Labour councillors will not be spared questions over confusion and broken commitments when the leadership of Warwick District Council is thrashed out on Wednesday.

A vote of no confidence has been brought against leader Cllr Ian Davison following the collapse of the Green-Labour pact that has run the district since May 2023.

That occurred as a result of differences between the national parties over the Green Party's 'Zionism is racism' policy with Labour's national executive ordering its councillors to walk away.

The whole situation played out in a confusing fashion with Labour's group leader on the district Cllr Jess Melrose, sending out a statement which welcomed Cllr Davison's "rejection" of the policy, something that appeared to be quite a distance from what the Greens had said.

Cllr Melrose said that statement, which spelt the leader's name incorrectly, had come from Labour's West Midlands regional office, but its representative insisted it had not emanated from there.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was directed back to Cllr Melrose for answers, but she has remained unwilling to provide them on either side of Labour's National Executive Committee ruling that Warwick District's Green group had not sufficiently complied with conditions to continue with the coalition.

In an interview prior to that decision, Cllr Melrose committed to releasing "whatever I can publish" on the reasons behind the outcome and indicated that the ongoing process meant she could not disclose her views on the situation, "as much as I would love to tell you".

Answers to those questions took on greater meaning once decisions on councils where the Greens and Labour work – or worked – together were announced with deals ending in 11 local government areas but maintained in another seven.

A statement published on Warwick & Leamington Labour Party's Facebook page on Monday 2 November, confirmed the split and included words from Cllr Melrose.

Her section read: "We are disappointed that Warwick Green Party has been unable to meet the conditions the Labour Party has set out since the Green Party adopted the 'Zionism is Racism' policy. We therefore cannot continue to work with the Green Party on Warwick District Council.

"Warwick District Labour councillors will continue to work hard every day to stand up for local residents and will always act in the best interests of our communities.

"Today's decision is a reflection of the obligation we have to stand up for all communities and we again call on the Green Party to rescind the divisive 'Zionism is Racism' policy."

When approached, Cllr Melrose said she had nothing to add to that statement.

Further confusion followed when a commenter on that Facebook post expressed surprise that Warwick District's Greens had not distanced themselves from the Zionism policy.

The Warwick & Leamington Labour Party account, listed as promoted by Sue Deeley, replied: "They still have that option…".

Cllr Claire Wightman , formerly with Labour but now an independent, also asked why the dissolution of the panel that runs the council had been communicated via social media before councillors had been informed.

Warwick & Leamington Labour Party replied: "I suggest you ask your comms team. It's in the public domain."

The representative from Labour's West Midlands regional office had not seen the Facebook responses but indicated that any change of stance would be subject to fresh consideration from the party's National Executive Committee as opposed to a reconsideration of the decision to split.

The Greens plan to carry on leading the council without Labour.

A request to put questions to a member of Labour's National Executive was turned down and the representative confirmed: "We are not going to be providing any further detailed information on the decision-making process."

Put to the representative that the information Labour put out had not clarified why different decisions were made in different areas, they said that those decisions were based around the two conditions laid out by party chair Bridget Phillipson MP – for affected Green councillors to make clear that they reject the motion and to call on their national leadership to reconsider.

It remains deeply unsatisfactory for Cllr Andrew Day, who insists Cllr Melrose "needs to answer some questions".

"Ian at least had the courage to call me to say what was going on. Jess has not, no one from Labour has been in touch," he said.

"It is the Labour executive that has put our council in jeopardy at a really crucial period of time. Where is the MP (Matt Western) on this? Why are they dropping the ball and walking away?

"Is it now more politically expedient to say that they are not in the administration when the elections come next May? That's fine, but what does it mean for our residents?

"What if we can't pass the local plan? What if we can't agree on a budget? What if we have to pay exorbitant sums to consultants to sort out anything that could come from a housing inspection?

"What happens with local government reorganisation? We should be in the leading seat, we used to be with LGR. It is appalling. Labour has a lot to answer for, and Jess in particular."

Cllr Melrose turned down the opportunity to hear or respond to Cllr Day's comments.