Tories sustain huge losses as Greens become biggest party on Warwick District Council

Just six Conservatives councillors remain on Warwick District Council as they took huge losses across the area.

The Tories went into today's (May 5) count at NAEC Stoneleigh as the biggest party on the council with 16 seats, but have been usurped by the Greens who finished the day with 14 councillors.

In Kenilworth, just one blue councillor remains; former deputy leader Rich Hales hung onto his seat in Abbey and Arden.

Elsewhere former leader Andrew Day scraped through to retain his seat by just five votes in Bishop's Tachbrook as a host of former cabinet members lost out.

Labour leader Mini Mangat was not so lucky as she failed to gain election in Myton & Heathcote.

But it was not all bad news for Labour who finished the day with 11 seats - up from five.

In Kenilworth, as well as John Cooke losing his seat in Abbey & Arden, Conservative colleague George Illingworth stepped down, with their seats taken by Kyn Aizlewood and David Armstrong for the Greens.

All three Liberal Democrats in St John's were re-elected, Richard Dickson, Andrew Milton and Kate Dickson all retaining their places on the district council.

In Park Hill - the final announcement of the day - it was a Green clean sweep seeing Lara Cron, James Kennedy and Lowell Williams all voted in.

Whitnash Residents Association retained all three of their seats.

The Lib Dems gained one seat to reach 10.

What Happens Now?

No party has overall control at WDC - as was the case before this week's election - and discussions are now underway between the parties to form a majority.

Green leader Ian Davison said: "We are delighted by how we have done, one person missed out by just 17 votes.

"Negotiations start now and we look forward to talking to other parties to see if we can find common ground."

Asked whether the Liberal Democrats would be the first port of call, Cllr Davison replied: "We have to see how we get on.

"The Lib Dems and Greens voted against the current budget that has a £3.5 million deficit. Balancing the books and keeping services going, efficient and professional is the first step before we move on to the other things.

"With the cost-of-living crisis, climate emergency and war in Ukraine, reducing heating bills is number one. We don't have huge amounts of money but the council has been unable to use some of the grants, giving them back. That is an appalling waste so we must do a lot more on that.

"There are lots of ways that we can make it easier for people to insulate their homes and reduce costs. Locally, congestion is a huge issue. It will be really tough but working with the county council, finding ways forward on that will be really important.

"There is a huge amount of house building going on and getting the right services in there will be important, and another challenge is the local plan which we need to find common ground on."

Liberal Democrat leader Alan Boad said he had been approached by the Greens and Labour and that whatever the make-up of the new cabinet, a united front – between and within parties – would be a must.

"The important thing is to have a policy platform that we can agree to and deliver," he said.

"That is crucial, rather than just drifting from one thing to the next. That is the danger if we don't row in the same direction.

"That could prove difficult with the Green Party because they say they are not whipped and don't always vote together. You cannot run an authority like that, you have to know where you are going."

On the result, Cllr Boad added: "We are very pleased. We had a strategy, we didn't quite pull it off 100 per cent but we got 80-90 per cent of what we wanted. It was not bad."