There was an almost unanimous vote of approval at Shire Hall yesterday for a motion that said the devolution proposal for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk “is not acceptable to this council” in its current form.

Councillors stopped short of killing the deal dead altogether, with an amendment by Cllr John Hipkin ensuring Cambridgeshire remains at the negotiating table with Whitehall.

But the bulk of councillors who spoke on the issue in more than two hours of debate left their fellow councillors in no uncertain terms that they were against the deal.

There was a general consensus across the chamber that devolution should be welcomed in principle – but the subject of a directly elected mayor across all three counties and 23 councils gained no support.

And this looks like being the key issue in the devolution debate, with UKIP leader Cllr Paul Bullen telling councillors yesterday that council leader Cllr Steve Count had informed group leaders the mayor aspect of the deal was non-negotiable.

Labour, Lib Dem and UKIP councillors in particular all suggested a devolution deal covering Cambridgeshire and Peterborough made more sense – with Cambridge City Council willing to share its considerable lump of business rates if a deal can be agreed across this geography, Labour leader Cllr Ashley Walsh said.

“This is a shotgun wedding and George Osborne hasn’t even had the decency to take us out to dinner beforehand,” Cllr Walsh added.

“You would have more chance of finding the Fenland tiger than someone who supports a regional mayor across East Anglia.”

Lib Dem councillor Lucy Nethsingha said the deal looked as if it had been “drawn up on the back of a cigar packet in the Treasury” and had “very little to offer Cambridgeshire”; Cllr John Williams said it was an “idiotic suggestion that you can have one person running the infrastructure for this area”, while Cllr David Jenkins said the council “should be selfish and look after the interests of Cambridgeshire” rather than partnering with Norfolk and Suffolk. …”