The leader of Hertfordshire's only Conservative-run borough council has called on Kemi Badenoch to resign as party leader.

Cllr Mark Mills-Bishop, who lost his seat on Hertfordshire County Council at Thursday's elections, said results across the country are a "disaster" for his party.

Cllr Mills-Bishop, leader of Broxbourne Borough Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Locally, I think we did well. We had a strong campaign, we had some good candidates.

"But nationally, across the party, it was woeful, absolutely woeful.

"We were poorly led. At the end of the day, Kemi is the one who should take responsibility because she led the campaign nationally.

"She fell short, way short. She should resign. She clearly is not up to the task.

"She got elected seven months ago, she should have hit the ground running, but she didn't.

"It's all very well to say that she's thinking and working out what policies, but all these should have been in place.

"She should have recognised the dangers ahead, recognised that not only were Labour coming up with damaging policies and tackling them head on, she should have also seen the threat posed by Reform. 

"We used to have 'a quiet man' [in Iain Duncan Smith]. She's turned out to be 'the quiet woman'.

"What we need is the captain at the gate to defend the Conservative party.

"Horatius stood up to defend Rome at the bridge, but we don't have someone that is a captain at the gate.

"That is a shame and I feel immensely sorry for a lot of my colleagues around the country who have lost their seats through no fault really of their own, but the inertia given by the Conservative party."

Jason Smithers, former Conservative leader of North Northamptonshire Council, has also called on Kemi Badenoch to step down.

Ms Badenoch has said that changing the leader of the Conservative Party would not "fix everything".

She told the BBC at the weekend that, under her leadership, the Conservatives have a "slow and steady" plan to get back into government.

Reflecting on Reform UK's rise, which saw them gain 677 seats across the country last week, Cllr Mills-Bishop said: "To lose over 600 Conservatives, good men and women, across the country, and to lose all our councils is nothing short of a seismic shift in politics.

"This has a sense of permanency, unless we get to grips as a party, unless we have a leader that is prepared to take the fight on."

While Cllr Mills-Bishop wouldn't be drawn on who should replace Ms Badenoch if she resigns, he did say: "There are some very decent big beasts, if you like, in the Conservative party.

"The usual names will pop up like James Cleverley or Hunt or Jenrick, they will pop up, who are seasoned politicians."

He added that people should stick with the Conservatives over Reform because they are a party that can "deliver".

He said: "We're fighters, we're fighters for the vulnerable, we're fighters for those who are penalised by national insurance rises, we're fighters for those who have suffered because of the winter fuel allowance cuts.

"These are the kinds of things that conservatism is all about: fighting for individuals to live their lives the way they want to."

"It's very important to come back to real, true Conservative values, and then we will start to gain the confidence of the people and start to gain that trust.

"We need to be honest, open and transparent, and we're falling short at the moment.

"I want to see the true values come through of lower taxes, small government, investment, nurturing entrepreneurialism, listening to the people.

"They are very fundamental issues of conservatism and I practise that in Broxbourne at a smaller level.

"It shouldn't be hard at a higher, national level to expound those views and get them across to the people."