A vote of confidence into Barnet Borough Council’s leader will be held at the end of a full council meeting.

The role of both Conservative leader Councillor Richard Cornelius, who has been leader of the authority since 2011, has been called into question by the opposition Labour party.

Although normal practice is to hold such votes during extraordinary meetings one hour before full council meetings, Mayor of Barnet Hugh Rayner has decided against this.

Instead, it will be held at the conclusion of the November 4 meeting, which often finishes at around 10pm.

This move has angered the Labour party, who say the Conservative group is “running scared” as it has a majority of just one on the council.

Labour leader Alison Moore said: “This is an outrageous decision. The Tories are obviously running scared that they won’t be able to get all their members to the meeting in time for the vote of no confidence. With a majority of just one, they are clearly feeling a bit vulnerable.”

During the meeting, Cllr Cornelius will be able to vote to save his own seat as leader of the council.

The move comes after a damning report into a series of blunders concluded that “nobody” at the authority understands local government law and staff in key roles were “inexperienced”.

The blunders led to an error in the way committee seats were allocated.

Councillor Richard Cornelius said: “Why should the Labour Party’s political posturing be put before the serious business of the council?

“Unless Labour themselves choose to obstruct the efficient progress of the meeting there will be plenty of time to deal comprehensively with their extraordinary meeting motion.”

Mayor of Barnet Hugh Rayner said he attempted to contact Cllr Moore before his decision.

He later told her: "I have decided to hold the extraordinary meeting at the end of normal business on November 4 to enable as many people as possible to participate and to avoid the time constraints which might have occurred if we held it before normal business.

"The important thing is that we have a full and meaningful debate."