Cambridgeshire election results 2022: Conservatives lose seats on councils

The Conservatives have failed to take full control of Peterborough City Council as its make-up remained the same after Thursday's local elections.

The Tories still have 28 seats of the 60 on the council.

The Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Werrington First also have the same number of seats and there is still one independent councillor.

The Conservatives also lost Huntingdonshire District Council to no overall control.

In South Cambridgeshire the Liberal Democrats gained six seats on the district council and increased their majority and on Cambridge City Council Labour remained in control.

A third of Peterborough's unitary authority's seats were up for grabs where the Conservatives run the council under minority control as the largest party.

Conservative leader of the council, Wayne Fitzgerald, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was "thrilled with the outcome of the local elections", as the "national news dominating the news media" had thrown up some "real challenges".

"While we are back where we started at 28 seats, I'm disappointed that we didn't make the gains that I thought we might, but again understandable given the national picture," he said.

"I will be talking to the opposition parties who already know that I have a more collaborative style, and will be looking to share the responsibility of who does what within the council.

"But I think this is a great, and positive, result for the Conservatives."

In Peterborough, everything could have changed, or nothing could have changed.

After the counting's done, it looks like nothing's changed, but how long will that hold?

On the night, the main parties were buoyed by their results.

Peterborough's Conservative MP told me that effectively standing still was a great result, considering the national backdrop.

Labour were delighted to take a seat from the Conservatives in North ward, while the Liberal Democrats held seats that had been considered vulnerable to Conservative manoeuvres.

But while the Conservative leadership is planning to continue running the Town Hall, Labour have told me they're plotting to negotiate with the other opposition parties, hoping to form a workable alliance to unseat them.

So the dust may take a little longer to settle.

In Huntingdonshire, the Conservatives lost eight seats on the district council, with three taken by the Liberal Democrats, three by independents, one by Labour, and one by the Greens.

Overall, the Tories have 22 seats on the district council, independents have 15, Liberal Democrats 10, Labour four and the Greens one.

The Liberal Democrats held on to South Cambridgeshire District Council - winning three seats from the Conservatives, two from Labour and one from an independent.

They now have 37 seats on the council, with the Conservatives the only other party represented, with eight seats.

Lib Dem leader of the authority Bridget Smith said: "People have demonstrated they trust us as the Liberal Democrat administration to keep on serving them well and doing a good job here."

On Cambridge City Council a third of the seats were up for grabs - Labour won 12, gaining two from the Liberal Democrats, who won three but lost another seat to the Greens.

Labour have 29 seats overall on the authority and retain control with the Lib Dems on nine, Greens on three and one Independent.

Cambridgeshire County Council and the county's other district councils - Fenland and East Cambridgeshire - were not holding elections this year.

Elections were being held across the UK, including for the devolved government in Northern Ireland.

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