Lib Dems achieve 28% of the vote in local elections, well ahead of Labour

1.24.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 7th Jun 2009

Liberal Democrat councillors on Oxfordshire County Council

In local elections for county councils and some unitary authorities on Thursday, the Liberal Democrats achieved a projected 28% share of the vote nationally, according to the BBC, well ahead of Labour on 23% - which was a fall of about 1% from their record low point of last year. The Conservatives achieved about 38%, say the BBC - comparable with their result in 2004, a year before they failed to win the last General Election.

In Oxfordshire, the Conservatives gained eight seats from Labour and the Lib Dems, but failed to make any headway in Oxford city, where they continue to have no elected representatives at any level of local government. The Green group on the county council has been reduced to just two seats, with three of their seats falling to Labour. While Labour's total haul of seats was one more than 2005, when these council places were last fought, they have been reduced to representing parts of Oxford city only, having lost their seats in Banbury and Didcot.

Commenting on the results, Wantage and Didcot spokesman Alan Armitage (who was himself re-elected as a county councillor on Thursday) said: "The Lib Dems are now the only party on the council which represents the city, the country areas and also some of the towns and villages. The Conservatives have been operating like an occupying force in Oxford, and their failure to come close to winning any seats in the city shows how much people in Oxford resent them and their bullying ways. At the same time, Labour has been wiped out everywhere except Oxford, and cannot claim to speak for people across the county. The effects of the first-past-the-post electoral system have been appalling here, and the ability of the resulting council chamber to understand and address the county's needs has to be called into question."

In other parts of the country, the Liberal Democrats have taken control of Bristol City Council, picking up four seats. Labour fell into third place on the Council, losing eight seats.

Responding to the early results and the Cabinet reshuffle, Lib Dem Party leader Nick Clegg described the government as "finished" and called for a general election. He said, "The Labour government has run out of road, it's finished. We need something new, different, fresh."

"This government can no longer govern. It is dysfunctional, it is in meltdown. We need a general election."

Nick went on to applaud the Liberal Democrats in Bristol, saying that now "the Liberal Democrats run the vast majority of the big cities."