TORY leader Coun Robert Light insists the Conservatives will remain in control of Kirklees Council despite Labour becoming the biggest party.
The expected march of the BNP failed to materialise but BNP leader David Exley said: “We are down but not out.”
The Tory administration took over from the Lib Dems last June and Coun Light said: “A change now would be disastrous for the district.
“The Conservatives have made a good start in changing Kirklees for the better and we will be seeking the support of the other parties to continue to run the council.
“I believe you cannot have a revolving door approach to how the council is run.”
Coun Light said his party would speak to any of the other groups but ruled out any form of shared administration.
“That has never worked before in Kirklees,” he said.
Before Thursday’s poll the Tories had 21 seats and Labour and the Lib Dems 20 each.
The Tories held two closely-fought seats in Dewsbury South and Liversedge & Gomersal but lost cabinet member Mark Hemingway in Kirkburton to the Greens.
That meant they slipped to 20 while Labour picked up two seats to move to 22. The Lib Dems dropped to 18, while the Greens have four, the BNP three and there are two independents.
Control of the council will decided at the annual meeting on May 23.
The BNP failed to make the expected gains, though party organiser Nick Cass only lost to Labour stalwart Eric Firth by 84 votes in Dewsbury East in what was a bitterly-fought campaign.
Tory Derrick Yates held Liversedge & Gomersal comfortably defying the BNP again and another Labour veteran David Sheard held off the BNP’s Steve Cass in Heckmondwike.
Nick Cass accused Labour of fighting a “dirty” campaign while Coun Sheard was delighted to reverse last year’s result and beat off the BNP threat.
“People are seeing through the BNP at last. Leopards cannot change their spots,” said Coun Sheard.
“The convention is that Labour as the biggest party runs the council but that is up to the other two parties.”
BNP leader David Exley said he was very disappointed and added: “We need to go back and analyse the results but they don’t look very good. And I don’t really know why.
“We did all the hard work to get our message across. We put plenty of leaflets out.
“We were not helped by left-wing smears. People told lies and exaggerated certain issues and it looks like the voters took note.
“Now we have to put our noses to the grindstone and work out where we went wrong.
“We must then put things right and look forward to next May. We are down but not out.”
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