Liberal Democrats and Greens surge to victory as Conservatives suffer landslide defeat

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 23: Protesters including Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable MP (C-L), and the Green Party's Caroline Lucas (C-R) take part in the Put It To The People March on Whitehall on March 23, 2019 in London, England. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London today to take part in the Put It To The People March. The march from Park Lane to Parliament Square was organised by the Peoples Vote campaign and is calling for a public vote on the Governments final Brexit deal. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The Liberal Democrats have won the local elections – and how! They won in high turnout races, in low turnout races, they won in seats where they were the only alternative to the Conservatives or Labour, they won in seats where a full roster of established parties were over.

More importantly, they have now done so well that their victories no longer require the caveat that these were seats last fought during their time in coalition. In 2015 the Liberal Democrats lost 411 seats – they have now won 692 seats. They won not only in areas of traditional Liberal Democrat strength but broke into new ground.