How did Warrington's parties rate in the local elections?

Labour have retained control of Warrington Town Hall, the Conservatives are the new opposition group while the Liberal Democrats lost one of their strongholds.

And Labour lost crime commissioner David Keane, to the Conservatives and the man he beat at the last election - John Dwyer.

So how do we rate the performance of the parties?

LABOUR > B-

On the face of it, losing seven council seats and the crime commissioner meant a pretty bad day for Labour.

But they still retain a healthy majority at the Town Hall and did not suffer a large collapse seen in other parts of the country, especially the north east.

Three of the 10 cabinet members lost. Matt Smith's defeat in Culcheth was perhaps expected, traditionally that area has been a Tory stronghold until the past decade.

But narrow defeats for Judith Guthrie in Birchwood (by just three votes) and Rebecca Knowles in Chapelford and Old Hall (by just 16) were shocks.

So Russ Bowden's cabinet will have a new look.

With one eye on the General Election, party leaders would have been pleased with a stronger showing in the north where Charlotte Nichols won narrowly in 2019.

But the party has a way to go if it wants to win in Warrington South again.

So while not a success, there will be some satisfaction for Labour when the dust settles.

CONSERVATIVES > A-

This was another very good election in Warrington for the Tories.

Remarkably Kath Buckley was the only Tory on the council before Thursday.

This from a party which has won three of the past four General Election contests in Warrington South.

There are now 11 and the Conservatives will be the official opposition.

Sweeps of gains in Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft (from Labour) and Appleton (from the Liberal Democrats) were perhaps expected, but the shock wins in Chapelford and Old Hall and Birchwood were not.

While the party won two of three seats in Rixton and Woolston.

And John Dwyer retook the crime commissioner role from Labour's David Keane.

The national picture will have helped but the party is far more organised in Warrington now. A properly organised and targeted campaign was well run.

And with no love lost between Labour and the Tories in Warrington, expect fiery full council meetings to come.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS > C+

Nine years ago, the Lib Dems ran the Town Hall in a coalition with the Tories.

That feels a long time ago now as the party becomes the third group.

They lost all three seats in Appleton but retained their others.

Perhaps most worryingly, the party failed to make any impact elsewhere. 

The south of the town is still its heartland with strong results in Lymm and Stockton Heath.

But the resurgence of the Tories will make the road back to the main opposition party a long one.

A WORD FOR THE INDEPENDENTS >

There were some strong results across town but the highlight was Penketh.

After a bitter past few months, there are three independents in the ward as Labour was rolled aside.

It will be worth watching if that trend continues elsewhere.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW >

Well it is three years until the next local elections.

The Labour intray is very full.

Local plan, Western Link and traveller camp are all on the agenda soon.

And they are all contentious.

And will having a different opposition bring an end to the infighting in Warrington Labour which has been a feature of the past two decades?

For the Conservatives, a chance to further build and try to win the Town Hall.

But that is still a way off. Almost 20 more councillors would be needed. Looking at these results, it is tough to see where they would come from.

And they will come up pressure to fully cost election promises such as freezing council tax and the controversial council debt levels.

The Lib Dems need to fight their way back to wards they once did well in.

It should be interesting to watch.