Labour has won overall control of South Derbyshire District Council for the first time in 16 years and after two years of the authority hanging in the balance.

Up until yesterday's results (May 5) the authority, while being led by Labour as of 2021 for the first time since 2007, had been in a position of "no overall control" with Labour and the Conservatives having 16 seats apiece.

This had left the parties relying on the support of independents for the appointment of leadership to govern the authority and to make decisions on key policies like council tax, with Labour managing to tip the scales.

However, now all the votes are in, this is the final makeup of the district council: 29 seats for Labour, just nine for the Conservatives and one Independent.

Gains for Labour in Church Gresley, Hatton, Linton, Melbourne, Seales, Willington & Findern and Woodville paved the party's way to election victory.

Before the election the makeup of the council was 16 seats each for Labour and the Tories, along with two Independent Group councillors and two Independent councillors.

All of this leaves Labour with a significant majority and in full control of the authority for the next four years.

Labour had gained the leadership roles on the council for the past two years after a series of resignations from the Conservative Party stemming from a bout of infighting, seeing the Tories reduce themselves to fewer councillors than Labour and ceding control.

However, this solidifies Labour's position and gives the party its first overall election victory since 2007 and gives it a mandate for policies it seeks to roll out over the next four years.

This election had already represented a major transition for the authority, with Labour leader and councillor of 26 years, Kevin Richards, stepping down; the authority's chief executive for 23 years Frank McArdle retiring after 47 years at the council; and the council's finance chief Kevin Stackhouse for 23 years also retiring.

This year's elections saw some dire turnout figures in several wards, with just 20.57 per cent of eligible voters casting ballots in Woodville; 21,32 per cent in Swadlincote; 22.87 per cent in Church Gresley; 23.61 per cent in Midway.

The Hatton election contest between the Conservative's Oliver Clark and Labour's Julie Jackson saw a dead heat with both securing 270 votes each, resulting in lots being drawn from a box to decide the winner.

Labour's Julie Jackson was victorious in her absence over a visibly distraught Mr Clark.

Cllr Jackson's agent, fellow Labour candidate David Peacock, drew a lot on her behalf because she is currently away on holiday, with the party not expecting a win.

Mr Peacock said: "We are really very pleased and surprised, the demographic has changed a lot and we felt it was moving away from us in recent years, with new housing developments.

"I'm ridiculously thrilled on behalf of someone else.

"It felt like a significant amount of pressure for it to all be down to drawing lots at the end. I'm a bit dazed still, it was a lot of responsibility on behalf of someone else. It's not something I've experienced before, I've just seen people flip coins on TV."

Cllr David Muller, who retained his Etwall seat for the Conservatives, spoke on behalf of Mr Clark to say: "We had high hopes for Hatton and Oliver Clark, he has a lot of experience working for MPs and obviously we are disappointed at the result, especially when it came down to drawing lots."

Independent councillor Amy Wheelton is the only member of the council who does not represent the Conservatives or Labour and won her re-election with double the number of votes of her closest competitor.

She said: "I am humbled that all those people went out to vote for me. It is a wonderful turnout, u had people coming up to me in the street and honking their horns, and people know to keep it local with Amy. 

"As my old man used to say, hard work pays off and it has."

Following the final results, successful Church Gresley candidate for Labour, Gordon Rhind, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "On behalf of the Church Gresley candidates we thank everyone for their support and from the Labour Party I think for the electorate this is best thing that could happen for South Derbyshire.

"We can now for the next four years push ahead and with a new chief executive we can push change forward and improve things for the better.

"National issues made a big difference but a lot of it was about local issues, we have put a lot of work in and a lot of miles in, and we have a lot of local candidates who live in the wards they were standing in, which made all the difference."

Peter Smith, group leader for the South Derbyshire Conservatives, said: "I am devastated and I think it is such a shame that we have been judged on national issues, not what we have done in the past locally for the residents and those who live and work in South Derbyshire.

"What we have to do is rebuild the trust from the electorate and work hard to ensure we are listening to their concerns and listening to their problems and acting upon them appropriately."

Heather Wheeler, Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, said: "I am unbelievably sad for the Conservative councillors who are no longer with us, we have lost fantastic councillors.

"It is a tragic day with the loss of Gillian Lemmon and when those three by-election seats come back around we will absolutely fight it in her honour."

Gillian Lemmon, Conservative Party candidate in Hilton died during the afternoon of the election count, with the three seats in Hilton yet to be declared.

That count was abandoned and will now be re-run, in full, at a later date, with three seats remaining