We have much to be pleased about. As I write Lib Dems have 327 County Council places, up 131 on the previous results in those seats. The big story, of course, is that Reform has gained 575 while the Conservatives have lost 566 and Labour lost 160.
As hoped, the good news is that we have gained Oxfordshire with 36 seats out of 69, and Cambridgeshire with a knife-edge 31 seats out of 61. Congratulations to both teams!
Late news: We also control Shropshire, with 39 seats and counting out of 74. Brilliant news!
On top of that we are the largest party in Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Wiltshire, and Devon.
In Gloucestershire we have 27 seats, just one short of overall majority, so we will undoubtedly be forming the administration.
In Hertfordshire, we have 31 seats out of 78, so negotiations will probably be underway with the smaller parties, in this case Labour and Green who hold 5 seats each.
In Wiltshire, we have 43 seats out of 98, though it is not obvious where potential partners may lie.
In Devon, we have 27 out of 60 seats, and we have wiped out Labour.
Counting is still underway in Cornwall, but it is clear that it will result in NOC. At the moment we lead with 22 seats.
A recurring pattern in other counties are Conservatives losses to NOC, but with Reform coming through as the largest party. There may well be some interesting coalition discussions going on between the two parties.
Mike Ross put up a great challenge for the Hull and East Yorkshire Mayoral Election, but sadly came second with 37,510 behind the Reform Candidate on 48,491.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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2 Comments
I hope our gains are due to our candidates increasing their vote shares rather than it just being down to Conservatives losing so badly that our candidates find themselves at the top. That said, gaining councillors and council control is going to help build the party by adding to local credibility.
Sadly, according to the BBC, our projected national vote share based on these elections is 17% – the same as the 17% projected share in last years local elections and lower than the 20% achieved in 2023.