FOLLOWING Plaid’s seizure of Carmarthenshire County Council ending Labour’s reign at County Hall, a political storm has erupted between both sides over how the deal was struck.

Tycroes councillor, Calum Higgins, has accused Plaid of turning down an opportunity to negotiate a Labour coalition, claiming a deal with the Independents was done behind closed doors beforehand.

“I am amazed the deal between Plaid Cymru and the Independents was struck within 24 hours of Kevin Madge’s resignation, and the request for time to negotiate was turned down with out a second thought,” said Cllr Higgins.

“When knocking doors for the last 18 months, many people have told me they wanted Plaid Cymru and Labour to work together for the good of the county.”

The Labour councillor also said he was “disappointed” that Plaid rejected the possibility of forming a progressive coalition calling it a “missed opportunity for both parties to work together."

“At a local level, people want to see the two largest parties working together, and this was the opportunity to do so.”

All parties had a week to negotiate with each other before the council AGM, (being held today), which will see Plaid’s Emlyn Dole sworn in as the new council leader.

Following Labour’s attack, Plaid has hit back accusing their political rivals of cloak and dagger tactics following the resignation of Kevin Madge, who was ousted as by his own party last week.

A spokesman from Plaid said: “The comments from Cllr Higgins are as bizarre as they are disingenuous when we consider that the Labour Party has spent the last month stating that it had absolutely no desire to work with Plaid Cymru.

“Calum Higgins and his colleagues have acted with an immense sense of arrogance in thinking their existing coalition could continue despite them stabbing their leader, Kevin Madge, in the back.

“Plaid Cymru has had a mandate to lead the council since 2008, but despite numerous offers for cooperation, Labour has consistently maneuvered to shut us out.

“The truth is that Labour – the smallest political group on the council – is deeply, deeply split, with the new group leader, Jeff Edmunds confirming to us that he could not guarantee the full support of his group for a coalitionwith Plaid Cymru.

“Carmarthenshire is crying out for good leadership, and a team of competent councillors who will work tirelessly to restore the good name of the county.

“The winds of change have blown. With Plaid Cymru at the helm, residents have cause to be optimistic and hopeful for the future.”

Cllr Jeff Edmunds, who was elected to take over from Kevin Madge, said he believed that a deal was done as far back as February.

“I was going through one door and they were bringing Plaid leader Cllr Emlyn Dole through the other.

I believed the deal was done when I took the budget through the council in February. I’m disappointed.”

But Cllr Dole said: “The claim is totally untrue. What happened is because of an implosion in the Labour Party. What I put it down to is a lack of strategical thought from Jeff ’s point of view. If your going to challenge for the leadership, there are decent ways to do it. It seems from outside, ugly.

“I was invited by Labour to give my vision for the way forward, but I didn’t hear anything. The door was open and and there was an invitation from the Independents, we weren’t going to turn that down.”

The Guardian can also reveal that council chief executive Mark James has issued a memo to all staff reassuring them of their jobs and confirming the council “will now be working with a new coalition to ensure to deliver a first class service to our county.”