16 May 2026
Opposition parties are licking their wounds this week after failing to make any significant inroads in overturning the Lib Dem powerhouse at the heart of the district council.
With just one ward changing allegiance in spite of concerted campaigning by all parties, it seems as though the SADC administration will be remaining yellow for the rest of its existence.
St Albans Conservatives were keen to highlight their successful capture of Harpenden West from the Lib Dems despite coming in fourth or fifth place in some wards.
Group leader Cllr Matt Cowley said: “Against a difficult backdrop for my party nationally, I’m incredibly proud of the campaign that we ran here in St Albans district. More than 9,000 people across the district voted for us, the second largest vote for any party – reinforcing our position as the main opposition to the Liberal Democrats here in St Albans.
“At the start of the campaign, we targeted holding Harpenden South and gaining Harpenden West. We held Harpenden South with a hugely increased majority and overturned a 300 vote Lib Dem majority to gain Harpenden West. Cllr Aaron Jacob ran an energetic campaign to earn that victory and he will be a valuable addition to our strong Conservative opposition, holding the Lib Dems to account.
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that after the events of the past decade or so, there is still work for the Conservative Party to do to rebuild trust with voters. Many people still cannot look past the fact that we let them down in Government. That is entirely understandable. Many of those people have decided to trust Reform with their vote this time, as indeed many have chosen to back the Lib Dems, Greens, Labour or Independents.
“We will continue to work hard to get the simple things right locally and show people in our district that the Conservative Party has listened, learnt from our mistakes and is in a position to deliver for them again in St Albans district. Whether that takes one year or 20, we won’t give up fighting for our district.
“Next year’s elections will see voters electing a brand new slate of councillors for the new unitary authority and a full slate of councillors on Harpenden Town Council. We will continue to work hard to earn local people’s trust to elect as many Conservative councillors at those elections as possible.”
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the count was that suffered by the Greens, who had been optimistic about the performances of their candidates for St Peter’s and Clarence wards, Sally Leonard and Livvy Gibbs, but both ultimately came as runners-up to their Lib Dem rivals Sean Hughes and Josie Madoc.
Greens and Independents group leader Cllr Simon Grover said: “Across the country Greens won a record number of seats, and the party now has well over 1,000 councillors. It also has a majority on five councils and won the mayoral races in two London boroughs. Despite our biggest-ever campaign in our target wards in St Albans, we didn’t repeat our successes of recent years. With no big recent changes in local politics here, we can only assume this reflects the national situation.
“There is no doubt that ‘fear of Reform’ drove a lot of results at the elections, and the Lib Dems in St Albans led on that issue, despite the fact that Reform did almost no campaigning here and were never going to be a threat in central St Albans. Along with the collapse in support nationally for Labour and the Conservatives, this will have driven a lot of people towards the Lib Dems, feeling that they are a ’safe’ option.
“This narrative is likely to have weighed heavier in voters’ minds than the importance of getting more balance on St Albans council, where the Lib Dems have an unhealthily large majority and are in dire need of more scrutiny.
“A further factor will have been the national media’s savaging of the Greens, and Zack Polanski in particular, in recent weeks. Of course Zack’s not perfect and he could no doubt of played his hand better, but the extreme hyperbole displayed online and broadcast media was really quite shocking, and out of all proportion to the issues. It’s a reminder of the power of the right wing media, and a reflection of the growing strength of the Greens that they felt this level of attack was necessary.
“Can Green support grow further in St Albans? Absolutely. It’s true that it’s not a ’natural’ Green area – support tends to be stronger in university cities like Cambridge, Norwich, Leeds, Sheffield, Brighton and Manchester, and in diverse parts of London. But the last General Election showed that Greens can win anywhere – including traditionally conservative, rural areas.
“St Albans is a bit of a bubble, being relatively (though not uniformly) wealthy. Whilst it’s a liberal area, educated and conscientious, it’s also relatively insulated from the multiple crises of cost of living, climate and inequality. So it may be less obvious to some that there is a nationwide need to rebuild public services, protect the NHS, tackle environmental degradation and reduce the appalling wealth inequalities.
“This summer we’ll find out what unitary authority St Albans district will be in. At that point, Greens will immediately start planning how to make sure there are strong Green voices on our new council. Green councillors in St Albans have achieved a huge amount over the last 15 years, creating a fairer, greener district. It’s really important for residents that we continue to have strong Green representation at the local level.”
Despite what was seen elsewhere in the country, Reform UK failed to gain any councillors, although their performance was very strong in Cunningham, London Colney, Park Street, Redbourn and Sopwell, where they were runners-up.
Local party chair Eleanor Jackson, who herself stood in London Colney, said this was a positive sign for their growth locally: “Of course we would have liked to secure seats, however the local branch performed exceptionally well overall, achieving a number of second and third place finishes. In several wards, we outperformed established parties with far greater resources, infrastructure and campaign experience, which is a strong result for such a young branch.
