Labour becomes biggest party in Peterborough

Labour has become the largest party on Peterborough City Council

Labour has become the largest party on Peterborough City Council but the authority remains under no overall control.

The council was being run by Peterborough First, largely made up of Conservative defectors, as a minority administration since November.

Peterborough First took over after ousting Conservative council leader Wayne Fitzgerald.

Just over one third of the council, 23 of its 60 seats, was up for election on Thursday.

The Conservative MP for Peterborough (seated) Paul Bristow with the party's council group leader Wayne Fitzgerald during a recount for Eye, Thorney and Newborough ward

The Conservatives lost half of their seats, taking them down to 11.

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow's wife Sara Bristow lost out in her bid to become a Conservative councillor in Werrington.

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Mr Fitzgerald said "it feels terrible, but expected" although "there were a couple of the seats we didn't expect to lose".

"The Ravensthorpe ward - Gul Nawaz has been a councillor for a number of years but the Greens won that on a pro-Palestine vote and that's happening in a few places in the city.

"The Conservative party is on life-support in terms of national polls. It's a hard job to get people to come out and vote when they are so disillusioned with what's happening at Westminster; that's been a real challenge.

"I don't take direct responsibility for the loss - I have the support of my team."

The Labour Party is now the biggest group on Peterborough City Council with 19 seats

Labour now has 19 seats. They gained five seats from the Tories, including a win by Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, 18, who is due to sit her A-levels next week.

She is believed to be the youngest Labour councillor in the country after beating sitting Tory councillor Andy Coles in Fletton & Woodston ward.

The leader of the city's Labour group Dennis Jones called the party's gains a "victory for fairness and common sense".

Responding to coalition possibilities with Peterborough First, he said "it's too soon to say anything".

"We have done better than we expected. We have won seats from sitting councillors.

"You can see the Greens have put some candidates in certain wards and tried to reap the benefits.

"Door-knocking over the Gaza issue? Yes, it was an issue, but we didn't lose any seats on it."

Council leader Mohammed Farooq celebrated four gains for Peterborough First including his son Saqib Farooq's win in the Hargate & Hempsted ward

Peterborough First also had a successful night with four seats gained taking them to 14, with the Greens and Liberal Democrats gaining two seats each.

Peterborough First's council leader Mohammed Farooq said he was "extremely pleased" with the result.

His son Saqib Farooq was re-elected to the council, but won in Hargate & Hempsted, having previously served in Glinton & Castor.

Chris Harper retained his seat having defected from the Conservatives, who he said had conducted a "dirty campaign"

Analysis

By Ben Schofield, BBC political reporter in Peterborough

Peterborough had seen more than two decades of uninterrupted Conservative leadership at its unitary city council. That all came to an end at a crunch council meeting in November.

The Tory leader of the council was deposed by a coalition of Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Peterborough First councillors.

The Conservative seat tally is lower than it was in 1997, when they had 24 out of 57 seats. Now they number 11 out of 60.

With 19 seats, Labour is also down on its '97 tally when they held 27.

Peterborough First, which was set up by former Conservatives and has attracted more disaffected Tories, is now the council’s second largest group.

Peterborough First councillor Mohammed Farooq has been the council’s leader for six months.

He told me Peterborough "is no longer a Conservative city", but it will now be up to his party – possibly in alliance with Labour – to deliver.

Peterborough First councillor Chris Harper retained his seat in Stanground South, having been elected as a Conservative at the previous election. He called it a "fantastic result" for the group.

"It has been a dirty campaign by other parties, especially the Conservatives," he said.

"They should be ashamed of themselves. But I'm thankful for the people who put their faith in me."

Peterborough's Green Party celebrated two gains from the Conservatives

Green Party leader Nicola Day said she was "delighted" with the results.

She said the Greens "weren't expecting the results especially the Ravensthorpe one", where Qaiser Farid beat Mr Nawaz.

She said it was "not correct" that the Greens only focused on international issues.

"We are focused on local residents and communities. Of course you can care about humanitarian concerns of another country," she said.

"The Conservative vote collapsed anyway. But, the key take-home is people want to see hard-working councillors."

Werrington had two seats up for election - both were won Peterborough First candidates

Although the Lib Dems gained two seats from the Tories, they had a massive upset in losing Nick Sandford in Paston & Walton ward. He has been a councillor for the last 28 years.

Lib Dems group leader Chris Hogg said "the party has lost its father".

"I can't get over the devastation of losing Sandford over just five votes. I feel like I had a bereavement. But it shows that every single vote counts. We have to dust ourselves down and re-group."

The result of Cambridgeshire's Police and Crime Commissioner election is also expected later on Friday.