Lib-Dems see election gains

Voting turn-out was up to 60% in some areas

There has been no change in the colour of local government in Cornwall after the district and borough elections.

Independents continue to control north Cornwall and the Liberal Democrats have maintained their dominance in the Carrick district.

No party has overall control of Kerrier, Penwith and Restormel councils.

In Caradon, independents and non-aligned councillors make up the majority group.

The Boundary Commission had not been to Cornwall for 20 years

David Brown,
North Cornwall Returning Officer

The turn-out varied across Cornwall, from under 20% in some wards to almost 60% in others.

There had been fears that people in the Padstow area would be too distracted with local celebrations of Obby Oss Day to visit polling stations. But about 37%, about average, found time to cast votes.

The Liberal Democrats made some gains but did not do well enough to take control of any of Cornwall's six local councils.

They increased their number of councillors on North Cornwall District Council, which has been controlled by independent councillors since 1973, from nine to 13 of the 36 seats. The independents took 19.

The British National Party's (BNP) attempt to enter Cornish politics in North Cornwall was swept aside. At Altarnun, BNP candidate Peter Mullins managed 73 votes.

Independent Ken White lost his seat after 30 years as a member of north Cornwall.

Electronic voting

The Liberal Democrats are now the biggest party in Penwith, taking over from the Conservatives. However, despite the Lib-Dem increase from nine to 11, there is still no one in overall control of the 34-seat authority.

In Kerrier, the Lib-Dems and Tories held the same number of seats, 10 and four respectively, but Labour lost four, going from 10 to six of the 44 available.

A new electronic voting system in Kerrier failed to improve the turn-out in.

Fewer people voted than in the last poll, despite attempts to get them to use the internet, mobile phones and digital television to make their choice of candidate.

Returning officer for Nigel Richards said: "Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't get a better turn-out.

"But I think it would have been even lower if we hadn't introduced those methods."

Ward boundaries

Restormel saw a Lib-Dem increase from 18 to 22 of 45 councillor places, while the Tories lost three seats and Labour lost its one councillor.

In the Caradon district, one seat in Torpoint had to be recounted four times, with one vote separating the second and third candidates.

Some boundary changes came into effect, reducing the number of wards in an effort to make local government fairer.

North Cornwall Returning Officer David Brown said: "These changes were brought about by the Boundary Commission, who had not been to Cornwall for 20 years. So we had wards were the number of electors was 900 and in others it was 2000.

"It is the commission's job to ensure that value of everybody's vote was the same."