Lib Dems add councillors as party targets Tory seats

The Liberal Democrats have won 94 new council seats and gained control of two councils in Thursday's local elections.

Lib Dems now run Dorset and Tunbridge Wells councils, but failed to take one of its other key target of Wokingham.

The party made gains in traditionally Conservative voting areas of the south of England, known as the "blue wall".

Leader Sir Ed Davey claimed voters were switching from the Tories because they "have had enough of being taken for granted and being let down".

The Lib Dems won extra council seats in West Oxfordshire, Winchester and Cheltenham, while gaining control of Dorset Council from the Conservatives.

They gained 13 seats, meaning the party now holds 42 seats in the council, while the Conservatives lost 13 seats, dropping to 30.

They also snapped up eight new council seats in Tunbridge Wells to take control of the council.

In Winchester, Sir Ed claimed his new councillors would be "real champions who are going to work tirelessly for the local community and deliver the fair deal that people so deserve".

The party rally featured people wearing inflatable dinosaur costumes and blue Conservative rosettes holding a banner saying "Make this Conservative government history".

Under Sir Ed, the party has become well known for campaign stunts featuring large and outlandish props.

These have included turning the hands on a clock face in the style of Parliament's Big Ben, to demonstrate "time's up" for Rishi Sunak, and Sir Ed knocking down a giant blue wall with an orange Lib Dem hammer.