A GREEN-LED alliance dramatically toppled a Conservative district council to become the first of its kind in East Sussex.

At a heated full council meeting on Monday, Green, Labour, Lib Dem, and independent councillors joined forces to boot Isabelle Linington’s Tories out of power.

Green leader Zoe Nicholson will now take the reigns of the council, with Lib Dem chief James MacCleary taking up the deputy leader role.

After the deciding vote, Cllr Nicholson said the new Lewes council will “pioneer a new way of doing business”.

She said: “I am very much looking forward to getting to work with our Alliance colleagues and focusing on what matters to local people.”

But outgoing leader Cllr Linington said the new council was “doomed to fail” and laid into Lib Dem boss Cllr MacCleary for refusing to collaborate with her party.

“Soon after our election success I reached out to the Liberal Democrats and offered their leader seats on my cabinet,” she said.

“Instead of maintaining this arrangement, Cllr MacCleary has put control of the council into the hands of people who are fundamentally opposed to each other on so many key issues.

“He, and he alone, will have to take responsibility for the chaos that will inevitably follow.”

The Lib Dems had originally allowed the Tories into power in Lewes when they failed to ally with like-minded parties after the election in May.

But with the new alliance, leadership of the council will rotate between the Greens and the Lib Dems each year.

The new Co-Operative Alliance cabinet will feature four Greens and three Lib Dems, as well as independent councillor Ruth O’Keeffe and Labour’s Cllr Chris Collier.

Lib Dem leader Cllr MacCleary said the new council has “a lot of work to do” but represents a chance to “release the potential of our communities”.

Labour’s Cllr Collier, who will be in charge of council performance, said the alliance was the first step in building a “forward-thinking” council.

He added: “We’ve worked hard to put in place a solid platform for the next four years.

“From here, it’s about delivering on our manifesto commitments as a shared vision across all our communities.”

Independent Cllr O’Keeffe, who will be in charge of partnerships, said all members of the alliance were willing to compromise if they could not agree.

Green cabinet members will be in charge of planning, communities, and sustainability, while the Lib Dems will control regeneration, waste, and housing.