The Liberal Democrats stormed to a majority in both South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils as the Conservatives had its share of seats decimated at the local elections.

The Lib Dems strengthened its majority in the Vale, gaining four seats from 2019 to give it 34 of the 38 available, and also achieved control in South Oxfordshire, which it previously ran as a coalition with the Green Party, by gaining eight seats to hold 21 of the 36 on offer.

Vale leader Bethia Thomas said: “We were offering change. I needed something new for my residents and I am just so proud and grateful to every single person who has given us their vote.”

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South Oxfordshire leader David Rouane described his administration as one of “quiet competence.”

He said: “I don’t want too much in politics. I think people have had enough from politicians and they want people to get on with the job.”

The Green Party increased its share to eight seats in South Oxfordshire, despite losing its coalition partnership, and increased its number in the Vale to four seats.

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At the start of the day, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran told the Oxford Mail there was chance there could be no Tories left in the Vale by the end of the day.

She was right.

The Tories lost all six of its seats in the Vale and were left with no councillors for the first time in at least 50 years.

Things were not much better in South Oxfordshire where the Tories lost nine seats and were left with just one councillor.

It reflected the national mood as the Conservative Party haemorrhaged seats across the country.

“It’s been a tough day,” said Nathan Boyd, the Tory leader in the Vale who lost his seat of Stanford by just 10 votes.

He added: “There’s a lot more national in the mix than local (for why the party performed poorly), but at the same time, I don’t think we can ignore local issues.

“I’m a bit frustrated, a bit numb, and losing by 10 especially is tricky. I feel bad for me, I love my ward and its somewhere I grew up and my parents raised me.”

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Mr Boyd’s counterpart leader in South Oxfordshire, Jane Murphy, didn’t even turn up as she lost her seat in Cholsey to the Lib Dems.

South Oxfordshire district councillor Ian Snowdon is the only Conservative that remains in either council as he retained his seat in Didcot West.

He said: “It’s very sad to see that national politics has played its part on a local level. We have lost some amazing community focused councillors because of the national picture.

“Some of them work incredibly hard for their communities and it's quite clear that some of the Lib Dem candidates didn’t expect to be elected.

“We can only rebuild from here.”