As the dust settles on last week's local elections, the lack of a clear winner has led to the rise of one question in particular: what happens next?

Following the results from the council elections 2022, there was no one group in Havering that secured the 28 seats required to be the majority party in the council chamber.

This means the borough has ended up with what is known as No Overall Control (NOC), and power-sharing agreements must be arrived at to form the new administration.

Havering’s previous administration was also NOC, so this is not new for the borough.

A new administration must be agreed before the council’s annual general meeting, which is on Wednesday, May 25 this year.

What this looks like is down to the parties invovled, with discussions currently underway.

Until the new administration is formed, the old one technically remains in charge.

Council officers such as the chief executive, or the local authority's Democratic Services, can help in facilitating an outcome.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), wrote in a blog last month: “Councils in NOC is a quirk of local authority governance that can be confusing for citizens. But it doesn’t mean that no one’s making decisions.

“In most cases, one party will be able to form a cabinet, either with support from other parties or because the other parties do not agree on enough to effectively oppose them.

“That might sound unstable, but in reality, NOC councils have a pretty good track record of getting business done effectively.”

Last week’s council elections threw up a host of surprise results, including Labour celebrating its first elected councillor in a Romford area for 24 years, and Havering’s mayor, John Mylod, losing his seat after nearly 30 years as a councillor.

There is also an ongoing investigation into complaints about ward election counts.

Jeffery Tucker, who lost his seat in the Rainham and Wennington ward, was one of several people to have reported allegations to the Met Police.

A council spokesperson told the Recorder: “We are aware of the complaints, however we agreed at the candidate's request to do a full recount, which we trust will reassure candidates and their agents that the process has been robust.”