UKIP has lost control of its only local authority after Thanet District Council voted for a new Conservative leader.
Chris Wells resigned as Leader of the Council last week when 12 of UKIP’s 25 councillors set up an independent group in a row over the Manston Airport site.
UKIP had been elected on a promise back in 2015 to return the Manston site to use as an airfield, but Mr Wells backed a plan which would see part of it used for housing.
A meeting was held on Thursday for all councillors to elect a new leader. Bob Bayford from the Conservatives ran against Karen Constantine from Labour and won by 23 votes to six when most of the UKIP councillors failed to turn up.
The loss of its only local authority comes just over a month after a UKIP committee unaminously backed a vote of no confidence in its leader Henry Bolton.
