Winchester City Council stays Conservative after crunch local elections of May 1st.
Conservatives in Winchester have retained contol of the City Council after local elections, held on Thursday May 1st.
Despite a concerted campaign from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives were successful in five out of the six seats they were defending, including the Compton and Otterbourne ward of city council leader George Beckett.
It means they will remain in power at the Guildhall for at least two years, with city council elections not due again until 2010.
The Conservatives have 29 councillors on Winchester City Council, the Lib Dems 24 and Labour, just one. There are three independent candidates, one less than last year.
Leader George Beckett said; "It would have been disappointing to have lost control although we would still have been the largest party. When you consider where we have come from in the past six years, huge steps have been made. The further you get the more difficult it is to sustain but we are back in and I am eager to get back to work for the benefit of local people."
Prospective Winchester MP, Steve Brine added; "I am delighted, with a majority of just one our aim was obviously to retain control of the council and we have done just that. I am proud we have run a decent, honest and 100% positive campaign, focusing on our candidates and their record/proposals for each local area. Sadly this has not been true for some of our opponents but I always feel it is rather telling when your opponents dedicate the vast majority of their leaflets to talking about you!
"The Liberal Democrats threw the kitchen sink at us in the Winchester City Council area and still failed. I look forward to working with Cllr Beckett and his team as they build on the good work they have begun in the first two years since taking control in 2006."
See the full results from Winchester City Council elections of May 1st 2008, via The Hampshire Chronicle, here
Pictured above; Steve Brine and George Beckett work closely together on key local issues.