Waverley Borough Council Lib Dem leader Paul Follows has celebrated last Thursday’s election results as “a rout of the Conservative Party in South West Surrey”.

As well as retaining the seats gained by his party at the last borough poll in 2019, the Godalming councillor expressed his delight that the Lib Dems made impressive gains in areas they previously thought were “out of reach”.

He highlighted the victories of Gemma Long in Elstead, who he said will be a “fantastic councillor”, and Lib Dem duo Alan Rodney and Liz Townsend in Cranleigh West – but added his party had come close to stunning victories in areas “we’d never dream of being competitive”.

“The new and improved Waverley is going to be a thing to behold,” Cllr Follows said.

However, the Lib Dem leader is not just looking at the local elections but also the upcoming parliamentary elections, where he is set to take on MP Jeremy Hunt in the new Godalming and Ash parliamentary seat.

Cllr Follows emphasised the victory of the Lib Dems in Surrey Heath over the border means “the blue wall is crumbling” and will leave “a lot of concerned Conservatives”.

When asked about his vision for Waverley over the next four years, Cllr Follows spoke about investing in high streets, providing locally-provided transport and bringing more services in-house.

Full Waverley Borough Council results here.