Elections 2021: Hertfordshire councils change hands

Labour has maintained control of Stevenage Borough Council, but the Conservatives gained power at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

Labour held on in Stevenage despite losing six seats, five of them to the Conservatives.

At Welwyn Hatfield, the Tories won four seats from Labour and one from the Lib Dems to capture the authority.

St Albans Council is no longer in no overall control after a win by the Liberal Democrats.

The Tories kept control of Herts County Council, but their leader lost his seat to the Lib Dems.

Paul de Kort took county leader David Williams' Harpenden seat by just 41 votes.

The Conservatives now have a majority of 14 seats. They had a 20-seat majority after the 2017 elections.

In St Albans, the Liberal Democrats now lead the authority after picking up five seats, giving them a total of 30 councillors.

The Conservatives lost one seat and are down to 23 councillors.

Labour has two seats, having lost three, while the Greens picked up a single new win.

The Lib Dems also retained control of Three Rivers District Council.

In Stevenage, Labour lost five seats to the Conservatives and one to the Lib Dems, but retained control.

In Welwyn Hatfield, the Tories secured a majority in what had previously been a council with no overall control, but which they had been running.

North Hertfordshire District Council remained in no overall control. The Conservatives gained one seat, but are still two short of the 25 needed for a majority at what has been a joint administration run by Labour and the Lib Dems.

The Labour leader of the council, Martin Stears-Handscomb, failed to get elected, but he will remain acting leader until the annual council meeting on 20 May.

He had previously represented Hitchin Oughton, but was standing in the Letchworth South East ward this time, where he lost to the Tories. Hitchin Oughton was won by Labour's Nigel Mason.

The Conservatives won nine out of 10 seats contested at Broxbourne Borough Council to maintain a stronghold on the authority.

There was no change in Watford, which remains under Lib Dem control with all parties holding on to their seats at the authority.

If you'd asked me this morning which political party would be most pleased by Sunday's Beds, Herts and Bucks results, I'd have been tempted to suggest the Conservatives.

However, it was actually the Lib Dems who continued their strong showing in Hertfordshire by holding on to a council and taking back control of another authority.

On 6 May, the race was on in St Albans for either the Tories or the Lib Dems to claim enough councillors to reach the magic figure of 30 to gain full control of an authority that's changed hands more than most over the years.

And it was the Lib Dems who made the most gains, with several from Labour in particular, to end up with exactly the number they needed to claim a majority, while the Conservatives ended up with 23.

Three Rivers Council, in the south west of Herts, has either been under no overall control or with the Lib Dems since the 1980s and the party strengthened its hold there, by gaining a seat in a largely unchanged authority.

North Herts was also one to watch, as Labour and the Lib Dems held a joint administration prior to polling day, but the Conservatives had the most seats, but not enough for full control.

The status quo continued with just one gain for the Tories over Labour in Letchworth Grange and the rest of the seats being held, so it remains under no overall control.

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