Leicester politics getting stranger by the day

Leicester politics have been particularly interesting to late and show no sign of calming down any time soon.

The latest news is that Nigel Porter, one of the two Conservative councillors for Aylestone (of Meadows fame), has resigned from the party and will fight the seat for the Liberal Democrats in May's elections.

According to the Leicester Mercury:

At Thursday night's full council meeting, Coun Porter launched a scathing attack on his former group, branding them a "rabble" and saying that Coun Grant would not win the mayoral election, for which he is Tory candidate.

It received a standing ovation from many Labour councillors, including the full council cabinet.

Meanwhile, the city's Lord Mayor Colin Hall is resigning four weeks early due to "health and other reasons." Again according to the Mercury:

Coun Hall has not been re-selected to stand as Labour's council candidate for New Parks at May's election, and he is known to be against the idea of an elected mayor.

The consensus seems to be that he has done a good job as Lord Mayor (a purely ceremonial post - the city will elect its first executive mayor in May) despite a - how shall I put it? difficult start.