The Tories made a virtual clean sweep across the new local authority, all but wiping their opponents off the political map.

They took all the Chester seats apart from three in Blacon and one in Hoole and Newton, all the seats in the Vale Royal (Mid-Cheshire) area of the new council except six in Winsford, and they did better than Labour in its Ellesmere Port and Neston stronghold, taking 11 of the 18 available seats there.

But after six hours of nail-biting counting and re-counting conducted under intense pressure in the Chester Town Hall Assembly Room, the Tories' city council leader, Margaret Parker, failed by three votes to be elected in Hoole and Newton, losing out for third placed position to Liberal Democrat Bob Thompson.

Four candidates were within three votes of each other – Cllrs and Thompson and Lib Dems David Hull and Ruth Chidlow.

Electors were choosing who would sit for three years on the new Cheshire West and Chester Council which will come into being on April 1, 2009 and will be responsible for all local authority services.

Successful councillors will sit on a 'shadow' authority for a year and will then have another two years on the new council before they will have to seek re-election.

There are 72 seats on the new council with 24 wards with three councillors each. Conservatives took all three seats in all but a handful of wards.

A body blow for Labour in Chester came when Bob Rudd, Sandra Rudd and Brendan Doyle failed to be elected in City ward.
Blacon was the first ward to be declared but that was to be Labour's only success in Chester on the night.

The Liberal Democrats found the going tough in the new wards and Bob Thompson was their only success. He will now sit alongside three Lib Dems from Winsford on the new council.

Many of the councillors elected will sit on two or more councils for the next year, for Cheshire County and Chester City, Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough and Vale Royal Borough councils will not be disbanded in favour of the new all-purpose council for another year.