RED is dead in Fareham after election night saw Labour completely wiped off the political map in the borough.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats made gains at the expense of senior Conservative councillors and the only two remaining Labour representatives.

A dejected Mick Prior, former leader of Fareham's Labour group, was not even in the counting room at Ferneham Hall to hear his seat being lost but nevertheless vowed to return to the political scene after 12 years as a member.

He said: "To say I am upset is an understatement. I have served this council for a long time to the best of my ability. But make no mistake, I will be back, the party has been here before and we will return."

One of the most high-profile casualties of the night was conservative stalwart Nick Walker, who was beaten to the second seat in Portchester West by Stephen Clark after a tense second recount.

After a nail-biting climax, the former councillor, who has seen the opening of a brand new parish hall for Portchester in recent months, finally conceded to the new kid on the block.

Mr Walker said: "It just makes you wonder what you have to do for the electorate. For the past 18 months I have been dedicated to the council - and for what?

"This has come has a real blow and at the moment I don't know whether I will ever stand again."

In contrast, the newly-elected Stephen Clark, 35, said he was delighted with the win, claiming "a victory for the people of Portchester West".

Elsewhere the changes in this year's ward boundaries to accommodate the new style of local government were blamed by the Tories for a reduced majority.

In all, the Lib Dems won 14 seats with the Tories hanging on to a majority with 17 seats.

Fareham council leader Sean Woodward said: "It is good news that we are going to continue with a Conservative administration. Unfortunately for us the boundary changes have meant some Conservative councillors had to stand in traditionally Liberal Democrat strongholds but we still have a good majority tonight."

But leader of the Liberal Democrat party Roger Price brushed aside the Conserva-tive leader's comments.

He said: "We are delighted with the night. Anything over 11 seats would have been classed as a success but this is even better than that.

"Our hard work during the campaign paid off and the electorate showed they are fed up with Labour and Conservative and voted for us."

The Fareham electorate didn't seem affected by the predicted voter apathy with a 35.68 per cent turnout, the highest since 1996.