Looking back on local elections

Local elections are over for another year (although if you live in the St Johns, Brookwood or Hermitage and Knaphill South areas of Woking you have a county by-election on the 19 May).

Results for the Liberal Democrats across the country were not great (understatement alert).  Losses to Labour in the North of England had been anticipated.  Few people predicted the rise in both Conservative and Labour vote in the South.

So what happened in Woking?

It was a bad night for Labour.  Milliband's men had hoped to get at least one seat on Woking Council after several years absence.  They failed.  In Maybury and Sheerwater they came close.  In other seats with a traditional Labour vote they finished in third place, behind both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives.

The Conservatives had a good night.  They held all but one of their seats and gained seats from the Lib Dems in Byfleet and Goldsworth Park. Pyrford went back to the Conservatives having been held by an Independent, orginally elected as a  Conservative, since 2008.  They moved to second place in Old Woking.  Woking Council now has a Conservative majority.  Conservative Leader Kingsbury said at the count that Woking Conservatives would now be able to do what they wanted to do.  No change there then.

UKIP appeared to have high hopes and targetted Old Woking in particular.  They made little impact, taking last place in Old Woking.  I was surprised to see that Labour got a higher vote share than UKIP all but one of Woking's wards for the first time in several years.  In that one ward UKIP and Labour tied for vote share.

And so to the Lib Dems.  Well we lost two seats but we gained one seat - Kingfield and Westfield - from the Conservatives.  Will Forster gained this seat against campaigns from the Tories, Labour, UKIP and a small independent party.  In Old Woking another new councillor Louise Morales held off a three party challenge to hold the seat for the Lib Dems.  Over in Goldsworth Park Amanda Coulson was elected in a by-election.  We held our own in Maybury and Sheerwater in another three way fight.  Overall Woking Lib Dems are down one seat.  A performance comparable with councils we run in the South East such as Portsmouth and Bournemouth.