‘People want change’: Lib Dems on mission to hurt Tories in local elections

Ed Davey's party are fielding the highest proportion of candidates per seats fought since 2007 - while Tory numbers fall

The Liberal Democrats claim to be in pole position to hurt the Tories in many of next month's local elections as figures show they are fielding the highest proportion of candidates since 2007 while Tory numbers have fallen markedly.

Official data shows that the Lib Dems have increased their proportion of candidates to the equivalent of 60% of seats being fought in England and Wales on 4 May, up seven percentage points on 2019, when the same set of elections were last held.