Labour has made a political breakthrough in St Albans by winning two seats in yesterday’s county council election.

Although the Liberal Democrats gained the majority of the seats, the loudest cheers came as Labour candidates were named victorious.

Roma Mills took St Albans North and with 1487 votes and Dreda Gordon gained the Colneys seat with 1235 votes.

Both seats were snatched from the Liberal Democrats.

Councillor Mills said: “I was very pleased with the outcome.

“I had a very good reaction on the doorstep and that was reflected in the vote.

“An awful lot of work goes into this.

“There was a very good and happy atmosphere for Labour on the night.”

The Liberal Democrats held seats in Sandridge, St Albans Central, St Albans South and St. Stephens.

Sandy Walkington was named as the new representative for St Albans South with 35.7 per cent.

He said: “I’m enormously honoured. It is a fabulous division to represent.

“It is a really encouraging for Liberal Democrats in St Albans.

“We won six out of eight seats. It was ghastly for the Conservatives.”

As well as holding both Harpenden seats, the Conservatives retained one seat in St Albans.

Conservative Maxine Crawley held St Albans Rural seat with a 50 per cent majority with 1802 votes.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted. I’m just thankful to the electorate for having trust in me.

“I’m really looking forward to another four years.

“It is really nice when you work hard for four years that people are happy with what you have done.

“I’m really happy with the result. I just really like being a councillor.

“I was surprised at how many votes UKIP got. They did surprisingly well across the district.

“I think we would have won at least three more seats if it wasn’t for them.”

Although UKIP did not gain any seats in St Albans, they received 12 per cent of all the votes cast across the St Albans district.

Their highest vote count came in St Stephens, where Peter Whitehead won 951 votes.

The Greens were also unable to secure a seat on the night despite having candidates in the running for every seat.

Jack Easton, who lost out to Liberal Democrat Chris White for the St Albans Central seat, said: “I’m pleased that lots of Green voters showed out but I’m disappointed there weren’t enough to put a dent in.

“The reaction on the doorstep was very good and convinced me it was an even race.

“The sustainability agenda will never go away. We will keep fighting. We are here for the long haul.”

The elections saw a turnout of 35.4 per cent, with 37,652 people visiting the polling station, compared to 45.5 per cent in 2009.