The new leader of Wirral Council today said he will fight for a "fairer deal" for the borough.

Steve Foulkes spoke after his party regained town hall control last night after a year of Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition.

The Lib Dems decided against uniting with either Labour or Conservatives and will be a party of opposition.

Councillor Foulkes said: "We want a fairer deal for Wirral and plan to take our case to Government.

"We're not asking for any more money, just a fairer share.

"We want to work with the other parties to try to achieve this.

"Clearly, both nationally and locally, the Lib Dems have found themselves in a difficult situation.

"We understand it would be difficult for them to go into a formal arrangement."

He said one of his first jobs is to be "more open and honest" with the public.

Councillor Foulkes took a side-swipe at deposed leader Jeff Green for introducing a "task force" of non-elected businesss and community figures to advise on policy.

He said: "We will continue consultations, but it will be with elected members and the public."

In recent weeks, the Labour leader also has been scathing about Cllr Green's push to save jobs at the now-doomed Burton's Foods factory while presiding over a massive redundancy purge of council staff: "The second thing that needs to be done is to prioritise jobs.

"This does not just apply to jobs in the private sector, because public sector jobs are equally as important for the local economy.

"We also have to deal with the fact that we are working in a council that has recently made 1,300 people redundant."

Councillor Foulkes is expected to be formally elected leader when the coalition is scrapped by a vote of no confidence.

This will be done when all 66 councillors meet on Monday and short of a shock Lib Dem U-turn, the process should be merely a formality.