THE defection of Labour councillor Helen Douglas to the Conservatives means that York now has a hung council.

Labour has lost its overall control - and unless it wins a by-election in Westfield next month, prompted by the death of Cllr Lynn Jeffries, it will not regain it before next May’s elections.

This has been coming for a while. Cllr Douglas is the third sitting councillor to have quit Labour since 2012: Cllr Jeffries herself was the first, followed by Cllr Brian Watson earlier this year.

Opposition parties will be keen to exploit the sudden weakening of Labour’s position. Sadly, therefore, it is likely that party-political bickering in York will increase. We very much hope that that does not happen. York’s recovery from recession is still fragile.

The city faces many challenges, from pockets of real poverty to the problems caused by low wages and the revelation a few weeks ago that some of the city’s schools are apparently failing children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

There is also the issue of York’s long-awaited local plan - still not adopted after years of trying - and the need to ensure development of the city’s new community stadium progresses.

The danger of having a hung council is that it could leave York rudderless, adrift with no clear sense of direction for the next eight months while politicians squabble amongst themselves.

York’s elected representatives of all parties have a duty to rise above this kind of political infighting. They should see this as an opportunity to work together for the good of the people of York, rather than wasting time and energy scoring political points off each other. The electorate will be watching closely to see how they do.