LABOUR suffered a "bloody nose" after it lost control of a North-East council in the wake of several high profile resignations.

The party did not select the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Councillor George Dunning, to fight for re-election in May along with several leading members of the Labour group.

Today (Thursday), the veteran Labour councillor relinquished his post ahead of a vote of no confidence tabled by the Liberal Democrats in the wake of his resignation from the party.

Cllr Dunning received a warm round of applause after making his resignation speech, although several of his former Labour colleagues failed to join in.

The former leader, who was in charge from 2007, praised colleagues, staff and his wife for their support over the years he was at the helm.

As a result of the resignation there was no requirement for the vote of no confidence, so two members were nominated for selection as the new leader - Labour’s Sue Jeffrey and the leader of the Independent Group, Mary Lanigan.

Cllr Jeffrey secured the support of the remaining Labour members who attended the full council meeting and received 15 votes.

Cllr Lanigan took the leadership with 31 votes, including the support of the former Labour members who were deselected by the party following an internal dispute with members of Labour’s Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Tom Blenkinsop and the party’s candidate for Redcar, Anna Turley.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Lanigan said: “The last several months have been very turbulent and not in the interests of the residents, therefore for the next 12 weeks, until the electorate decide who will lead the authority, we will take on this task jointly as a coalition.”

Councillor Josh Mason, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Redcar Constituency and Zetland Ward Borough Councillor, will be the Deputy Leader.

He added: “After months of Labour Party wrangling and backstabbing, it’s time to put our residents and communities back at the top of the Council’s agenda.”

Cllr Dunning said he believed it was the right thing for him to resign and says he is planning to stand as an Independent in the May elections.

“I just considered it was the right thing to do,” he said. “We didn’t want a bloodbath in there or the meeting to turn into a bun fight – it was a more dignified way to handle the situation.”

Cllr Jeffrey, leader of the council's Labour group, said: "George Dunning's resignation was inevitable given the events of the last week and his resignation from the Labour Party."

And Councillor Mark Hannon, who was one of the Labour members who resigned following his deselection, said: "This is a bloody nose for what is left of the Labour group, it didn't have to be like this but that's the path they chose."