HALTON’S Conservatives were left shellshocked after a losing a third of their entire strength in the Local Government Elections.
Labour seized three of the Tory’s nine seats, including Conservative strongholds of Birchfield and Farnworth.
Another seat to fall was Ditton, which had been taken from Labour in 2006 by Colin Rowan with a majority of only 29 votes.
Mr Rowan was left in a state of shock after he was trounced by Labour’s Joe Roberts, who polled 2,180 votes to his 925.
Mr Rowan told the Weekly News: “I don't really know how to explain how I feel.
“I’ve worked tirelessly for four years and I’m shocked it hasn’t paid off.
“But I’d like to thank all those who’ve supported me through this.
“I’ve done my best but this time that’s fallen short.
“I suspected it’d be close but I was sure I’d done enough to keep the ward. I certainly never predicted that I’d lose it by such a big majority.
“I’m retired so I’ll go back to concentrating on charity work and my role as a school governor. I’m free to focus on them now.”
Conservative leader Peter Murray, added: “We will need to take stock and see what happened.”
