Terry Fox re-elected leader of Sheffield Council

Parties have been negotiating who will take which responsibilities and lead since the local elections two weeks ago which saw the council left in no overall control for a second consecutive year.

At one point yesterday afternoon it was feared a decision would not be made.

The re-election came after Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of the Liberal Democrats, withdrew as a leadership candidate.

Coun Fox thanked Coun Mohammed for stepping aside and said it was “absolutely unforgivable” that the council nearly didn’t have leadership especially given the extremely serious financial situation that it is in.

Things will work differently at the authority this year as it is the first year of operating under a modern committee system, rather than a strong leader and cabinet model.

This new way of working aims to give all councillors more say in decision making, rather than a handful having all the power.

Each committee will take responsibility for a particular area of council business and make decisions relating to that. The members of these committees will be politically proportionate to the make up of the council, meaning councillors will have to work together cross-party.

Earlier the Greens had released a statement saying an agreement had been reached with Labour taking control and the Greens and Lib Dems taking leadership roles on committees.