Cambridgeshire local elections: Lib Dems win big, Reform gains and Labour leader loses seat

The Liberal Democrats and Reform have been the big winners at this year's local elections in Cambridgeshire.

In Huntingdonshire, the Lib Dems are now the district council's single biggest party while winning all but two of the 45 seats on offer in South Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge, Peterborough and Huntingdonshire councils are now under no overall control after no one party reached a majority.

It comes as the Conservatives - who were the biggest party in Huntingdonshire - lost control of the council for the first time in 46 years at the local elections in 2022.

While Reform has won 14 seats across the county, with four on Peterborough City Council and 10 in Huntingdonshire, where all seats were up for election.

"It's been a really good set of results; in South Cambridgeshire, it's a near landslide there so I think it puts up in a strong position to keep getting things done locally," Nathan Hunt, vice-chair of the Huntingdon Liberal Democrats group, said.

"I think we were optimistic about South Cambridgeshire; in Huntingdonshire I think we were cautiously optimistic because it's a crowded political field, but we've come out strongly in a host of wards."

In Peterborough - with 18 seats being contested - Reform picked up four seats in Bretton, Stanground South, Orton Longeville and Eye, Thorney & Newborough.

Ryan Coogan - who stood in last year's Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral elections - is one of the Reform candidates elected onto Huntingdonshire District Council alongside Howard Tobias and Karan Maheshwari.

"I'm first and foremost a businessman and I think people have decided they don't want politicians anymore; they want real change," Mr Coogan said.

"People that have been there and done that can actually make things happen in their communities."

In Cambridge - where 15 seats were up for election - the city council's Labour leader Cameron Holloway lost his seat to the Green Party on a day when the party lost overall control of the authority.

It proved to be a good day for the Greens, who walked away with seven seats, six taken from Labour on a day when Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has faced speculation about his leadership.

'There are no easy answers'

“I think there are a lot of people who are feeling disillusioned, feeling a bit fed up and it felt to me like a bit of a protest vote and a bit of a desire for something new," Mr Holloway said.

“But there are no easy answers and the Greens offer an easy answer; there is not an easy answer in a complex world.

“In a world where economies are struggling, where there’s war, we need serious politicians – we don’t need people who are going to give easy answers.”

Kathryn Fisher, who beat Mr Holloway to win the Petersfield ward, said she was “absolutely ecstatic” to win.

“I think it’s a massive achievement and a message to the Labour Party saying that people are not happy with what you’re doing," she said.

The results

Huntingdonshire (number of seats)

• Liberal Democrats: 20

• Conservatives: 15

• Reform: 10

• Independent: 4

• Green Party: 2

• Labour: 1

• Animal Welfare Party: 0

• Party of Women: 0

Cambridge (number of seats today / total number of seats)

• Labour: 4 / 17

• Liberal Democrats: 4 / 11

• Green Party: 7 / 12

South Cambridgeshire (number of seats)

• Liberal Democrats: 43

• Conservatives: 2

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