THE future leadership of Stroud District Council could be decided tomorrow night as Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party meet to negotiate a possible power-sharing deal.

Discussions between the three parties have been ongoing since district elections two weeks ago left Stroud with a hung council.

For now, Labour and the Lib Dems are keeping tight-lipped about the prospect of a ‘rainbow alliance’.

Labour’s deputy leader Chris Brine (Stonehouse) said his party would not be signing up to any agreement until it had consulted with its members.

"We will be talking with the Labour group to discuss our plans for the future," he said.

"At this moment in time no formal decision has been made about whether or not we will work with any other political party but equally we are not ruling it out."

Speaking on Monday, the Lib Dem leader Dennis Andrewartha (Cam West), said: "We have made progress in our discussions with Labour and the Green Party.

"We have all sat round the table together and the negotiations have been very amicable.

"I know the Labour Party is getting together to talk so we will have to wait and see what happens."

The new leader of the Greens, Cllr Molly Scott Cato, was more forthcoming about her party’s stance however.

Rather than entering into an official coalition with Labour and the Lib Dems, Cllr Scott Cato (Valley) said she hoped the three parties could reach an informal agreement to work together.

She called for ‘constructive co-operation’ and for the respective groups to dispense with the tribalism of party politics in favour of a more ‘inclusive’ approach.

"In a small council it seems irrational and pointless to engage in politicking," she said.

"We believe that no one party has a monopoly on good ideas and we will seek co-operation to achieve advances of our policy platform on an issue-by-issue basis."

Conservative leader Frances Roden (Painswick) could not be reached for comment but the party’s deputy Keith Pearson (Upton St Leonards) said he wanted the ‘best outcome for the Stroud district’.

If talks between the three other groups breakdown it is still possible that the Tories could attempt to form a minority administration at a meeting of SDC tomorrow night, Thursday, May 17.