Green Party councillors elated to win first seats

Green Party candidates elected to a county council for the first time said they felt elated and privileged to have won in the local elections.

The Greens now have three councillors on Cambridgeshire County Council.

Peter Charles Rees was elected in the Newnham division, Elliot Tong in the Abbey division and Darren James Green in Romsey.

Rees said he was "absolutely elated" to be voted in and hoped to "bring the voice for the climate crisis" to decisions made by the county council.

Tong said he felt "very privileged" to have been elected to represent an area he loved.

"There is a lot of stuff that needs changing around the city," he said.

"We are seeing our infrastructure suffer greatly, we are seeing our services suffer greatly, all while taxes get higher and higher every year, which is pushing people further into poverty.

"We need to make sure we are getting residents the quality of service they deserve and actually stand up for them."

The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the county council, with 31 councillors elected to the authority.

The party has run the county council as part of a joint administration with Labour and Independent councillors for the last four years.

Lib Dem councillor Alex Beckett said: "We have been working with Labour for the last four years but it is great for us to finally be in control to be able to bring forward our proper Liberal values and make sure that we can really get things going again for all of Cambridgeshire."

The Lib Dems gained eight seats, taking their number of councillors to 31, while the Conservatives lost 11 places to now have a total of 10 seats.

Reform UK won a total of 10 new seats, with the Greens also winning the three new seats, while Labour halved its number to five. The number of Independents remains at two.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.