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LIVERPOOL’S Lib-Dems were all but wiped off the map last night in the most dramatic election the city has seen in more than a decade.
The party lost 11 of the 13 seats it was defending, with heavyweights including former council leader Lord Mike Storey, Peter Millea, Paul Clein and Ron Gould all toppled by Labour.
Lord Storey, himself elected to the council at 21 lost to Labour's 18-year-old Jake Morrison.
It was a dramatic turn-around in the fortunes of a Lib-Dem party which swept to power 13 years ago.
The result leaves the Labour group with 62 seats, the Lib-Dems with just 23 (including suspended former leader Cllr Bradley), the Liberals three and the Greens two.
Labour council leader Joe Anderson said the Lib-Dems were a "spent force in Liverpool", adding: "They ran a miserable and dirty campaign and they are no longer trusted in this city.
"We’ve got young people joining us tonight and I’m proud of that. We have here an 18-year-old lad who stood his ground with dignity, went out knocking on the doors and won through, and that shows if you are true to your politics you will win through.
"As far as Labour is concerned, I think the people of this city put their trust in us once again and we won’t let them down.
*City Editor David Bartlett gives his take on the Lib Dems' local election meltdown - click here
It was clear the Lib-Dem leadership’s decision to enter into a national coalition with the Conservatives had proved the party’s undoing in Liverpool, proving correct former leader Warren Bradley’s predictions of "wipe out" at the polls.
Senior Lib-Dem figures agreed it seemed voters had gone to the polls with the national rather than local situation in mind. Turnout was just 36%.
Other Lib-Dem casualties included former executive member for the environment Berni Turner and chief whip Karen Afford, both loyal supporters of Cllr Bradley, as well as Paul Twigger.
Lord Storey, first elected in 1973, was one of the city’s longest serving councillors. He was not at the count last night.
Newly-elected Cllr Morrison said: "The people of Wavertree have chosen the campaign they wanted and that was ours.
"I was always positive, and it was the residents who motivated me with their emails and messages of support.
"I’m now looking forward to the challenge."
Cllr Richard Kemp, an outspoken critic of former leaderWarren Bradley, arrived at the count just moments before he learned he had clung on to his Church ward seat.
Cllr Kemp said his party had been "battered everywhere", and blamed what he said was Cllr Bradley’s lack of leadership over the last five years in part for the defeat.
He said: "I think the party here in Liverpool has suffered terribly from a lack of political and managerial leadership.
"I’m confident we will be able to put a team together to put that right and put the Lib-Dems back on the map.
"We were used to winning and I believe we can get that back. We’ve been battered everywhere but I think there’s no doubt at all that the problem here has been exacerbated by Warren Bradley.
"Clearly we have suffered with problems from the coalition, and the problem has been made worse by a lack of leadership and direction."
The party will now have to concentrate on electing a new leader in the city later this month.
Cllr Clein, who conceded defeat just before midnight, warned Liverpool was at risk of becoming a "one party state" if the result for the Lib-Dems was as bad as some were predicting, and hit out at his party’s "toxic brand".
Cllr Clein said: "I am disappointed, but the electorate is never wrong. If this result is repeated in future years then Liverpool will be a one party state and that is not healthy for local democracy.
"People on the doorstep have been telling me over and over that I am a great councillor but that they are voting Labour.
"I did not deserve a defeat of this scale, but our brand is toxic."
Cllr Gould said: "It’s been a hard-fought campaign, all decided nationally rather than locally.
"There’s been a hate campaign against Nick Clegg, rightly or wrongly, and people were using that against us, which was an easy thing to do.
"We weren’t helped by other matters within the city and within the party, but I’m going to have some time off now and think it all through."
Lib-Dem shadow cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Paula Keaveney, who was not up for election this year, said it had "not been a good night".
But she added: "It’s clear a lot of people have voted on national issues rather than local, which, if they have, is sad because we will have lost some very good councillors, dedicated, hardworking councillors.
"At the end of the day a voting on national issues is not going to make a difference to what gets done in Liverpool, so it seems voters have not been turning their minds to some of the things the Labour administration has been doing.
"Lib-Dems are tough people, and we will regroup and bounce back."
Cllr Keaveney, who challenged Cllr Bradley for the leadership in the wake of last year’s loss of the council, said she had not made a decision as to whether she would be running for the top position again.
Lord Mayor Cllr Hazel Williams kept her seat in Tuebrook. Liberal group leader Cllr Steve Radford said he believed the Lib-Dems were finished and that the Liberals would become the second biggest party in years to come.
He said: "I think because of the coalition the Lib-Dem vote has totally collapsed, and rightly so because they’ve been found out, purporting to be a left-of-centre progressive party but a right-wing Tory economic agenda.
"Sadly, there will be many good councillors sunk by that.
"I believe in three or four years we will be the official opposition, not the Lib-Dems."
Deputy Green leader Cllr John Coyne, who retained his seat in St Michaels, said: "Labour has a strong brand at the moment and I think it is quite an achievement for the Green party to withstand the Labour advance."
