Liberal Democrat win in Shropshire Council elections

9.05.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 2nd Jul 2010

Richard Huffer with Liz Lynne

Ludlow LibDems last night gained Clee Division from the Conservatives in heart of rural Shropshire with huge swing.

The Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Huffer gained over 60% of the vote with the Conservative candidate gaining 32%.

"Richard missed the seat by 20 votes in the first unitary Shropshire Council elections last year, so this is a huge vote of confidence in him and a big boost for the LibDems in Shropshire", said Parliamentary Candidate Heather Kidd, who was agent in the byelection.

"We fought a full campaign and featured both local issues and our record in the coalition government, where we made clear the progressive impact LibDem ministers have made in recent weeks."

Speaking after the count, Richard said "I'm extremely grateful for the confidence that local electors have shown in me. The scale of the victory is quite humbling. Now the work really starts - our area has suffered from neglect and poor representation for too long!"