Now the dust has settled after the General Election, local politics seems to have acquired a few new friends.

UKIP has long advocated a political strategy of using its elected councillors to build up support for a Parliamentary push in 2020 in the North of England. So far it has managed to gain more councillors in the South, including overall control of Thanet, in Kent. The Liberal Democrats announced that they want to discover their local roots after a comprehensive rout of their MPs.