Lib Dem result both 'encouraging and disappointing' says party's Telford leader

Bill Tomlinson, who represents the party on Telford & Wrekin Council, said the progress made by the party nationally was a "solid result", despite some of its key leaders losing seats.

During the snap election, the party gained a total of four seats on the eight it won at the last election, however it lost 0.5 per cent of its vote share.

He said: "It is encouraging in terms of the number of seats, but it is disappointing in terms of vote share.

"There was an awful lot of tactical voting last night, and I think all in all it was a good solid result for the Liberal Democrat party."

Mr Tomlinson said the party's manifesto, which promised a second referendum on Brexit, could have been one of the factors that led to its mixed result.

He said this stance could have had an effect "depending on where you live, whether it was mainly leave or remain".

He added: "That one issue I think did make a big difference. Everybody must be completely surprised to wake up and find that the Conservative Party haven't achieved a majority.

"I think no-one was as surprised as the Conservatives themselves to see they hadn't increased their majority.

"I think the future for the Lib Dems now is just to build on where we are."

Former Lib Dem leader and ex-deputy prime minister Nick Clegg lost his Sheffield Hallam seat to the Labour Party, having held it since 2005.

However, former ministers Vince Cable and Jo Swinson both won back their seats after losing them in 2015.

Meanwhile, Lib Dems' leader Tim Farron has kept his seat of Westmorland and Lonsdale. However, his majority fell from 8,949 to just 777.

With the country faced with a hung parliament and a minority government, there has been suggestion of another election being called.

However, Mr Tomlinson said: "I imagine given the fright the Conservatives have had, they don't want to go to the polls again.

"I imagine she and the other Conservatives have had such a scare they wouldn't want to go to the public again."

Following the results, Tim Farron, party leader, said: "If Theresa May or any other Conservative approaches the Lib Dems and asks for our support to deliver their agenda, let me make our position clear - no deal is better than a bad deal.

"There will be no deals, no coalitions, no confidence-and-supply arrangements. If the government puts a Queen's Speech or budget before us we will judge it on whether we think it is good for the country, and if it isn't we will not support it."