BITTER infighting among Redbridge's Conservative group has spilled over into a full-blown political crisis, effectively leaving no-one in charge of the council.

At a dramatic meeting at Ilford Town Hall (Thursday), Tory leader Cllr Keith Prince lost a vote to become the new council leader, minutes after his Conservative colleague Cllr Alan Weinberg left the post.

Cllr Prince lost the election by just two votes after fellow Conservative councillors Mark Aaron and Geoffrey Hinds defected from the party to become independents, while a third, absent Cllr Robert Whitehall, resigned.

Two more Tories, Cllr Brian Waite and Cllr Glenn Corfield, did not show up to the vote because they were "ill".

In the final tally, 28 councillors voted for Cllr Prince and 30 against.

Following the shock vote, new mayor of Redbridge Cllr Thomas Chan immediately called a private meeting between party leaders in an attempt to reach an agreement.

But less than 30 minutes later Cllr Chan adjourned the full council meeting, and called a new vote for next Thursday (May 28).

Deputy leader Linda Huggett and the old cabinet will remain in their posts until then.

The Tory infighting in Redbridge has been monitored by the national Conservative party's central office for some time, and officials will be worried at the prospect of the party loosing its overall grip on power in the borough.

Cllr Robin Turbefield, acting as Conservative Party spokesman, said the lack of a clear leader would "affect everyone in the borough."

He said: "The Conservative group would like to apologise to the residents of Redbridge and we all hope that something will be sorted out soon.

"This affects the way the council is run in the borough.

"We had a very democratic election within our group but it didn't go the way everyone wanted, and there are some people who have been disaffected by the change of leadership."

"It's very upsetting for us. It makes politicians look bad. We've already got the MPs expenses and now this. It looks like we can't organise our own place.

"It's all to do with internal politics. It's got quite nasty.

"We've got to do things to move the borough forward."

Labour group leader Cllr Elaine Norman said: "I think it goes to show that a lot of the Conservative group doesn't have confidence in the party leadership.

"The fighting that's been going on has been harmful for the people of Redbridge. The Conservatives should be looking to represent their constituents, not this."

Amid speculation that the loss of a Conservative majority in the council chamber could lead to a possible coalition between Labour and the Lib Dems, Cllr Norman said: "Obviously no-one has discussed anything along those lines so far.

"I'm sure there will be some meetings in the next week, but no meetings have been arranged yet."

Lib Dem leader Hugh Cleaver said: "I think it's more likely what could happen now is either a joint administration between the Conservatives and another party or a minority administration.

"But we're still assessing the situation and nothing's been discussed yet.

"We did expect there might be some issues at the meeting among the Conservative group but we were all taken by surprise by the extent of it.

"Undoubtedly this affects the Conservative group's ability to govern."

Lib Dem press officer and Woodford Green councillor Richard Hoskins said: "You cannot say lightning does not strike twice in the same place after tonight's council meeting.

"On 25 May 2004 the majority Conservative group split on the night of the annual meeting. Several of their councillors, including Cllrs Weinberg and Sladden stayed away from the meeting to ensure their then Leader the late Alan Burgess did not have a majority in the Council chamber.

"Since then a the group has been riven into factions and there has been constant infighting. Now five years and four Conservative leaders later it has fractured again.

"Thursday's meeting was a more vicious split than 2004.

"The replacement of Cllr Weinberg as group leader by Cllr Prince a few weeks ago began the latest round of internal Conservative party fighting. Throughout Thursday there have been rumours of defections and absences among the 34 Conservative councillors.

"But nothing was expected on the scale that emerged on the night."

Conservative infighting in Redbridge in recent weeks has included the Guardian receiving information about Woodford Green Tory councillor Jim O'Shea and his arrest based on allegations of conspiracy to defraud last year, along with a libellous email about other members of the group.

The Guardian understands both leaks came from within the Conservative Party.

Cllr O'Shea has not been charged over the allegations and he has always denied any wrongdoing.

Redbridge Council's new cabinet was also due to be elected tonight, but that vote, along with other council business on the agenda, has been delayed until next week.

However the meeting did start with councillors formally welcoming Wanstead representative Alex Wilson to his new job, following his victory in the ward's recent by-election.