Good morning – and make no mistake – this is a very good morning for the Liberal Democrats.
We’ve held every council we’re defending so far!
We’ve also gained control of nine more, in Vale of the White Horse, Hinckley & Bosworth, North Norfolk, Winchester, Bath and North East Somerset, South Somerset, Cotswolds, Chelmsford North Devon, Somerset West & Taunton and Teignbridge.
We’re topping the polls in seats like Southport, Hazel Grove, St Albans and Cheadle.
We’re making strong progress in Dacorum, Welwyn Hatfield, Broxtowe, Wokingham, Brentwood, Southend, New Forest, Barnsley and Sunderland. The list goes on and on.
We’ve made over 300 net gains – with many results still to come.
That makes Thursday’s local elections our best result since 2003 – at the height of the Iraq war.
To everyone who has made this possible, I want to say thank you. More Liberal Democrat councils and councillors means we can get more change in communities across the country.
It also gives our European Election campaign a huge boost.
We’ve got campaign action days this weekend up and down the country – and Liberal Democrats everywhere should have a spring in their step!
If we can repeat these results on 23rd May, then we will be celebrating again soon!