Responding to the local election results on Thursday Cllr David Franks, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Luton Borough Council, said:

“Of course it is disappointing to see valued colleagues lose their seats but the result is certainly not the ‘wipe-out’ Labour have been predicting. As in other places we did suffer the coalition effect. However, the Liberal Democrat input into government has been extremely beneficial, the new student fees arrangements for example will leave most students far better off than they would have been under the previous Labour government scheme. The plain fact is the Liberal Democrat national leadership has consistently failed to explain the benefits in words ordinary people can hear and understand, something we have been pointing out to them for some time. Hopefully they have now woken up. Here in Luton we remain the main party of opposition on the Council and will work hard for our constituents, for the town and to hold the Labour Council to account for its actions and for the unnecessary service cuts they are forcing on Luton residents.”