Paul-Austin Sargent’s resignation has altered the opposition arrangements at Oxfordshire County Council, where the largest opposition group has changed.
Sargent, an independent councillor for Banbury, has departed the Oxfordshire Alliance, which comprises Conservatives, Independent Oxford Alliance members and other independent councillors.
The move leaves Labour as the council’s formal opposition, with 12 members compared with the Alliance’s 11.
The Liberal Democrats remain responsible for running the authority and hold 35 of its 69 seats.
The council entered and subsequently left minority administration earlier in the year following departures from and the return of members to the governing group.
Oxfordshire Alliance leader Liam Walker, a Conservative, said the group was disappointed by Sargent’s decision but respected his choice.
He maintained that the remaining members were united and committed to representing residents, scrutinising the Liberal Democrat administration and holding the council to account.
The change in the political balance at County Hall ends Walker’s position as the council’s official leader of the opposition.
Sargent had served as the Alliance’s shadow cabinet member for public health and inequalities but had not responded to requests for comment on leaving the group.
Following a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he had shared health updates with the council and the communities he represents.
In September, he also completed an 88-mile Walk of Life to raise funds for community projects.
The councillor remains in office but now operates as a non-grouped independent.