Conservative have lost control of Hertfordshire County Council for the first time in 26 years.

Until Thursday's election the Conservatives had held 42 of the council's 78 county council seats – giving them an overall majority.

But Liberal Democrat gains and a surge in support for Reform, mean the council will now be in 'no overall control' – with 31 seats taken by the Liberal Democrats, 22 by the Conservatives, 14 by Reform, five by Labour, five by the Green Party and one Independent.

Now it will be up to the the Liberal Democrats – the largest single party on the council – to seek to form an administration.

And meetings between the Liberal Democrats and representatives from some of the other parties are expected to take place in the coming days.

Welcoming the county-wide election results, leader of the Liberal Democrat group Cllr Steve Jarvis said he was pleased to have gained seats.

And he said he was pleased that 26 years of the Tory majority at the county council had now come to an end.

He suggested the results pointed to residents' dissatisfaction with areas of the council's work – highlighting road maintenance, services for children with special needs, the environment and flooding.

And he said the Lib Dems had already drawn-up a 10-point plan that they will aim to deliver in the first 100 days.

However, without an overall majority he says they will now have to explore who else can provide support for their plans.

Before the election the Conservatives had held 42 of the council's 78 seats, the Liberal Democrats 22 and Labour six.

In addition there were five Independent councillors, one member of the Green Party and one councillor who had recently defected to Reform UK. One seat on the county council was vacant.

But following the election, the number of Conservative seats has fallen by 20 to 22.

The Liberal Democrats have increased their share to 31. And Reform has 14 seats.

The Labour Party and the Green Party have each won five seats and the remaining seat was retained by Independent councillor Jan Maddern.

Conservative Cllr Richard Roberts – who officially remains as leader until the next meeting of the county council – says he is "disappointed" to have lost seats.

And he puts the results down the Labour government's failure to give the country the hope and optimism that it was looking for after the General Election.

"I am disappointed, but I have also had to be reflective of the national mood," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The national mood hasn't been created in Hertfordshire. It has been created by the vacuum created by the new government coming in and not giving the country the hope and optimism that it was looking for after the General Election."

Into that vacuum, says Cllr Roberts, Reform leader Nigel Farage has been able to drop his messages.

And he said: "We were doing a good job for the residents and businesses in Hertfordshire – but the national sentiment has washed right over us.

"We didn't create that sentiment. I blame the government for creating it and Nigel Farage for exploiting it."

Meanwhile Reform representative Hamish Haddow has described the party's success in winning 14 county council seats as "phenomenal".

Mr Haddow – who is chair of Reform's Broxbourne branch – says Reform will bring greater scrutiny to the council chamber.

And he says the party will now work towards increasing the number of councillors they have in the county's district and borough council's next year.

Leader of the Labour group Nigel Bell said he was disappointed to have reduced their number of county councillors, from six to five – in a year where they had hoped to make gains.

Commenting on the results, he pointed to the national surge in votes for Reform, as well as some local dissatisfaction with national government policies.

And with the coucil now under 'no overall control' he says the Labour group with meet in the coming days to discuss their next steps.

Counting of the ballot papers took place in each of the county's 10 district or borough areas.

And after the results were published, county council chief executive Angie Ridgwell said: "On behalf of all council staff, I would like to extend my congratulations to all those elected as members of Hertfordshire County Council.

"We look forward to working with all county councillors as we embrace the opportunities for Hertfordshire and our residents and continue to be the county of opportunity for all.

"In addition, I would like to extend my thanks to colleagues, partners, volunteers and the District and Borough Councils' electoral services teams across the county for their hard work and dedication which ensured the elections were run fairly and smoothly for Hertfordshire's residents."