The results of the county council elections have been announced with the Conservatives failing to gain any of the seats within the city of Cambridge. The 14 available seats were divided between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with 7 and 6 seats respectively. The final seat for Castle ward was won by independent candidate and former mayor of the city John Hipkin.

Across the country yesterday, the 2nd of May, 27 counties and 8 unitary authorities held elections for seats on various county councils.

Labour won the wards Abbey, Arbury, Cherry Hinton, Coleridge, Kings Hedges, Petersfield and West Chesterton, while the Lib Dems held East Chesterton, Market, Newnham, Queen Edith's, Romsey and Trumpington.

Most of the student population of Cambridge University live in Castle, Market and Newnham wards, which with the exception of Castle, were won by the Lib Dems. In Newnham, Lucy Nethsingha won with 797 votes, narrowly beating Labour candidate and senior fellow of History at Trinity, Dr. Peter Sarris, by 136 votes. Edward Cearns won Market for the Lib Dems by a narrow margin of 41 votes.

John Hipkin won by 161 votes, claiming a 41% share of the votes.

Phelim Brady, Chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club, feels optimistic after the elections for Labour's future in Cambridge, claiming that this is "the beginning of the end" for the Liberal Democrats' presence in the city. "It was great that so many CULC members got involved in this election campaign, reflecting the weight of student feeling against the Lib Dems and Conservatives. It was also encouraging to see that Cambridge emphatically rejected UKIP and their brand of right-wing populism at the polls."

Despite the Conservatives' failure to gain a seat within the city itself, the rural districts maintained their loyalty, enabling the Conservatives to hold 32 seats overall. This is down 7 seats from the last election, but nevertheless remains a majority.

UKIP gained 10 seats, bringing their total to 12 overall. Labour gained 4 seats with 7 in total, all of which are within the city of Cambridge itself. The Lib Dems finished with 14 seats and independent parties with 4. The Green Party lost their only seat.

UPDATE (03/05/2013 21:13): Despite the Conservative party gaining the most seats, they do not hold an absolute majority, resulting in a hung council.