A huge thank you to everyone who supported the Liberal Democrats in the local elections last week.

In Bury:
– The Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Tim Pickstone, was elected in Holyrood Ward.
– In next door St Mary’s Ward, Michael Powell narrowly failed to take the seat from Labour, this time by 56 votes. This was despite a terrific 250 vote increase in the Liberal Democrat support.
– In most other wards there was increased support for the Liberal Democrat candidates in many wards.

The new composition of Bury Council is: Labour 31, Conservatives 17 and Liberal Democrats 3.

Across England, the Liberal Democrats saw the best local election results for 15 years.

Highlights included:
– retaining control of South Lakeland, Cheltenham, Eastleigh, Sutton and Watford, including defending the elected mayor of Watford.
– taking control (from the Conservatives) of London Borough of Richmond, London Borough of Kingston, South Cambridgeshire Council and Three Rivers Council (the latter from No Overall Control).
– Significant gains in many other councils, the biggest being Hull (9 more councillors) and Haringey (6 more councillors).
– 77 more councillors nationally
– 16% of the vote in the BBC’s notional national share of the vote.

More information at the Liberal Democrats national website.