BASINGSTOKE and Deane Borough Council will be having an injection of fresh blood for the next electoral year.

Following the election on May 2, there will be five new faces at the borough council and two returning former councillors.

This has come from either former members stepping down from their seat or through the two gained seats from the Liberal Democrats.

Nationally, the Lib Dems performed extremely well, gaining seats up and down the country, and with the two additional seats in Basingstoke and Deane in the Baughurst and Tadley North ward and Brighton Hill North ward, leader of the Basingstoke branch of the Liberal Democrats Councillor Gavin James was happy with the results.

He said: “It has been a great day for the Lib Dems and it is great to see that we are supported here in Basingstoke.

“We now have a strong team which can have a real voice on the borough council and make changes that the people of Basingstoke which to see.”

The two gains mean that the Conservatives hold on the borough council has been cut to a majority vote of one.

Basingstoke Conservatives group leader Cllr Simon Bound said: “We have seen a backlash nationally, but we haven’t seen a major shift here in Basingstoke.

“The people of Basingstoke clearly trust in the work we are doing, and they want to see this continue and that has been reflected in the results.”

Elsewhere, the Labour party held the three seats which were up for contention in Winklebury, Norden and Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon.

Before the count, leader of the Basingstoke Labour party, Cllr Paul Harvey, said: “There will be an interesting set of results and the national picture speaks volumes that people have lost faith in the Conservatives.

“We have a strong Labour showing and we hope we have seen the Conservatives stronghold slip.”

The overall turn out for this year’s election was 33 per cent, up from last year’s borough elections where it was 32.21 per cent.