The Liberal Party has gained a seat on Ryedale District Council in the Pickering East ward, below is the vote for each party.

The Liberal Party 577
Conservatives 313
Independant 185

Liberal Party majority 264

This leaves the make up of the council as follows

Conservative 12
Independent 7
Liberal Democrat 7
Liberal 2
Ryedale Residents’ 2
[Rep]

Er... yes they gained the seat (having lost one) in a by election on 21st June 2007, over a year ago. Nelly Trevlyan, a con Lib, lost her Dales seat in May 2007.
[Rep]

Yep, that's true. Ryan, I think you must have misread the year! :-)

Here's a thread about that byelection win from the Liberal Forum:

Liberal Forum :: View topic - Ryedale district council byelection

The Ryedale Liberals had two councillors, then lost one in the May 2007 local elections as Dilke says, then gained a different seat in a byelection the following month, taking them back up to two seats.
[Rep]

A sort of snakes and ladders? Anyway, it shows that minor parties can win local by-elections. It also shows that picking a seat where one of the main parties is not standing always helps, particularly if it's the LibDems!
[Rep]

Even the SDP, long thought to be extinct, held onto 3 seats in South Wales in May.
[Rep]

Originally Posted by ryansoton:
The Liberal Party has gained a seat on Ryedale District Council in the Pickering East ward, below is the vote for each party.

The Liberal Party 577
Conservatives 313
Independant 185

Liberal Party majority 264

This leaves the make up of the council as follows

Conservative 12
Independent 7
Liberal Democrat 7
Liberal 2
Ryedale Residents’ 2

Congratulations! :-)

It's great to hear that your hard work has paid off.
[Rep]

I didn’t know they were active outside Yorkshire! If that's the case, the continuing Welsh SDP is doing better than the continuity Liberal Part in Wales, in the principality. As I understand the Welsh con Libs had only one candidate in May, who was unable even to get elected to a town council.

Well motivated individuals from minor parties can pull off some spectacular results in local government in the right circumstances; in the same way as independents can.
[Rep]

Great result well done to the liberal party.
[Rep]

I wonder wether Tom or ryan would know I think the liberal party has something like 30 to 40 councillors in the UK. Would either of you know what the membership figures are.Many thanks
[Rep]

Originally Posted by Danny:
I wonder wether Tom or ryan would know I think the liberal party has something like 30 to 40 councillors in the UK. Would either of you know what the membership figures are.Many thanks

Sorry Danny - I have no idea of the membership figures. Maybe Ryan knows?

The Liberal Party has exactly 30 councillors at district level and above. (27 at district/borough/city level plus 3 county councillors). It also has some parish and town councillors but I don't know how many.

There's a list at this link, though it misses out one councillor in Wyre Forest:

The Liberal Party Elections
[Rep]