HE will be remembered as the King of the Castle. But, in a dramatic twist, Councillor Ken Thornber renounced his throne at the climax of yesterday’s Hampshire County Council elections when he relinquished his leadership, 14 years after sweeping to power.

The veteran Conservative politician’s sensational resignation follows a longrunning leadership struggle as rivals jostled to take his place.

But Cllr Thornber had the final say, waiting until he clinched overall victory and his beloved Brockenhurst seat before quitting his role.

To supporters the 80-year-old – who will remain a councillor – will be cherished as a great leader who shaped the political landscape, while critics have dubbed him “autocratic” and “like an emperor”.

He himself clearly feels he could have carried on.

Speaking just minutes after clinching his seat in the early hours of yesterday, Cllr Thornber said: “What was held against me was my age. I don’t feel my age and will step aside with the deepest of regret.”

Every day the veteran politician drives from his home in Sway to the county council’s headquarters in Winchester and back – a round trip of about 60 miles – to lead a local authority that has a £1,752m budget and presides over a population of 1.3 million people.

Cllr Thornber said: “It’s a six-day-aweek job that takes ten or 11 hours a day if you include the travelling.

“It’s been a privilege to lead one of the top councils in the land and I feel very sad to be standing down.

“With God’s grace I’ve still got years I can give, but one recognises that the time is right.”

But how will he be remembered?

When Cllr Thornber gained power in 1999 after succeeding Cllr Freddie Emery-Wallis – himself a long-standing leader – he promised the Daily Echo a “more consensual” political style and promised to stand up for vulnerable residents such as pensioners and children.

Renowned for his outspoken nature, he wrote to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott just six months after taking power, demanding he reject plans to build more than 100,000 homes in the county.

He has also kept council tax low despite financial pressures during the recession, although he ironically threatened to raise precepts to double figures unless Gordon Brown gave more funding to local authorities.

His time in the limelight also included fielding questions from constituents on the ITV show Tonight With Trevor McDonald in 2005 with residents grilling him on the councils’ bloated £1 billion budget.

He was also under fire for the use of online video streaming of council meetings and defending the cost of the Hampshire Senate.

And he was also criticised for building up council reserves, claiming it was in anticipation of equal pay legislation.

Later chief of children’s services Cllr Roy Perry accused him of breaking a “gentleman’s agreement’’ after warding off a leadership contest in 2011 by promising to retire in 2011.

In last year’s subsequent ballot Cllr Thornber won by two votes and claimed that party members had privately encouraged him to stay on.

Speaking after resigning, Cllr Thornber, who was first elected to the council in 1977, said: “When one thinks of the things I have been able to do it’s been intensely rewarding but a very stressful 14 years.”

He is expected to stand for the post of vice-chairman of the council with the opportunity to become chairman later.