CONSERVATIVE councillors have claimed York’s Labour group has “totally lost the plot” in recent weeks.

Following the resignation of council leader James Alexander, Councillor Chris Steward, leader of the York Conservative group, said a number of meetings have been cancelled, including the December cabinet meeting and the Without Walls meeting, which links public and private sectors.

Cllr Steward said: “Labour appear to have totally lost the plot regarding their leadership of the council. “Some council business continues and press releases on behalf of the council continue to go out, so clearly work is going on, but what appears to be happening is that Labour are abdicating their responsibilities and hiding from decisions being scrutinised while they make up their minds as to how to recoup. This makes life difficult for officers and opposition councillors who need to progress business prior to the Christmas break.”

Cllr Steward said the party should “take a collective deep breath” and provide leadership to the council and the people of York.

Deputy leader of City of York Council Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing said the meetings had been postponed, not cancelled.

She said: “Since the council became hung, opposition leaders have been invited to meet and discuss how their cross-party input can be made into cabinet decisions but they have so far not been able to agree a date.

“In the meantime, business is continuing and decisions will be taken regardless of opposition parties’ attempts to derail those planned decisions.

“When announcing last week the leader was standing down, he postponed the next meeting of cabinet until after a new leader of the council is elected on December 11. That meeting will take place on December 16, should council select a Labour council leader. If opposition parties decide to form an administration, then it would be a matter for them when they hold the next Cabinet meeting.”