Why is Gloucester City Council still leaderless?
BBCLast week Gloucester City Council decided to vote out its leader, and no one could decide who should replace him.
Jeremy Hilton lost not one but two votes following an immediate attempt to get him re-elected - the cabinet then resigned en masse.
The events came after financial challenges, and accusations of a toxic culture and bullying.
The council remains leaderless but officers are keeping things ticking along for now.
Who was in charge?
The Liberal Democrats were running a minority administration with Hilton as their leader.
They took over in 2024 following the Conservatives being in charge for 20 years.
The authority relied on the seven Labour members to get things through, but that group ended up voting with the Conservatives and the Independents.
The current make up of the city council is 17 Liberal Democrats, 10 Conservatives, seven Labour, four Community Independents and one Independent Conservative.
Why was the leader deposed?
Three groups came together in an unlikely alliance to depose Hilton.
The Conservatives, Labour and Community Independents said they had become frustrated with how the council was operating.
Leader of the Conservative Group Stephanie Chambers blamed Hilton's "leadership style and his inability to work constructively".
But in reply a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats accused opposition parties of taking no responsibility.
"Gloucester needs grown-up leadership and stability, not people pulling the house down and then walking away from the rubble," they said.
The council has been under serious financial pressure, which has deepened divisions between the parties.
A report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance into its finances suggested cabinet members were "not always welcomed as openly" as they could be.
But it also said that there was a "lack of mutual trust and confidence" from all parties.
Just how bad are the finances?
Gloucester city council experienced a cyber attack, which it is thought Russia was behind, in December 2021.
It crippled the council's financial system and meant accounts had to be calculated by hand.
When it was finally able to audit these accounts in 2025, it found overspends of £1.5m from 2022 to 2024.
The Conservatives were in charge at the time, and when the Liberal Democrats took over the overspends increased.
For the 2024/25 financial year the council reported a £4.3m overspend with a £1.1m overspend in 2025/26.
As a result the council applied for exceptional financial support from central government, receiving £15.5m earlier this year.
But there have also been suggestions the council will have to ask the government for more money - up to £8m based on current estimates.
Who could the next leader be?
All opposition group leaders ruled themselves out of leading the council.
The Liberal Democrats argue the other groups should "have the courage of their conviction" and form an administration.
But those in other parties say it is up to the largest group to put forward another leader the council can back - creating a stalemate.
Government intervention
If the council is unable to sort out its problems government commissioners could be sent in.
This sometimes happens due to serious issues in areas such as governance, leadership or financial management, but is an expensive measure which the city council would have to pay for.
Independent councillor Alastair Chambers said wants the commissioners to be bought in.
"Gloucester residents deserve complete transparency. They deserve to know how the council got into this position."
But other group leaders such as Stephanie Chambers think it is a bad idea.
"We don't want to see the commissioners come in because they will cost the city a lot of money," Chambers said.
What could happen next?
The city council has reassured residents the council will continue as normal.
"Despite the temporary absence of a leader and cabinet, our officers remain fully focused on delivering services across the city," a spokesperson said.
But without political authority it means there is a lack of accountability.
"It's not good for Gloucester to have a city council that doesn't have any political leadership," said Labour MP for Gloucester Alex McIntyre.
Whether the Liberal Democrats will choose someone else to lead them or continue to put up Jeremy Hilton we do not know.
Meanwhile opposition parties will also have to look at whether they feel they can take up the mantle of leadership at this difficult juncture for the council.
The next full council meeting is not until 26 November - so this could go on for a few weeks yet.
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