Labour councillors could hold the key to who ends up running Moray Council.
The party’s two representatives on the local authority have held preliminary talks with the SNP after the Nationalists’ Buckie by-election victory last week.
Local businesswoman Sonya Warren’s landslide win left both the SNP and the Independent-led administration with 11 seats.
But the Nationalists are the biggest single group on the council and have already confirmed they want to take control.
The council’s two Labour councillors confirmed last night they had a “good chat” with the SNP.
Elgin City South member John Divers and Fochabers and Lhanbryde representative Sean Morton and are also due to have talks with administration councillors on Monday.
Labour group leader John Divers said: “No agreement was made, and I doubt any action will be taken until after the general election.
“We will be discussing this over the forthcoming weeks, and whatever decision we make will be with the interests of local people at heart.”
Councillor Morton added: “We talked about the possibility of working with the SNP, and it was a good chat, but we have a while yet before any decisions are made.
“We looked at areas where we might find common ground.
“But Labour sometimes agrees with the administration, and sometimes with the opposition.
“We’re just trying to figure out what course would be best for the people of Moray and we will listen to everybody before reaching a decision.”
A Moray SNP spokesman said: “We had a broad discussion with the Labour group, and at this stage things have been left open.
“We will also continue to approach other councillors with a view to forming an administration, but it’s important time is taken before any conclusions are reached.”
Council leader Stewart Cree said he was looking forward to meeting the Labour councillors.
He said: “Hopefully after Monday I will have some indication of what the Labour councillors hope to achieve, and we can work from there.”