Above from BBC News are the final totals from last Thursday’s local elections. As can be seen the Tories lost the most councillors but the LDs not the official opposition got the most seats.

For the LDs this comes 12 years after under Nick Clegg that the party entered into the coalition arrangement with the Tories something that proved to be a major negative in the period that followed. Thursday’s outcome and their Westminster by-election victories in Chesham & Amersham and Shropshire North suggest that this is nothing like the issue that it was. Ironically their leader, Ed Davey, played a major part in the coalition and was a member of David Cameron’s cabinet for most of the five years.

Mike Smithson