The Liberal Democrats are celebrating a significant increase in councillors at county hall. The group went from 8 councillors to 12, taking seats from both the Conservatives and Labour and becoming the official opposition to the ruling Conservatives on Essex County Council.

Labour have been left with a single county councillor, from Colchester. In Harlow, all three Labour county councillors were defeated, making this the second year in a row in which Labour has come away from local elections winning not a single seat in Harlow.

Essex County Council Lib Dem group leader Tom Smith-Hughes said:

"We are delighted with our performance in these elections which has come off the back of well run local campaigning. We have some very able councillors who have been doing outstanding work in their local areas and this was reflected in the results. Our group is now the official opposition at Essex County Council and we take our role of holding the Conservative administration to account very seriously. We will press for them to get the basics right.

It has been an astonishing result for the Labour group who have been virtually extinguished - left with a single councillor. Clearly Labour is finished here in Essex. The shambles that is the Labour government was no doubt a factor in the way people voted this time, although the Labour presence has been in steady decline at county hall for over a decade."