The Liberal Democrat leader of Wiltshire Council has narrowly avoided a challenge to his position after colleagues closed ranks to see off a County Hall coup. "This motion does not allege that Councillor Thorn has improperly influenced any planning application," said Cllr Church. Responding, Cllr Thorn denied any wrongdoing and said he had followed all advice from the council’s monitoring officer. "I take enormous offence at the proposition that I in some way am going to use my position to lobby for developers. Following the vote, Cllr Thorn turned to the opposition benches, saying: "Can I just make a plea to the Conservative Party?