Lib Dem candidates took all but one of the 18 seats up for grabs on Oswestry Town Council as the elections ‘Gold Rush’ for the party continued.
The only opponent to the 17-seat Lib Dem powerhouse is Green councillor Duncan Kerr as even the eco party’s current town mayor Mike Isherwood was swept out of office.
There are also now no Conservatives on the council after the party put forward three candidates for two seats in Cabin Lane ward. Lib Dems called that a “strategic blunder” as the “Tories split their own vote”.
John Price came agonisingly close for new party Shropshire First, picking up 152 votes in Cabin Lane ward, two votes short of Lib Dem winner Darren Brindley on 154.
No candidates stood under the Reform UK banner at the town council elections. The town council votes were counted at Shrewsbury Sports Village in Shrewsbury on Saturday (May 3).
Lib Dem Councillor Jay Moore, a winner in Gatacre Ward, said the party now has to deliver for the people of the town.
“The people of Oswestry have given the Tories a chance and they failed. They gave the Greens a chance and they failed,” said Councillor Moore.
“They have told us that ‘we will elect you and give you a chance and if you fail us you are gone’. People are holding us to account,” he added.
Among the Lib Dem winners were Bailey Head publicans Duncan Borrowman and Grace Goodlad who both won seats on Castle Ward. The Bailey Head is the Camra UK Pub of the Year.
Senior Lib Dems are now in a position to carry through what they are calling a “devolution agenda” where they take responsibility for more services from Shropshire Council.
Councillor Kerr said: “There is some disappointment that the Green Party has lost a council. I don’t think the town council is political and we can celebrate what we did when the Greens were in control for four years.
“We won the In Bloom competition and helped to insulate people’s homes. As Greens we will continue to work for people in the community because we believe it is the right thing to do.”
Councillor Kerr said he believed that the Lib Dems made full use of having Helen Morgan as MP, and Lib Dems agreed that there is the ‘Helen Morgan effect’ in having an active representative at Westminster.
Conservative Les Maguire, who lost his seat in Cabin Lane, blamed his party’s defeats on national issues.
He said: “I think that people have voted nationally. Town councils should be more about local issues.
“I have always tried my best for the people because I like helping people rather than sitting on the sofa complaining.
“I am a Conservative and will remain a Conservative,” he added.
There were no Reform UK candidates in any town council wards, which commentators say was the reason for many hundreds of votes being unused as voters did not pick an alternative to their favoured party.
