I’m devastated: Ousted leader plans new life

Mr Minns, who had led the council since 2007, was one of the highest profile Liberal Democrat casualties on a night of rampant success for Labour – and became so sure of defeat that he called a Press conference to concede before the count had been completed.

Looking dazed and crestfallen, he said: “I’m devastated; there’s no other way you can describe it.

“My first priority is to find a job; I’m not going to be one of those councillors you see hanging around the Guildhall. I’ll work and quite frankly I will enjoy a private life – something I haven’t been able to do in the past five years.”

Mr Minns refused to blame party leader Nick Clegg’s partnership with the Conservatives in the coalition Government for its sinking fortunes in Hull, saying “It’s my responsibility”.

He said he was not bowing out of politics altogether and would continue to play a “big role” in the party. But although he promised the incoming Labour administration a “smooth and orderly” transfer of power, he could not resist a parting shot at the victors.

“The city could wake up next February with a whopping tax bill and further cuts,” he said. “I think the policies the Labour Party are already on will lead to tax rises in next year’s budget.”

He also said the party would continue to challenge Labour and offer a rigorous and effective opposition.

He added: “Many of us who have been working in Hull since the late 1990s can remember the one-party state under Labour and I don’t think anybody wants to return to that. We are up for the fight to make sure Hull never returns to a one-party state.”

The Liberal Democrats in Mr Minns’s tenure had transformed the city council from being rated the worst in the country in 2005 under a previous Labour administration to being a “three-star” council which was “improving well” in 2009, and in 2010 it was named council of the year by the Association of Public Service Excellence.

Mr Minns’s personal profile was at its highest in the aftermath of the devastating floods of 2007, when he managed to secure national aid and attention for Hull by claiming it was being overlooked in the post-flood recovery effort.

But the council’s recent budget – when it announced plans to cut £65m from its spending and axe up to 1,400 jobs as a result of Government funding cuts – angered many with the speed of its implementation and led to almost daily demonstrations on the steps of the Guildhall by unions, affected workers and service users.

Labour group leader and new council leader Steve Brady avoided striking a triumphal note and said his priority was to make effective use of the council’s resources and see what jobs and services could be saved.

But although Labour’s deputy leader Daren Hale said in the wake of victory that his party would hold an emergency budget, Coun Brady said his first objective was to establish the council’s financial position.

He said: “This is what we’ve worked for and it’s a difficult job. We have had a two-hour meeting with Nicola Yates, the chief executive, and she is going to give us the full financial position by Monday.

“We have obviously got to work on that now. We want to know the exact position and how much money they have given away. We will definitely be making some alterations.”

Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson acknowledged that her party colleagues faced a difficult challenge in power.

She said: “It’s clear that Hull City Council has a tough task due to the depth of cuts from the Tory-led Government, supported by the previous Lib Dem Council, that are aimed most at the most vulnerable people in the most deprived communities.”