THE Lib Dems emerged as the clear victors when voters went to the polls on Thursday (May 2) to elect 59 councillors to the new Somerset West and Taunton Council.

The Conservatives had controlled both Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council, which the new SWAT authority has replaced.

The Lib Dems won 30 out of the 59 seats, allowing them to govern with a narrow majority.

The Conservatives won four fewer seats than all the independent candidates – and both the leader and deputy leader of Taunton Deane lost their seats.

The low turnout – a mere 26.9 per cent – seemed to hit the Tories hard, as had the party’s record on Brexit.

Council leader John Williams was dethroned by Ross Henley in what had been dubbed ‘the battle of the Blackdowns’.

Mr Williams, who lost by a margin of more than two to one, blamed his party’s poor performance on the national picture, saying: “[The result] has to be the general public saying to government: ‘We’ve had enough. We need Brexit sorting out – get on with it’.”

Mr Henley thanked the community in the Blackdown Hills for their ‘absolutely fantastic support’, saying they had ‘worked tirelessly to get me elected’.

Mr Williams was not the only high-profile Conservative figure to fall. Mark Edwards, his Taunton Deane deputy, finished third out of five candidates in the Trull, Pitminster and Corfe ward. But Conservative Roger Habgood remained on the council as Monument ward member despite a close challenge from Lib Dem candidate Sarah Lithgow, and the Tories also saw off a challenge in Wellington South.

Simon Coles, leader of the Lib Dem group, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the public have given their faith to us, and we will now deliver our manifesto – we will now deliver the things that have been missing so badly in Somerset West and Taunton.

“We’re looking forward to it – it’s a challenge but we will rise to that challenge. I’m not going to make promises we can’t keep.”

Mr Coles said he had been surprised by just how far the Conservatives’ vote had fallen, adding that the party had ‘catastrophically failed to deliver’ for Taunton and the wider area.

The new council will meet for the first time in Taunton on May 22.

In total the Lib Dems secured 30 out of the 59 seats, with independent candidates being the second most successful group with 14.

They were followed by the Conservatives (ten seats), Labour (three) and the Greens (two). UKIP did not secure a single seat.

Daniel Mumby

Local Democracy reporter