THE For Darwen party is to draw up a list of demands it wants met before it will enter into a coalition to run Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The newly created party controls the balance of power with three seats, but Labour continue to be the largest group with 31 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 17, and the Liberal Democrats with 13.

It is still unclear whether a coalition will be formed to topple Labour's 24-year rule, whether Labour will be able to rule with a minority or broker a deal with another party to keep power.

Crunch talks within parties and between parties are to take place over the coming days, but no group seems in a rush to jump into agreements with others.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats' first choice appears to be to be opting to try to create a coalition along with For Darwen.

For some elements within the Tory and Lib Dem groups, an alliance with Labour appears to be unpalatable thought.

Coun Colin Rigby, Tory leader, said: "We will be talking to the other parties LibDems and For Darwen to see what we can come up with."

He said he had been delighted with the result, taking two seats in Meadowhead, seeing the party's seats increase by two.

The party has got its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday which may prove crucial in determining what the party does next.

But Coun Kate Hollern, Labour leader, said: "I don't see that anything has changed really. We are still the largest party.

"If they do a deal it will be very interesting because of nasty things that they said about each other in the election."

But she said she was not ruling anything out and the party would be discussing what to do at its AGM last night.

Newly elected Coun Tony Melia, leader of For Darwen, said: "There's going to be some very serious negotiating ."

He said on Monday the party would issue a list of requirements it wanted to be met before it joined forces with another group.

This is likely to include devolved power to Darwen councillors, allowing them to make key decisions about the town; a mayor for each town instead of just one for the borough; and changing the name of the council from Blackburn with Darwen to Blackburn and Darwen.

Coun Melia, added: "We have always said that we will do what is best for Darwen. Whoever offers us the best deal we will support."

Coun David Foster, leader of the LibDems, said: "We are in unchartered waters, so we need to sit back a bit."

He said his group would be talking to the Tories and For Darwen about the possibility of a coalition.

He said: "It depends what policy programme we can come up with.

"The key is not looking at people and parties but whether we can have a stable administration that has a clear policy framework."

He said there was already a fair amount of common ground with both the Tories and For Darwen.

The group was due to meet informally last night with its AGM on Friday.