Council leader Joe Cullinane has hit back at claims Labour took power thanks to Conservative votes.

He said that his party had kept to their word that they would not enter coalition talks with any other party as they pursued becoming a minority administration.

This would, he said, allow them to avoid having to make any compromises on their manifesto.

He said: “Labour were offered coalition talks with the SNP and Tory Group but we rejected both because of our opposition to austerity. The Tories are wedded to austerity whilst the SNP Group, who resigned nine months ago, told us to ‘manage the cuts’ when we were fighting against cuts to the council’s budget earlier this year. By forming a minority Labour administration we can continue our campaign against cuts without having to compromise our values.

“As a socialist, I look forward to continuing our fight for a fairer society where we tackle the societal ills that have plagued our area for too long such as poverty and unemployment.”

With Labour refusing to hold power-sharing talks, Wednesday’s vote was unpredictable. Labour said they were prepared to seek legal guidance in an attempt to avoid a “democratic nightmare”.

North Ayrshire Council will continue to be led by a minority Labour administration following Wednesday’s statutory council meeting.

Labour was approached by both SNP and Tories offering to form a coalition, both were rejected with Labour citing their opposition to austerity.

Labour’s plan was open and transparent with the Group, through the local media, advising local people that they would seek to form a minority administration and hold no coalition talks. Last Monday, prior to the council meeting, Labour published their nominations for Leader, Deputy Leader, Provost and the Cabinet and stated that, given the composition of the council, they would make no nominations for Deputy Provost or the Chairs of key committees.

Labour made no nomination for Deputy Provost but voted for Independent Councillor Robert Barr, who was nominated by the SNP Group in a bid to secure his support for an SNP minority administration, over the Tory’s Scott Gallacher. Councillor Barr went on to vote for a Labour minority administration, his vote being enough to break the Labour/SNP stalemate with no other Councillor backing the SNP other than their own.

Ronnie McNicol and Tom Marshall were elected unopposed as Chairs of Licensing and Planning respectively.

On the Chair of the Councils most powerful committee, the Audit and Scrutiny Committee which must be chaired by an opposition Councillor, Labour voted for SNP Group Leader Marie Burns over the Tory’s Margaret George.

An analysis of the voting for all other positions, including outside bodies, shows that Labour voted for more SNP Councillors than they did for any other party. In fact, there was no vote where the Labour Group did not vote for an SNP Councillor, including on the Health and Social Care Partnership where they voted for SNP Councillor Christina Larsen.

Speaking about forming the administration, Labour Group Leader Joe Cullinane, said: “It has been an immense privilege to serve the people of North Ayrshire as Council Leader for the past nine months.

“We have made a huge amount of progress in a short space of time and I am committed to continuing that work to serve the interests of everyone in North Ayrshire.

“Labour were offered coalition talks with the SNP and Tory Group but we rejected both because of our opposition to austerity. The Tories are wedded to austerity whilst the SNP Group, who resigned 9 months ago, told us to ‘manage the cuts’ when we were fighting against cuts to the council’s budget earlier this year. By forming a minority Labour administration we can continue our campaign against cuts without having to compromise our values.

“As a socialist, I look forward to continuing our fight for a fairer society where we tackle the societal ills that have plagued our area for too long such as poverty and unemployment.”

With Labour refusing to hold power-sharing talks, Wednesday’s vote was unpredictable. Newly elected Labour Councillor, Robert Foster, has said that they thought it would be so close that he was ready to enact legal guidance from Council officers in an attempt to avoid a “democratic nightmare”.

Robert said: “With the Labour Group refusing to do any deals, we entered the Council Chamber with no idea how any vote would go. In fact we feared that only Labour and SNP Councillors would vote resulting in a tie. Under the Council’s Standing Orders a tie is decided by a cut of cards. That would have been a democratic nightmare.

“With a tie a real possibility, Joe and I sought advice from the Head of Democratic Services on how we could avoid such a scenario and I was ready to enact guidance to seek a recess to break any deadlock. Thankfully, I saw Councillor Barr vote for a Labour administration and with no other Councillor backing the SNP I knew Labour had won the vote.”

Since Wednesday’s meeting, SNP Councillors and activists have been spreading lies claiming there is a Labour/Tory alliance on the Council. No such alliance exists and ironically, unlike Labour, it was the SNP Group Leadership who asked for and held secret talks with the Tory Group.

SNP activists have been attacking Labour Leader Joe Cullinane on social media. Councillor Cullinane’s wife was tagged into some of the attacks whilst another SNP activist brought his mother into their attack.

Labour Councillor Alex Gallagher, who exposed the SNP/Tory talks on twitter, has slammed the SNP’s behaviour as shameful. Alex said; “The SNP’s behaviour over the last week has only reemphasised why no Group on the Council could do a deal with them.

“SNP Councillors and activists are actively undertaking a campaign of smears and lies. It is absolutely shameful that SNP members have stooped so low as to bring family members of our Council Leader into their attacks and it is very disappointing that, rather than denouncing their activist’s behaviour, the SNP leadership want to spread their own smears.

“However, should we be surprised when this is an SNP Group led by the same people who stabbed their own Council Leader in the back by resigning against his will whilst he was in holiday!

“And they wanted to do a deal with Labour. If they treat their own party leader like that, can you imagine how they would treat Labour coalition partners?

“The bottom line is that Labour’s position was open and transparent. We published our plans beforehand and stuck by our word. Our approach was clear, consistent and honest.

“No deals. No power-sharing talks. Just a minority Labour administration with no nominations for Deputy Provost and the Chair of key committees.

“Can the SNP Group say the same? Not when they publicly ruled out talks with the Tories then asked for and held secret talks with the Tory Group Leader to seek their support.

“The SNP decry Robert Barr as an “ex-tory” Councillor but they nominated Cllr Barr for Deputy Provost, as they did five years ago. Councillor Barr went on to vote for a Labour administration and with no opposition Councillor backing the SNP, his vote was enough to break the SNP/Labour stalemate.

“For the SNP to claim there is any alliance on the Council is downright lies. Labour voted to install SNP Leader, Marie Burns, as Chair of Audit and Scrutiny and a simple analysis of all other votes shows that there was no vote last Wednesday where Labour voted for the Tories over the SNP. In fact, the analysis shows that Labour Councillors voted for more SNP Councillors than any other opposition party.

“The SNP’s actions are those of a party desperate to save face. They resigned last autumn and expected to waltz back into Cunninghame House with a whopping big majority. Instead they walked back in tied with Labour. Their plan backfired and in desperation to regain the power they wilfully gave away, they sought out Labour and once we rejected them they sought out the Tories.

“The SNP say they wanted a progressive coalition with Labour to lock out the Tories but such a deal requires two progressive parties. The SNP Group showed when they wanted to accept their own Government’s cuts this year that they are not progressive. Instead, North Ayrshire will continue to be led by a progressive, socialist minority Labour administration that hasn’t just locked the Tories out of power but has also locked out the SNP. Maybe, that’s the real reason for the SNP’s annoyance.”