Lib Dems take Shropshire Council
The Conservatives have lost control of the authority
Last updated 2nd May 2025
The Liberal Democrats have taken control of Shropshire Council, in a huge victory for the party.
All 74 seats were up for grabs today (2 May), with the Lib Dems surpassing the 38 seats needed to take over power, with wards still left to declare.
The final result saw the party finish on 41 seats, followed in second by Reform on 17 seats.
The Conservatives, who had previously been in majority control of the council with 37 councillors, lost 30 seats in total, taking just seven.
As the counting was taking place, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey served ice cream in Shrewsbury town centre, ahead of seeing whether his party would gain control in Shropshire.
Donning a traditional hat, Mr Davey was met by many people – young and old – outside Pret A Manger in Pride Hill, who made the most of the sunny spring day.
It’s not the first time that Mr Davey had been in Shrewsbury during the election campaign. On April 11, he went in a canoe along the river Severn to highlight pollution concerns.
“The sun is shining, and we wanted to thank people,” said Mr Davey.
“As polls had closed, we thought, ‘why not treat people’ who want to come up to us. So we thought we’d share some fun.”
Giving a vanilla ice cream to three-year-old, Lagan Higgs, Mr Davey told him: “Eat it quick. You don’t want it to melt like the Conservative vote.”
Lagan’s mother, Jane Higgs, said: “He Ed Davey seems to be a decent person who actually cares.”
Anthony Sharples, was with his two-year-old grandson, Sam Butler, added: “It was great to see him out and about. You don’t see many of them political leaders so it was good to see him in Shrewsbury.”