The Liberal Democrats have won their coveted second term running Bath and North East Somerset Council, winning over two thirds of the seats while the Conservatives were almost wiped out.

Winning a consecutive term running the council — which has tended to flip between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats — was the ambition of council leader Kevin Guy, who said before the election: “Democracy delivers short term vision-ism, and you can’t make fundamental changes to people’s lives unless you are given the opportunity to have two, three terms.”

41 seats out of the total 59 on the council went to the Liberal Democrats, up from 36 before the election. Meanwhile the Conservatives went from 10 seats to three — a catastrophic result for the party which ran the council with more than 10 times that number just four years ago.

In a final blow for the Tories, the leader of their group on the council Vic Pritchard lost his seat in the last ward to declare of the night. He had been one of two Conservatives representing the Chew Valley, but both seats were won by the Liberal Democrats.

It is the second consecutive election in Bath and North East Somerset where the Conservative leader has been unseated, with then council leader Tim Warren losing his Mendip seat to Liberal Democrat David Wood in 2019.

Despite their overwhelming victory, the Liberal Democrats did not hold all their seats, losing one in Radstock to Labour and one in Lambridge to the Greens — where Mayor of Bath Rob Appleyard was unseated by “Bicycle Mayor” Saskia Heijtjes.

With five councillors — and hopes to hold onto their two seats in Paulton where the poll has been postponed — Labour have achieved their hope of becoming the official opposition.

Labour group leader Robin Moss said: “We will be a constructive and where necessary critical opposition. We don’t think the Conservatives have been much of an opposition over the last four years.”

While three councillors is a result that has disappointed Conservatives, the Greens have welcomed being in the same situation. Joanna Wright, who had been the only Green on the council, said: “The Green Party are now a group on B&NES council. We will continue to work hard for residents.”

The makeup of the Council is now:

  • Liberal Democrats: 41 Councillors
  • Labour: 5 Councillors
  • Independents: 5 Councillors
  • Conservatives: 3 Councillors
  • Greens: 3 Councillors

    • Two seats, those for the ward of Paulton, have not yet been won. The election in the ward has been postponed following the death of Green Party candidate Tim Morgan. It is being rearranged for a later date.