The Liberal Democrat leader in Stockport has declared his intention to unite the council after a successful day at the polls.
They gained two seats in Thursday’s local elections, including a defeat of deputy Conservative leader John McGahan in the ward of Bramhall South & Woodford, although the council remains under no overall control.
The Liberal Democrats now hold 28 seats on the council – three more than Labour, whose total has not changed.
However, the Conservative party suffered a massive blow as they lost all three of their wards – two to the Lib Dems and the other to Labour.
And Lib Dem leader Mark Hunter believes their reputation as a party that works hard to represent their residents paid off.
He said: “What we are interested in doing is moving forward, working together where we can to achieve consensus and the best way forward for Stockport.
“We intend to put forward specific proposals, which hopefully will unite the council and take things forward for the future.”
And Hunter – who comfortably took the Cheadle & Gatley seat vacated by colleague Iain Roberts – thought the national situation did not help the Tories at the local polls.
He said: “It would be foolish to not acknowledge the fact that the Conservative party nationally is in disarray.
“We’ve met thousands of decent Conservative voters on the doorstep who’ve said to us, ‘Enough is enough, we’re not going to be supporting them any longer’.”
There was also a shock result in Reddish South, as Green candidate Liz Crix stormed to victory to take the seat vacated by Labour Councillor Jude Wells.
Stepping Hill provided a welcome result for Labour’s Christine Carrigan, who not only won the seat from the Conservative incumbent John Wright but saw off a strong challenge from the Lib Dem’s Pete West – winning by just 27 votes.
Other results include independent candidate Catherine Stuart winning the Heald Green seat, and current council leader Elise Wilson (Labour) holding her ward of Davenport & Cale Green.
