Whilst May 5 was a bad night for many Liberal Democrats around the Country here in Bath and North East Somerset we kept the election focussed on local issues and campaigns that were important to residents and did well in the ballot box.
The Council elections resulted in
Liberal Democrats 29 (up 3)
Conservatives 29 (down 3)
Labour 5 (same)
Independent 2 (same)
The group have re-elected me as their leader and tomorrow night at the Council AGM we will be submitting to the Council a minority Liberal Democrat Cabinet. The Labour group have said they will not enter a formal coalition.
The press release we put out:-
For immediate release: Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Liberal Democrats make offer to run B&NES Council
The Liberal Democrat Group have confirmed today that they will be offering to form a minority administration to run B&NES Council. The proposal will be subject to a vote by the full Council at the AGM on Thursday (19th May).
Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown) said:
“Voters in Bath and North East Somerset have clearly shown that there is much support for the Liberal Democrats locally. We fought a very positive campaign based on local issues and our vision for the district.
“The result of the 2011 election means that no one political Group has the 33 Councillors needed to take full control of the Council – the Liberal Democrat and the Conservative Groups have 29 Councillors each.
“A coalition involving the Conservative Group in B&NES is not possible, due to the irreconcilable policy differences on purely local issues including Culverhay school, the BRT and the new Council office block in Keynsham.
“Therefore we will be offering to form a minority Liberal Democrat administration, which will represent the whole of Bath and North East Somerset and be a listening Council. It will be for Full Council to decide who will take control.”
ENDS