Conservatives retain control of Harborough District Council

Counting of the votes began at 11am on Friday, with the final result being declared at 4.20pm.

The result of the election sees the Conservatives with 22 seats on the council, the Liberal Democrats with 11, and Labour getting one seat.

Click here for a breakdown of the results by ward.The election saw the council move to a new pattern of wards, with a reduced number of councillors. Previously the council had 37 members, split 28 Conservative to 9 Liberal Democrats, over 25 wards. The new system has 34 councillors over 19 wards, making direct comparisons to previous votes difficult.

Before the election the Tories had 76 per cent of the council seats, with the Lib Dems having 24 per cent of the seats.

Friday's results mean the Tories now hold 65 per cent of the seats, the Lib Dems with 32 per cent, and Labour's one seat equating to the remaining three per cent.

That would show that while the Conservatives retain control of the council, they lost seats mostly to the Lib Dems, with one going to Labour.

The Green fielded five candidates in all, one each in the wards of Broughton Astley Primethorpe and Sutton, Glen, Market Harborough Great Bowden and Arden, MH Logan, and MH Welland. Generally speaking, the Green candidate came in after the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates beating Labour in each ward. However, in MH Welland the three seats up for election were taken by two Lib Dem candidates followed by a Conservative, the Green candidate came fourth beating the remaining one Lib Dem, one Tory, and two Labour candidates.

UKIP only had one candidate - Julie Tregoning - standing in the Thurnby and Houghton ward. She came in fifth beaten by the three Lib Dem candidates who were elected and the Tory candidate. The two Labour candidates polled less than she did.