Very bad results for Lib Dems

The BBC are describing the results for the Lib Dems as mixed. This is a thoroughly misleading assessment. True they gained overall control of Bristol (where they were already running a minority administration) but by any objective measure the overall results for them are terrible. They have already lost Somerset. Paddy Ashdown brushed it aside on a Sky News interview saying it wasn't "traditionally" a Liberal county. What about Devon where they had a huge majority and had been in control for 20 years? They have been swept out there as well. It looks as though they will lose Cornwall which we mean they have no county councils. They have been losing seats in heavily Oxfordshire.

Furthermore the clear Conservative victories deny them of their chance engage in grandstanding posturing in hung Councils. The Lib Dems are increasingly becoming a municipal irrelevance.

How bad do their results have to get for the media to take notice?