The Liberal Democrats have retained comfortable control of Watford Borough Council after voters went to the polls for the 2022 council elections.

Peter Taylor was voted in as town mayor for a second time winning 12,895 votes.

There was no need to take into account second preferential votes with Mr Taylor securing around 55 per cent of the ballot during the first round of counting.

See more: Peter Taylor re-elected as Watford mayor for Lib Dems

Around a third of registered voters in Watford turned out to take part in the mayoral election which was down around six per cent from last time.

It was a disappointing day for both Labour and the Conservatives.

Labour saw its vote share in the mayoral race drop by around 8 per cent as Cllr Asif Khan picked up 6,234 votes with the Conservatives' Binita Mehta-Parmar coming third with 4,404 votes.

There was little joy for Labour and the Tories in Watford's 12 wards as well.

Labour lost a seat in Leggatts to the Lib Dem candidate Shafiq Ahmed, while the marginal Callowland ward that Labour fought the Lib Dems off in 2021 ended in a comfortable win for the Lib Dems' Ian Stotesbury this time round.

The Lib Dems also won back seats in Oxhey and Stanborough following two defections from the party last year.

Peter Taylor's party also secured comfortable victories in Park, Nascot, Central, Meriden, Woodside, and Tudor.

The Lib Dems now hold 27 seats on the council with Labour on nine, after the latter was able to hold onto seats in Vicarage and Holywell.

The Tories showed signs of a mini-resurgence in Watford at the last election but the party was unable to repeat that showing this time round, failing to come close to winning in any ward. The party still has no councillors in Watford, as has been the case since 2016. 

Turnout in the ward elections ranged from 26 per cent in Meriden to 41 per cent in Park. 

For a full list of results from Watford click here.

 

Keep an eye on our website for more reaction to today's results.