group leader Valerie Halton.

Cllr Jeffrey said that under her leadership, Labour would “work with the people of Redcar and Cleveland”.

She said: “We will listen to you wherever we can, we will build our policies from the bottom up.

“Strong communities make better places and they make people more resilient.”

And she offered opposition members an olive branch by promising to be more inclusive and work more closely with them for the good of the borough's residents.

In a statement after the meeting, Cllr Higgins said: “Having worked alongside members on both sides of the council chamber, I have had to make the difficult decision on who I thought would carry out their role with the utmost integrity and drive for success.

“I look forward to embarking on a new journey of progress to help drive positive change for people in all the communities across our borough.

“As we all know, an AGM, as the name implies, is an annual event.”

Conservative group leader Valerie Halton was not impressed with Cllr Higgins' decision.

She said: "I am extremely disappointed not to have been elected leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, on what was in effect the one vote of Eston Independent, Ann Higgins.

"After the meeting I witnessed her in deep discussion with the Labour Leader, she had just elected, and other Labour councillors.

"She voted for Labour to run the Council, having regularly castigated them for not supporting Eston Residents Association on the ERA web site."