Local elections 2023: Tories lose Dacorum, Hertsmere, East Herts and Welwyn Hatfield

The Greens are now the largest party on East Herts Council, as it moves from Conservative control to no overall control

The Conservatives have lost control of four Hertfordshire councils, with the Liberal Democrats taking full control of one and the Greens making gains.

Dacorum was taken by the Liberal Democrats as the Tories lost 13 seats.

They lost 13 seats at Hertsmere, which the party had run since 1999, to leave a hung council.

Further losses in East Hertfordshire and Welwyn Hatfield also left those authorities under no overall control.

The Conservatives lost three seats and their slim majority in Welwyn Hatfield, while the Greens have become the largest party in East Herts.

Elsewhere in Hertfordshire, the Conservatives kept control of Broxbourne while Stevenage has remained under Labour control.

Both Watford and Three Rivers remained under Liberal Democrat control and North Herts has stayed as under no overall control, so it is likely that a Labour/Liberal Democrat Alliance will continue there.

St Albans has also stayed Liberal Democrat - mathematically this was not going to change - but the Lib Dems did lose one seat to the Greens.

At a glance

• "A win is a win," says the Conservative leader of Dacorum Borough Council, who kept his seat by just 11 votes

• Of the seats up for election on Broxbourne Council, the Tories held their nine seats and Labour kept their one

• In Stevenage, Labour take nine of 13 available seats while the Tories and Liberal Democrats win two each

• "We'll be listening to residents," says Ben Crystal, one of the successful Green candidates in East Herts

Andrew Williams, wearing a blue rosette, retained his seat by just 11 votes

At Dacorum Borough Council, the Liberal Democrats have won majority control for the first time in 20 years.

They gained nine seats while the Tories lost 13. Labour won three and the last went to an independent candidate.

The count was suspended until 11:00 BST, after 13 of 51 seats were counted, due to a member of staff becoming ill.

Conservative leader Andrew Williams narrowly held on to his seat by just 11 votes before counting was suspended.

He said: "I'm relieved, I've been a councillor here for 36 years, I really wanted to carry on. The result was really close, and when I first saw the ballot being checked I thought 'this is a bit close'. But a win is a win.

"And given what I'm seeing across the country is disappointing results for the party, I'm just relieved to be re-elected."

Amy Holmes, BBC 3CR political reporter

The Tories' bad day in Hertfordshire has continued.

Overnight they kept hold of Broxbourne, one of the safer Conservative authorities in the county, but lost Hertsmere and also East Herts, where we await one result.

They've also added Welwyn Hatfield and Dacorum to that list, where the latter is now under Liberal Democrat control.

It's now been confirmed that the Lib Dems have held on to Watford and Three Rivers, whilst overnight Labour kept hold of Stevenage.

It's worth highlighting the impact the Greens are having on East Herts.

Co-leader Adrian Ramsey visited the authority last month, boldly claiming he wanted 10 seats. As it stands, his party have a whopping 17.

It means they're the largest party, although the Tories are close behind on 16. They will be more concerned they've lost a council, where before yesterday they had 39 of the 50 seats.

North Herts will also stay under no overall control, presumably with the Labour and Lib Dem Alliance continuing.

St Albans has stayed Liberal Democrat, where the party could not lose, and we'd also expect them to hold Three Rivers.

With one seat to declare at East Herts, no-one can reach 26 for full control.

The Greens are the largest party with 17 seats, the Tories on 16, Lib Dems 10 and Labour on five.

Ben Crystal, one of the successful Green candidates in East Herts, said the party would be "listening to residents and hearing what they want".

"It's clear that they've had enough of towns that are struggling and rivers full of pollution," he said.

"They want clean air, they want their green spaces protected, so I think those are the kinds of things that we'll start to take much more seriously than they have up until now."

In Stevenage, Labour took nine of 13 available seats. The Tories and Liberal Democrats won two each.

In Hertsmere, it means the Tories now have just 16 seats, three short of a majority. Labour doubled their councillor count to 14, while the Liberal Democrats trebled their seats from three to nine.

Of the seats up for election on Broxbourne Council, the Tories held their nine seats and Labour kept their one.

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