Derek Deedman

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has praised the party’s strong performance in the local elections. Gordon Brown said it had been a “bad and disappointing” election for Labour, as the party suffered its worst council results in at least 40 years. BBC research suggests Labour won a national equivalent vote share of 24% of votes cast in England and Wales, behind the Tories on 44% and Lib Dems on 25%. Lib Dems gained a net 33 councillors on top of an already impressive 2004 performance, and have taken four new councils – Sheffield, Hull, St Albans and Burnley. (BBC)

Nick Clegg said, “These are a very strong set of results for the party. Against the predictions of most pundits, we have successfully defended the record number of council seats that we won in 2004 - the best ever year for Liberal Democrats - and for only the second time in our history, we have outpolled Labour

“We have gained my home city of Sheffield, as well as St Albans, Burnley and Hull. We are also the largest party and came within just one seat of gaining overall control in Oldham, Warrington and Cheltenham. And we made important gains in key seats like Derby, Colchester and Reading.

In Wales too our progress has been impressive. We’ve made gains across the country and strengthened our position as the largest party in Cardiff.

This is a very strong performance and a great tribute to the hard work of our councillors up and down the country. It was a very good night for us.”

Go to the link for the Liberal Democrats on the left for more information.