Liverpool City Council Lib Dem leader, Paula Keaveney, loses seat

The Liberal Democrats on Liverpool City Council have lost nine seats to Labour, including that of the party leader, Paula Keaveney.

Knowsley, on Merseyside, has become a single party council with Labour holding every one of its 63 seats.

The four remaining Liberal Democrat councillors all lost their seats, leaving the council with no opposition.

In addition, Labour took control of Wirral, where they had been the largest party in a hung council.

The party also ended 26 years of political stalemate by taking Sefton Council, which been a hung authority since 1986.

Meanwhile the leaders of the Lib Dems and Conservatives in Halton have lost their seats as Labour strengthened their control of that council.

'Got it wrong'

Lib Dem leader Linda Redhead had served on the authority for 11 years.

The Conservative leader Peter Browne was also defeated as Labour increased their number of seats to 50.

Overall, the Lib Dems lost two seats, the Conservatives one and the others three. There are now only four Lib Dems and two Tories on the council.

In Wirral, Labour won five seats from the Conservatives and two from the Liberal Democrats, bringing their overall number of councillors to 37, with the Tories on 22 and the Lib Dems on seven.

The council was headed by Conservative Jeff Green after Labour leader Steve Foulkes lost a confidence vote in the wake of a critical report into the council's handling of the case of a whistleblower who revealed overcharging of vulnerable people in council care.

Phil Davies, the new Labour leader of Wirral Council, said: "In politics sometimes it is important that you hold your hand up and say 'sorry, we got it wrong'.

'All those issues'

"We've accepted all of the recommendations in Anna Klonowski's report.

"We have an improvement plan now and a new director of that department.

"I am confident we have a team in place now to address all those issues."

Labour's victory in Sefton was achieved by winning eight seats - three from the Lib Dems, two from the Tories, one from UKIP and two others.

The party now control 36 seats, the Lib Dems have 20 and the Conservatives eight, with two going to others.

Labour's leader Peter Dowd said: "We had £44m cuts off the government last year, we've got £20m this year and £10m in subsequent years.

"We have to work in those circumstances for the benefit of everybody and not be partisan."

Labour also consolidated their hold on St Helens, taking four seats from the Lib Dems and one from the Tories.

The party have 48 seats, the Lib Dems five and the Conservatives three.

Labour remain in control of Warrington Council, winning 15 of 19 seats. The party took two from the Conservatives and five from the Liberal Democrats.

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