Local Elections 2022: Results in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes

The Conservatives have lost their controlling majority on Huntingdonshire District Council for the first time in nearly half a century.

It is the only council in the Anglia region that has been under continuous Tory rule since the 1970s but a surge in support for Independents and other opposition parties snatched away their working majority.

The Conservatives will still be the largest single party group but would need to get support from other councillors to continue to run the administration.

Tories lose control of council for first time in nearly 50 years

The Conservatives have been losing council seats to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in the Anglia region although most of the results will not be declared until later on Friday afternoon.

Among the early counts, the Conservative are likely to retain their minority grip on Peterborough City Council after the opposition parties failed to make significant inroads.

Labour, though, strengthened their position on Stevenage Borough Council after coming close to losing their overall majority for the first time in half a century in last year's elections.

In most of these districts only one-third of the council seats were up for election but there are complete elections for the whole council in Huntingdonshire, St Albans and South Cambridgeshire.

There were no widespread elections in Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire.

Across the Anglia region 423 council seats are up for grabs, voters going to the polls to elect local councillors to deal with local issues like housing, highways and rubbish collections.

Local elections happen every year in the UK in some form but not every area votes every year, and in most places only one-third of the council seats are up for election.

  • CAMBRIDGE

The Labour Party continue to hold overall control of the council in Cambridge gaining two seats.

The Green Party gained one seat, whilst The Liberal Democrats lost three seats.

16 of the 42 seats on the council were up for election.

Labour have had a controlling majority on Cambridge City Council since 2014. In 2021 the Greens gained two seats here.

  • HUNTINGDONSHIRE

It used to be a solid blue area - the constituency of the former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major. But no longer. The Tories have been swept from power on Huntingdonshire District Council although they remain the largest party without an overall majority.

There were gains from Independents, Labour and the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party now has its first ever councillor there.

All 52 seats on the council were up for election.

Huntingdonshire District Council is the only council in the Anglia region to have had a Conservative-majority council since 1976.

After 2018, this is only the second election in Huntingdonshire where all the seats have been elected at once - it used to elect by thirds.

  • MILTON KEYNES

Despite gains by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Milton Keynes remains a hung council with no one party having enough seats for an overall majority. The Conservatives are the biggest party but Labour have been running a minority administration with support from the Liberal Democrats.

19 of the 57 seats on the council were up for election and there remains one vacancy

Milton Keynes is a unitary authority meaning a single council runs all the local services rather than two councils and has been hung since 2006.

  • NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE

There continues to be no overall control in North Hertfordshire, with The Conservative Party losing four seats.

The Labour Party gained two seats and so did The Liberal Democrats.

18 of the 49 seats on the council were up for election in May

In 2019 the Conservatives lost their overall majority on the council after two decades in power. The hung council is currently a joint administration with Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

  • PETERBOROUGH

In Peterborough, the council remains the same, with no one party taking overall control.

The term no overall control refers to a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats.

This is likely to mean that the Conservative Party will continue to run a minority administration with the help of votes from Independent councillors.

19 of the 60 seats on the council were up for election.

Until the 2019 election there was a Labour MP in Peterborough but Labour has not been in power on the City Council, which covers a wider area, since 1997.

Peterborough is a unitary authority meaning a single council runs all the local services rather than two councils.

The local council elections are held on Thursday 5 May with polling stations open from 7am until 10pm Credit: ITV News Anglia

  • ST ALBANS

The Liberal Democrats secured a massive increase in their overall majority from just two in 2021 to 44 in 2022.

St Albans normally elects by thirds but, following boundary changes, the whole council of 56 seats was up for election.

The Liberal Democrats secured a slender overall majority on the district and city council in 2021 after victory in the parliamentary seat in 2019.

The Tories ran the council from 2015 until 2019 and the Lib Dems last had a majority stake in 2011.

  • SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE

All 45 seats on the council were up for election.

There was a spectacular Liberal Democrat win to snatch control of the council from the Conservatives back at the last election in South Cambridgeshire in 2018 and in 2022 they cemented that victory with six more gains.

It was one of the few areas of the Anglia region that voted against Brexit and now is the most secure district council in the region with a Lib Dem overall majority of 29 seats.

After 2018, this is only the second election in South Cambridgeshire where all the seats have been elected at once - it used to elect by thirds.

  • STEVENAGE

The Labour Party has been the majority party in Stevenage since the council was created in 1973. Their majority was cut to three in the 2021 elections but has bounced back to nine.

The Conservative Party lost two seats and an Independent lost their seat.

13 of the 39 seats on the council were up for election.

  • WELWYN HATFIELD

The Conservative have held Welwyn Hatfield but with a reduced majority of just four seats.

The Liberal Democrats made two gains and Labour have a singe additional councillor.

17 of the 48 seats on the council were up for election.

In the 2021 local elections the Conservatives won back controlling power with the net gain of five seats after losing their overall majority two years previously.