KEVIN Small will hand over control of Swindon Council to Conservative leader Mike Bawden on May 16 but the two will remain the best of enemies.

The Evening Advertiser can exclusively reveal that the Labour group will not be putting forward an alternative administration and will not oppose the proposed Conservative cabinet at the special council meeting a week on Friday.

There had been speculation that the Labour group would try to hang onto power, but having lost six seats and seen the number of Labour councillors drop from 28 to 22 after the recent borough elections, Coun Small (Lab, Western) said he was ready to throw in the towel.

And at a group meeting called the day after Thursday night's dramatic count, Coun Small told colleagues that he was prepared to quit as party group leader.

However, he was persuaded to stay on as leader and survived a bid to oust him by John Taylor (Lab, Central).

Now he is stepping down to make way for Coun Bawden's (Old Town and Lawns) administration the third Swindon Council administration since 2001 for the good of the town.

Coun Small, 37, said: "I can guarantee we will not be supporting the Conservatives, but rather standing down.

"This is good for us and gives the Labour group the chance to highlight the downside of the Conservatives and expose their agenda.

"The mid-term blues and the 15 per cent council tax rise didn't go down too well with the electorate, but I still believe they were brave decisions, and the right ones, and now the Tories will benefit from that."

A year ago a similar situation occurred in reverse, when when Coun Bawden's administration stood down, allowing the Labour group to lead the council.

The Tories had been in power since the council passed a vote of no confidence in October 2001 after a series of damning official reports into its performance.

The handing over of office will be reciprocated, with Coun Small accepting a role in the cabinet.

He will have responsibility for performance review.

Liberal Democrat leader Coun Mike Evemy (Eastcott) will also be offered a post on the new cabinet, according to Coun Bawden but he says he will insist that Coun Evemy has a portfolio.

Coun Bawden, who is 64 next week, said: "The Labour group has accepted we are the largest group from which to form an administration and the pantomime we had last time around where everybody opposed everyone else is not going to do Swindon Council any good.

"This council has still got a lot of problems that it has to solve that's the top priority. But both the Conservative and Labour group are committed to the recovery plan and the health of the council.

"Where we will disagree is on things like housing and transport. The Labour group is keen on seeing 30 per cent social housing in all new development, when I think that has discouraged a lot of outside investment in the town.

"I'm keen to see some, but something around 15 per cent.

"And the Conservatives are likely to be much more motorist-friendly than the Labour group and I think we will see a number of changes in the transport area.

"For example, it was wrong to built a park and ride at Croft (Wroughton) with only an entrance at one side.

"But there are other things, like deciding on a long-term future for the Link and Oasis centres, that have to be thought about quite seriously."

The new-look council sees the Conservatives with 29 councillors, four of whom are under the age of 27 and one short of an overall majority Labour with 22 councillors and the Lib Dems unchanged with eight.

"Any leader who has a bad night, like we did on Thursday, needs to ask questions about their leadership and whether or not it is appropriate to continue," said Coun Small.

"I spoke to my colleagues because the buck stops with me and I thought it was the right and honourable thing to do.However the majority wanted me to stay."

Coun Bawden, currently the longest serving member of Swindon Council, will take up office once the formalities of voting are observed and the new mayor, Coun Derek Benfield (Lab, Covingham and Nythe) is sworn in.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted that the council has so many youngsters now that has got to be good for Swindon. All parties are prepared to work together on the improvement plan, which is the most important thing, and I don't think a new administration will make a lot of difference to that."