Lib Dems lose control of Bristol City Council but hold Cotham ward

The Liberal Democrats have lost control of Bristol City Council, which is now a hung council, though Lib Dem Councillor Neil Harrison held onto his Cotham seat.

Bucking the Bristol-wide trend again, Cotham voters backed the local Lib Dem candidate, just as they did in last year’s General Election when Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams kept hold of his Bristol West seat with an increased majority.

Cllr Harrison’s vote went up from just over 1,000 in 2007 to almost 1,700 today. But it wasn’t just Lib Dems who saw their vote rise, the Labour Party secured more than double the number of votes in Cotham than it did in the last local election here back in 2009 - taking Labour candidate Estella Tincknell into second place with almost 900 votes. 

Hot on her heels was Graham Woodruff, from the Green Party, who secured almost 850 votes. The Conservative Party candidate, Gareth Alan-Williams was about 100 votes behind that and Amy Hillgrove, standing for Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts got a token number of votes - 57. 33 ballot papers were rejected, due to either being deliberately spoiled or mis-used.

However, it must be noted that turnout was below 50 per cent - which gives some indication of how many people turned out in Cotham to vote in the referendum. After all, if you were at the ballot box voting for the referendum, why wouldn’t you also cast a vote for your local councillor?

Green Party candidate Gus Hoyt took Ashley ward, which covers parts of St Andrew’s, from the Lib Dems, while Alex Woodman won Cabot, which includes Montpelier, for the Lib Dems, where ‘coconut row’ Councillor Shirley Brown was previously representing the ward. Redland Councillor Sylvia Townsend (also a Lib Dem) was not up for re-election this year and continues to represent the ward.

The Lib Dems are still the largest party in Bristol City Council, with 33 councillors, Labour have gone up to 21, the Conservatives remain at 14 and the Greens have doubled their numbers and now rank two. Lib Dem and Council Leader Barbara Janke, who retained her Clifton seat, told the Bristol Evening Post: "We were very disappointed but we will not walk away from our responsibility. We will meet with other parties to look at how best to work with them in what will be a challenging year ahead."

For a full list of election results from Bristol click HERE.