LABOUR councillors have accused their Conservative counterparts of unnecessary partisanship on the Elstree & Borehamwood Town Council.

They claim the Tory majority have not observed an unwritten tradition of offering mayoral and deputy mayoral positions across party lines to the most senior serving member.

The group had hoped Cllr Richard Butler (Lab/Cowley Hill), who is entering his second term, would become deputy mayor, but Charles Kelly (Con/Hillside) was appointed at a meeting last night.

Cllr Graham Franklin (Lab/Cowley Hill) said the decision was steamrolled through, marking the third year in a row that no position had been offered.

He said: “I have been on the council quite a few times, both when Labour have been in power and the Conservatives, and we always made sure the deputy mayor and mayor was non political and distributed evenly.

“Politics does come into elections, but you would have thought you would keep the town council as non political as possible, because we're trying to work for the good of the people.”

Cllr Franklin said it was a case of unnecessary tribalism within a council, which is safely Conservative for the next four years and has traditionally been run with loose political ties.

Cllr Butler added: “We believe that everyone should have the chance to be in these positions. We do not think it is fair or right when they keep putting their councillors forward.”

The Labour members expressed concerns the council could be becoming too political, however its new leader Cllr Pat Strack (Con/Hillside) said councillors across parties would continue to work closely together.

She said there had been no change in attitude to selecting mayoral positions and the Conservatives would strive for closer co-operation between the groups.