Conservatives remain in power in Wyre Forest as councillor defects

In this month's local elections the Conservatives lost overall control of Wyre Forest District Council. However the Conservatives remained the largest party with 20 councillors against eight each for Labour and Independent and Community Heath Concern. There are also some independents and the Conservatives are being allowed to run a minority administration helped by the defection of Cllr Rose Bishop from the Independent and Liberal Group to the Conservatives.

This group includes councillors from the Liberal Party which is distinct from the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Party, led by former Liberal MP Michael Meadowcroft, was formed as the "continuing" Liberal Party at the time of the merger with the SDP in 1989. The departure of Cllr Bishop means they are down to, I think, 15 councillors nationally. On the other hand this is considerably more than the BNP.

The Liberal Party are Eurosceptic, favour legalising drugs and feel the coalition Government's spending cuts are "excessive."