Enfield Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan saw off a bid by opposition groups to bring down her administration – as yet another councillor quit Labour.

The Tories failed to win the Labour votes they needed for their no-confidence motion to succeed after a fiery 45-minute debate during an extraordinary council meeting on Thursday.

Held after local elections that cut Labour’s majority on the council further following a string of defections, the debate saw heated exchanges on issues such as low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), fly-tipping and council debt levels.

As the meeting took place, it emerged Cllr Ayfer Orhan, who represents Ponders End, had become the ninth Enfield councillor to either resign or defect from the Labour group during the past 12 months.

Introducing the motion, Tory leader Cllr Joanne Laban (Highlands) claimed the recent by-elections, which saw Labour lose a seat in Chase ward to the Conservatives, showed people had no confidence in the administration.

Accusing Labour of “arrogance and complacency”, Cllr Laban said the administration had not listened to residents on key issues such as the move to fortnightly bin collections, the roll-out of LTNs and the closure of Whitewebbs Golf Course – while warning that council debt was set to grow to £2 billion.

Members of the Community First group, which is made up of six councillors who quit Enfield Labour, backed the Tories’ bid to topple Cllr Caliskan’s administration.

Community First leader Cllr Dinah Barry (Winchmore Hill) criticised a decision to increase pay for some councillors and claimed homes on the Meridian Water scheme would be affordable to only “the most wealthy of our residents”.

She claimed the administration’s policies demonstrated “no ethical or political compass”, and that it repeatedly showed a lack of respect for residents.

But Labour councillors defended their record in office and claimed they had protected frontline services from funding cuts made by the Government.

Cabinet member for finance Cllr Mary Maguire (Labour, Palmers Green) told councillors a Government grant to the council of £191.2 million had been slashed to £95.7 million, yet the administration had been “getting on with it” and “delivering for the residents of Enfield”.

She added: “We have balanced the books, we have delivered on our priorities, we’re pumping money into children’s services, into adult social care, tackling homelessness, investing in this borough, creating jobs, building homes and giving everybody a chance in life.”

Claiming Labour’s record was about seeking to reduce inequality, Cllr Caliskan (Jubilee) said the council had put money into speech and language services, tackling youth violence and supporting people with council tax payments.

She pointed out that the council had achieved a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted for its children’s services department and claimed the extra borrowing was being used to build more affordable homes and improve housing standards.

The no-confidence motion was not debated until more than two hours of the meeting had already passed, with three other motions discussed first.

It meant some councillors who had wanted to make speeches were unable to do so because the meeting timed out.

As the clock ran down, Cllr Laban repeated her claim that the administration was “not listening to the people of Enfield”.

But the crunch vote saw Labour councillors rally behind Cllr Caliskan, who looks set to hold on to power – albeit with a significantly reduced majority – until the next local elections in May next year.