LABOUR were clear winners when the votes were tallied in the Wirral council elections – but it was still unclear last night whether their coalition with the Lib-Dems would continue.

The local election saw mixed fortunes for the Conservative group, which had gained seats overall and remain the largest party on the council, but also suffered some losses.

Last night, Tory group leader Jeff Green said: “If they can talk nationally, it makes sense for us to do so locally”, and said he was open to the possibility of a coalition with the Lib-Dems, but no proposals for how power would be split have been put forward.

It was the Liberal Democrats who suffered most in the election, losing five council seats – a quarter of their elected members. Yet, with 15 councillors, they still hold the balance of power between Labour and the Tories.

Yesterday, the Lib-Dem group met to consider what they will do next – and whether to continue their coalition with Labour controlling Wirral Council.

Labour had been celebrating following the election win in which they gained four additional councillors. They took key seats in Wallasey from the Conservatives, with Darren Dodd overturning a 2,000-plus majority to take Leah Fraser’s Liscard ward by a sizeable 746 majority, while Patricia Glasman unseated the incumbent Tory Bill Duffy in New Brighton by 899 votes.

Labour also held Leasowe and Moreton East despite a determined Tory campaign, and deputy Conservative leader Lesley Rennie saw her majority cut from 2,907 to 541.

Elsewhere across the borough, Labour and the Conservatives took more seats from the Liberal Democrats, with Labour gaining Prenton and Bromborough and the Tories taking Clatterbridge, Pensby and Thingwall, Greasby, Frankby and Irby, as well as retaking Hoylake, formerly held by Independent David Kirwan.