Labour gains control of Nuneaton and Bedworth

Labour have 20 seats in Nuneaton and Bedworth

Labour has gained control of Nuneaton and Bedworth Council from the Conservatives in the local elections.

They have 20 seats after gaining 15, as the Tories, who had been in charge since 2021, were left with 16.

Tory deputy leader Clare Golby, who faced calls to stand down following remarks during a meeting of the children and young people scrutiny committee in January, lost her seat.

Turnout was 27.49%, out of an electorate of 101,049.

The win puts Labour back in control for the first time since 2018, with the council having no overall control for three years until the Tories took charge in 2021.

The Green Party has the other two seats.

Ms Golby polled 651 votes in Arbury ward in Nuneaton, with fellow Conservative Michael Green getting 602. They were beaten by Labour's Brady Hughes who received 695 and Christian Smith 656.

Labour had just five seats on the council after the last set of local elections in 2022.

New Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council leader Chris Watkins said a priority would be finding out the financial situation

The parliamentary constituency of Nuneaton has traditionally been a bellwether seat, meaning it has backed the winning party in general elections.

Earlier, Conservative MP for Nuneaton Marcus Jones said town centre regeneration and progress on levelling up was an issue that had "weighed heavily" in the town.

• LIVE: BBC news website local elections coverage

Labour leader and new council leader Chris Watkins said "it could have been a number of issues", including cost of living, following the result.

Asked about priorities, he stated: "First day is I'm gonna be sitting down with the officers finding out the financial situation of the council and then we'll decide a plan from there."

Conservative leader Kris Wilson said that he still had 16 councillors after the election

Conservative leader of Nuneaton Kris Wilson said he thought Labour still had a lot of work to do despite gaining control in the election.

"Labour should be wiping the floor with us, they haven't," he said.

Mr Wilson added Nuneaton was a traditional "Labour heartland", yet he still had 16 councillors after a "very tough set of elections".

Coventry City Council leader George Duggins was pictured at the count where three Labour gains emerged

In Coventry, Labour remained in overall control with three gains, while there were three Conservative holds and 11 Labour holds.

An election is still to be held for one ward, after the death of a candidate, which was announced last week.

Asked about the financial situation, the council leader, Labour's George Duggins, said "we understand" an incoming Labour government would have "so many things that they'll need to do".

But he added: "There may be room for manoeuvre in respect to a general fairness of funding.

"That's all we can ask for an incoming government to recognise that Coventry should get at least the national average in respect to its funding."

Meanwhile in Rugby, Labour took seats from the Tories belonging to cabinet members - Carolyn Watson-Merret, councillor for Admirals and Cawston, and Carolyn Robbins, cabinet member for finance and councillor for Coton and Boughton.

Rugby remains in no overall control, after Labour took three Conservative seats to claim five overall on Friday.

The Tories retained six and the Lib Dems three.