Dundee Liberal Democrat Convener welcomes LibDems overtaking Labour
May 5, 2006 7:09 PM
safer, fairer, greener : Liberal Democrats for local government across the UK
Raymond Lawrie, Dundee's Liberal Democrat local party Convener today (Friday 5th May) welcomed news that, with results from 175 out of 176 councils now in, the BBC's projected national share of the vote based on the 2006 local elections in England puts the Lib Dems at 27%, ahead of Labour on this measure for only the second time.
In England, the Lib Dems have gained a net one additional council in the elections, with virtually no net change in the party's number of councillors, consolidating gains of around 350 seats made over the previous four years.
The party gained control of Richmond-upon-Thames from the Tories, and South Lakeland and St Albans from no overall control, but lost overall control of Milton Keynes and Islington, although remaining largest party in both and effectively retaining control in Islington with the casting vote of the Mayor. The Conservatives made gains but are disappointed to have failed to win a single seat in cities such as Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool, despite this being identified as a key aim by David Cameron.
Mr Lawrie said, "In these English local elections we have won a much higher vote share than in last year's General Election. We have pushed Labour into third place and the Conservatives performed even worse in the major northern cities than they did under Iain Duncan Smith or Michael Howard. Three-party politics is clearly a permanent feature of the British political landscape. Following on from the LibDem successes in Scotland with a tremendous win in Dunfermline in February and a large vote increase in Moray last week, the momentum is behind the Liberal Democrats right across the UK."
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