Labour/Tory deal at Stirling Council ousts SNP

Labour and Conservative members on Stirling Council have agreed to run the local authority together, the BBC understands.

Both the SNP and Conservatives said a deal had been done to create a Labour and Tory coalition.

However, Labour said negotiations were ongoing and details between the parties were still being worked out.

The Nationalists ran Stirling Council as a minority administration between 2008 and May 2012.

The deal comes despite the SNP returning nine councillors at last week's local election compared with Labour's eight and the Tories' four.

The SNP condemned the coalition deal, calling it a "betrayal" for the people of Stirling.

Graham Houston of the SNP, who until the election was council leader, said he was "amazed" at the news.

He said: "The people of Stirling will be shocked that the Tories and Labour will get together to form an administration on Stirling Council, despite neither party being the biggest party after Thursday's election."

Mr Houston accused Labour members of desiring power "at all costs", adding: "The dead hand of Labour will grip the levers of power in Stirling once again.

"The real losers will be the people of the Stirling Council area, who after rejecting Labour at the ballot box will nonetheless see Labour entrenched at the helm of Stirling Council.

"The people of Stirling will rightly feel betrayed by this treacherous Labour/Tory alliance."

'Accurate position'

However, the deputy leader of Stirling's Conservative group, councillor Neil Benny, said the nationalists had failed to gain a majority in Stirling despite their best efforts.

He said Conservative members were keen to work with anyone in order to see the party's manifesto enacted.

He added: "The SNP did not get the majority they were looking for in Stirling.

"Nor do they have the confidence of the majority of members at the council and that is due to the way they have interacted with other parties at the authority in the past five years."

Corrie McChord, leader of Stirling's Labour group, said: "The accurate position is that discussions are ongoing.

"Although a Labour Conservative deal may be my recommendation, at this stage a lot of detail remains to be worked out.

"Moreover I would wish to report any decision in the first instance to the Labour Party nationally and locally."