No party has won overall control of Lichfield District Council after a dramatic local elections count.
The Conservatives went into the vote with 36 of the 47 councillors, but saw their numbers reduced to 23 – just one short of the 24 needed for a working majority.
Labour jumped from 11 members to 17, while the Liberal Democrats also enjoyed a boom in numbers, rising from a single councillor to seven.
But the result went down to a wire with the last result – in the Whittington and Streethay ward – going through a number of full recounts before a final result was announced.
There were a number of high profile casualties at the ballot box, with the council’s chair Colin Greatorex losing out in St John’s ward along with fellow Conservative councillors Deb Baker and Tim Matthews.
Cabinet member Angela Lax was defeated in the Stowe ward, while Staffordshire County Council’s leader Alan White lost out in the crucial Whittington and Streethay vote.
Former cabinet member Ashley Yeates was also ousted by the Lib Dems in the Mease Valley ward.
Lichfield District Council is now a three party authority after independent candidates failed to win at the ballot box, with Joanne Grange losing her seat to the Lib Dems in Chadsmead, while former cabinet member Liz Little also lost out in Little Aston and Stonnall ward to the Conservatives – the party she left after being de-selected.
The full results from each ward can be seen here.
