Five takeaways from elections in Cambridgeshire

Local elections took place in four areas of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with Labour losing control of Cambridge, the Liberal Democrats dominating South Cambridgeshire, while both Peterborough and Huntingdonshire are both under no overall control once more. But what are the stories behind those headlines?

Labour had a difficult day across England, losing hundreds of councillors.

In Cambridge the story was no different, with the leader Cameron Holloway losing his seat to the Greens, who will be pleased with their performance in the city.

They took seven of the 15 seats up for grabs.

Kathryn Fisher, who took the seat Holloway hoped to win, told the BBC afterwards: "We've had such a good day for the Cambridge Greens, winning every single target seat in the city, we're absolutely over the moon.

"We're not only a thorn in the side for Labour, but we're able to bring some fantastic propositions to the table."

Holloway, meanwhile, said that he was "very proud of their record" and "disappointed" he lost his seat, while Labour remain the largest party on the council.

Deals will now have to be done to see where the balance of power lies.

The other council electing about a third of its councillors was Peterborough, where the Tories became the biggest party.

"We're not dead," said the Tory leader Wayne Fitzgerald.

Reform have added four councillors and party members described the result as a strong night, but some admitted they had hoped to win more.

There was one slip up though, when Peter Reeve - himself a former UKIP councillor - accidentally said his former party's name in an interview with ITV after winning a seat for Reform in the city.

The city remains in no overall control. Labour are the second largest party. Where the power will lie in the city will become clear over the coming days or weeks.

Reform nationally have won more than 1,000 seats across English councils.

As well as Peterborough, they broke through in Huntingdonshire, going from no councillors to 10 as the council elected all 52 seats.

They won all three of the seats going in each of Ramsay and Huntingdon North.

Ryan Coogan, who won in the former, said: "People have absolutely had enough of rising taxes, crime on their streets, lack of infrastructure, services always feeling like they are failing and deteriorating."

But, like last time out, no party has a majority in Huntingdonshire. The Lib Dems have become the biggest party on 20, with the Tories next on 15.

With Independents, Greens and Labour in the mix too, discussions seemed to already be under way about coalition deals at One Leisure in St Ives on Friday to reach the magic 27 number to get a majority.

It was a family affair at the Huntingdonshire count as a family of four were all hoping to get a seat, three of them for the Liberal Democrats and one for the Green Party.

Nathan, Alan and Jacqueline Hunt all won seats for the Liberal Democrats in Huntingdon East and St Neots Eatons.

Georgie Hunt, for the Green Party, lost her battle for a seat representing Huntingdon North Ward.

"I think fundamentally I may wear a different rosette to my family, [but] we all stand for doing what is best for St Neots and Huntingdon," she said.

"My parents have always taught me you can leave the community better off than you found it, and there is nothing better than that really."

Something which has put South Cambridgeshire District Council on the map nationally has been the four-day week for staff.

The Lib Dems introduced it as part of efforts to improve recruitment and retention, and have since staunchly defended the policy in the face of criticism from elsewhere.

None were louder than the Conservatives, whose leader Heather Williams disagreed about the claimed savings and said her party's analysis showed it cost the council an extra £270,000 on staffing costs and £244,000 extra on equipment.

However, Williams is now one of only two Tories left on the council, as the Liberal Democrats swept 43 of the 45 available seats.

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