Labour's days in Staffordshire County Council broom cupboard swept away

The party went from just three councillors to 24, virtually wiping out the enormous majority that has allowed the Conservative party to control the county almost unopposed for the past four years.

And Labour leader Councillor Derek Davis today revealed that he would be standing down from the post now that a formal shadow cabinet could be formed.

The 73-year-old said his role as leader of a tiny opposition group since 2009 had taken its toll on his health and he wanted to concentrate on being a county councillor serving Cannock Chase.

Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party, despite taking around a quarter of the votes across the county, was unable to turn that into a share of the seats and failed to increase its standing on the council.

But the Tories blamed the Eurosceptics for inflicting huge damage on their vote and for allowing Labour to get into a strong position where it can try to oppose any future policies. Ukip campaigned heavily on its opposition to the planned £33 billion high speed rail line – something Tories in Staffordshire also oppose despite backing for it from the Government.

The Tories held onto the county council with a majority of just six.

After the overnight counts in Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire and Tamworth on Thursday the Tories were neck and neck with nine councillors each. But as the other districts began to record their results the Tories started to pull into the lead. In Stafford the Tories held on to six of their nine seats with the rest going to Labour.

Council leader Philip Atkins kept his seat with a comfortable majority while cabinet members Ian Parry and Mark Winnington held onto their wards. The night before Cannock Chase councillor Pat Corfield, the county's culture boss, lost his seat.

Liz Staples, the county's cabinet member for adult wellbeing, was also ousted in East Staffordshire.

After the result came in at County Hall Councillor Atkins said: "We have a working majority. There was a protest vote for Ukip across the county but people haven't been voting for Labour in greater numbers.

"We've had our majority reduced in part because of HS2, even though we oppose it as well. Stafford Hospital may also have played some part in people's concerns at the ballot box, although they can rest assured we are fighting really hard for it."

Councillor Davis said the Labour party would be meeting today to choose a new leader. He said: "I'm retiring as leader for health reasons. I'm the longest serving councillor having been here since 1985 and I want to carry on, but it's time for someone else to take charge. We can now move out of our little office with its small table and form a shadow cabinet."

Cannock Chase Conservative MP Aidan Burley had to watch as the number of Tory county councillors in his district was reduced to just one. He said: "It's a hugely disappointing result for the party. Labour still haven't rebuilt the trust they lost in 2009 when we took control of the council."

Ukip had three councillors elsewhere in the county but that was cut to two. The Liberal Democrats were wiped out completely. There were sighs of relief from Conservative councillors at the count at Stafford Leisure Centre as the party held strong across Stafford and Stone despite haemorrhaging thousands of votes to Ukip.

The Tories returned six of the nine seats they won in their clean sweep of the two towns in the Staffordshire County Council elections four years ago.

Meanwhile the collapse in the Tory vote saw Labour win back three seats in their traditional heartland in the heart of the town. Ukip came close to a victory in Stone Urban, with sitting Tory councillor Philip Jones beating Andrew Illsley by 118 votes.

Mr Illsley, who is the Ukip party chairman in the county, said the party would continue to grow. He said: "In four years time we will be back stronger."

Trish Rowlands will take up a seat on the authority for the first time after beating Ivan Jennings in Stafford West.

The Labour and Co-operative Party candidate said Stafford Hospital had been a huge issue while on the campaign trail.

She said: "Every person I spoke to wanted to know what we are doing to save the hospital. It has been the top issue."

Conservative John Francis overcame challenges from Labour's Jack Barber and Ukip's Ellis Stones in Stafford South East.

He said a Tory win was vital for Staffordshire."We have done great work transforming the county council over the past four years," he said.