Election results: Lib Dems win control in Bath and North East Somerset
- Published
The Lib Dems overturned a previous Tory majority
The Lib Dems have taken control of Bath and North East Somerset Council from the Conservatives.
The party overturned a previous Tory majority of seven and won 37 of the 59 seats available - a gain of 23.
The Conservatives took nine seats, a loss of 24 since the last election in 2015. Labour took seven seats and six seats were claimed by independents.
Tim Warren, the Conservative leader of the council, lost his seat to David Wood from the Lib Dems.
He said: "We expected it to be bad, but not this bad.
The Liberal Democrats celebrated after winning control
"We were being told on the streets that people couldn't trust the Conservatives any more, and wouldn't vote for them because of Brexit.
"I don't think people are happy. The people that voted to remain blame us for leaving and the people that voted to leave blame us because we haven't left yet."
Lib Dem group leader, Dine Romero, said she was "stunned" by the victory.
"I am beyond pleased and it is a most astonishing result and far greater than could possibly be expected or even hoped for," she said.
One of the seats the Conservatives lost to the Lib Dems was the Mendip ward, where prominent Brexiteer MP Jacob Rees-Mogg lives.