THE Lib Dems are celebrating after taking a second seat in the traditionally safe Tory ward of Shenfield.
Liz Cohen won the seat in last Thursday's election with 728 votes, ahead of the Tory candidate, Stephen May, who polled 557 votes.
The seat had been vacated after former Shenfield ward councillor Lionel Lee stepped down to look after his sick wife.
Mr Lee had last won the seat in 2010 with 58 per cent of the votes cast.
But last week's victory put the Tories on 39 per cent, and the Lib Dems on 51 per cent – a swing of 17.5 per cent from the Tories.
The figures are sobering reading for Tories in the borough, who have lost out to the Lib Dems at a time when nationally they are struggling in some areas.
But more troubling for Brentwood Borough Council leader Louise McKinlay is that Tories have come unstuck in the ward twice.
Margaret Brehaut won the Shenfield seat for the Tories in 2008 with 78 per cent of the vote, but in May she was beaten by the Lib Dems' Graeme Clark, with a swing of 38 per cent following a voter backlash when they discovered Mrs Brehaut was living outside the borough.
The one glimmer of hope is that there was a marginal swing of 1.7 per cent from the Lib Dems to the Tories when comparing this election to the one in May.
David Kendall, Lib Dem leader, said: "It is a fantastic result for us. We had an excellent candidate who is known by a lot of people. We addressed local issues and we had a very strong team.
"Without a doubt when Margaret Brehaut lost to us the fact that she was living outside the borough had a big effect, but we started from a level playing field.
"It certainly puts serious question marks over the Tories in Brentwood. They are making mistake after mistake.
"We believe that it is time for a change. A lot of people are now seeing the Tories for what they are."
Louise McKinlay said: "We're obviously disappointed about the Shenfield result but congratulations to Liz Cohen.
"Steve was a great candidate who works incredibly hard for Shenfield and I know that will continue, through the Crossrail Residents' Action Group and much more.
"We will now all regroup and focus our attentions on continuing to deliver for all residents across the Borough."
