NOTHING could be done. After weeks of secret meetings, Lib Dem rising star Faraz Bhatti had instructed council officers to make him the Tories' first city councillor since 1996.

He had slammed Manchester's Lib Dems as `no longer credible'. David Cameron, closely monitoring the drama on his mobile, was travelling to Manchester to welcome the new recruit.

Then the situation exploded. Labour councillors called for Coun Bhatti, not due for re-election until 2011, to resign his Whalley Range seat and stand afresh as a Tory.

A fuming Simon Ashley, leader of the Lib Dem group, blamed the defection on Coun Bhatti's `ego' and accused him of `shafting the party'. It was an outburst that raised eyebrows at Lib Dem HQ, although Coun Ashley - whose position has been under scrutiny since poor election results in 2006 - was congratulated on his forthrightness by Chris Davies. "I wish they'd let me say things like that," sighed the Euro-MP.

Mr Cameron arrived, sweeping into a town hall room booked by Coun Bhatti as long ago as December 21. Journalists jostled with activists for a quick word. In a corridor outside, Labour's Afzal Khan and two colleagues made no effort to hide their glee.

Amid all this chaos, the question was simple. Why?

Articulate and ambitious

Coun Bhatti, a 34-year-old legal executive who came to Manchester from Pakistan in 1989, was a classic Lib Dem recruit of the early 21st century. Bright, articulate and ambitious, he had no party allegiance before being drawn to the Lib Dems by their opposition to the Iraq war.

His rise was swift. Elected to the council in 2004, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament the next year. He defended Whalley Range in 2007 with a 600-plus majority - even though another Lib Dem candidate lost the seat to Labour in 2006. But Coun Bhatti was becoming frustrated. He believed there was a glass ceiling below a coterie of favoured insiders close to Coun Ashley. Senior Lib Dems say this is not true; others simply had more experience, or better claims to senior roles.

A few mutter about Coun Bhatti's commitment, pointing to his patchy attendance record on the licensing committee before he was taken off it by the party late last year. By now Coun Bhatti was meeting with Saj Karim, a north-west Euro-MP who had switched from the Lib Dems to the Tories in November. As a newcomer Mr Karim was keen to prove his worth by bringing in a new recruit.

Mr Karim, whose own defection was so secretive even Tory bosses referred to him by the codename `Mr Fish', pointed out that Mr Cameron had brought the Tories to the centre ground. He claimed the Lib Dems, were drifting into confusion and political irrelevance. There was no particular policy issue that clinched the deal. It was more a matter of tone - and ambition. By mid December, it was done.

Coun Bhatti, a father of three, will get no special allowances or privileges - only the official leader of the opposition gets those. The Conservatives deny he has been promised any sort of `fast-track' promotion. Their candidates for key parliamentary targets have been chosen.

So the next question is simple, too: What will he do with it?