“St Albans is a very different political landscape to many of the areas where Reform has seen major breakthroughs nationally. The Liberal Democrats remain deeply entrenched locally, both at council level and through Daisy Cooper’s large parliamentary majority. Building support in an area like St Albans takes time, but we are clearly moving in the right direction.
“Each year we are learning more, growing in capacity, and becoming better at reaching residents effectively. We are a branch run by local people rather than career politicians, and I think that resonates with many voters.
“A lot of residents we spoke to felt frustrated with the status quo locally and were looking for a fresh alternative. Reform is increasingly becoming that alternative in St Albans. The party’s growing national profile has also naturally helped strengthen local recognition and support.”
Arguably, she seemed to be the only real face of Reform in this election, with other candidates not having the presence that she commanded locally, so does she think this impacted on their results?
“Due to the scale of Liberal Democrat majorities in many wards, we made strategic decisions about where to focus campaign resources and visibility. That inevitably meant some areas saw more active campaigning than others.
“That said, our support still grew across the district, which shows the message is resonating. Going forwards, we want to build on that by maintaining a much more consistent local presence outside election periods – through community engagement, social media, local campaigns and ongoing scrutiny of council decisions.”
She is convinced that Reform will soon be seen as the natural opposition to the Lib Dems locally: “In 14 the wards contested by the St Albans Reform branch, we secured the second highest total number of votes overall. That suggests Reform is increasingly becoming the main opposition to the Lib Dems in parts of the district. We intend to continue building on that momentum and establishing a stronger presence locally between elections, not just during campaign season.
“Reform is committed to continuing to stand candidates across St Albans in all future elections.”
Reform UK’s candidate for the Hill End ward was expelled by the party the day before the elections for sharing social media posts which included grossly offensive racist slurs.
Casper Thomas was outed by Byline News and campaign group HOPE Not Hate for his comments about women, Jewish people, black people, Muslims and Indians, and campaigning on behalf of the far right group Restore Britain.
His name remained on the ballot paper as the Reform UK candidate for Hill End as there was no legal mechanism to remove it.
Eleanor said he had been expelled from the party as soon as his comments were brought to their attention, and added: “Vetting processes are continually being strengthened as the party grows, and lessons are always taken from situations like this to help prevent similar issues arising in future.”
The Labour Party has struggled to gain any real ground locally in recent years, polling in last place in the majority of wards. Their efforts to gain a third councillor in London Colney to join Emma Turnbull and Mike Hobday also amounted to nothing, with candidate David Eaton coming in third place behind the Lib Dems and Reform UK.
Group leader Emma said in response: “The local Labour Party worked really hard to add a councillor to our team in London Colney. Naturally, we are disappointed with the result. The team ran a fantastic campaign focused on local issues and we had a bright candidate who would’ve brought a lot to the ward and the council. We all know the national polls aren’t rosy for Labour at the moment and it clearly had an impact.
“Obviously, the results show a clear uptick in support for Reform UK and the district has not been immune to that trend. Many people are expressing frustration with the political system as a whole.
“Our job is to work hard, listen even harder, and continue earning the trust of residents. At the same time, we recognise that some factors lie beyond local control – governing parties often face tougher local elections a few years into a Prime Minister’s tenure. What matters is that we stay focused on delivering for London Colney.”
She added that the two SADC Labour councillors will continue challenging the Lib Dems’ dominance in local politics: “We’re increasingly struck by how a Liberal Democrat administration with such a large majority can still be so nervous about losing ground. In London Colney, they backed away from parking charges and handed over the car park to the parish council. In Clarence, they quietly dropped plans to introduce charges around the park. In Harpenden, they conjured up new free parking spaces to placate shopkeepers. And in Batchwood — once the most marginal ward — the council is now committing £6 million it doesn’t have to new sports changing rooms and a social club.
“What’s becoming obvious is this: strong community campaigns force the Liberal Democrats to listen. When residents push back and challenge their dominance, concessions follow.”
The only candidate standing for the Communist Party of Britain was Mark Ewington in Sopwell, who polled just 15 votes, coming in last place for the ward.
He said afterwards: “We are very disappointed with 15 votes. We worked hard and we put out an excellent quality leaflet. We had some good discussions on the doorstep and some positive coverage in the local media. We will be back! We will need to work harder between elections including regular street surgeries and taking on casework.
“Regardless of the quality of our intervention, our low vote highlights the enormity of the task on which we are embarking. The rise of Reform UK is of serious concern and should be considered a national emergency.
“We must protect our NHS, challenge racism, and give working class people a real voice and genuine alternative. We must challenge the hegemony of billionaires and their stooges. We will be playing our part in a united front against Reform UK.”
