LABOUR'S John Kent, the leader of Thurrock Council, is expected to resign on Wednesday.

The revelation came during a live interview on an Essex radio station this morning.

It is understood council bosses are around the table trying to decide on a new administration.

Mr Kent’s decision was to restore “political balance”, following the local election, where the party lost seats to UKIP, according to Labour’s Bukky Okeunade, councillor for Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park.

She continued: “After the election we went through you can see that Labour have fourteen councillors where the conservatives and UKIP have 17.

“It is not tenable for Labour to be the ruling party because the party doesn’t have the mandate.

“It does not come as a surprise, John resigned to restore political balance.”

She added Mr Kent has been a great leader of the council.

Earlier this month, UKIP won six seats on Thurrock Council during the local election, missing out on being the largest party by a single vote.

It is now the third biggest group, taking four seats from Labour, one from the Tories and one from an independent councillor.

Mr Kent has been approached for comment.