Labour says it is still 'solid opposition' after Staffordshire drubbing

The party lost 14 seats from the 2013 result and are left with just 10 councillors as the Tories stormed to an emphatic victory claiming 51 of 62 seats.

Councillor Woodward, who retained her seat in Burntwood, said: “We have still got a solid opposition at Staffordshire County Council, we have got some good people.

“In spite of our imbalance in numbers we will be keeping the Conservative administration on their toes challenging them when we think they need to be challenged but also supporting them when we think they are right.

“I think we have been an effective but responsible opposition. You have to take into account your residents’ views and my residents in Burntwood are quite evenly balanced between Conservative and Labour."

But she hit out at the Conservative group's campaign, saying: “I am particularly concerned about the way they have badged their campaign as keeping council tax low. Council tax has gone up by the maximum every year so that is dishonest of them. You have also got the additional social care charge. Council tax and social care charges take no account of income – it is based on where you live.

“Charges have been passed on all sorts of things.

“We have got to shine a spotlight on that. It is not about council tax it is about public service and people are really feeling public services are being decimated. Look at the state of the roads, 99 per cent of people use them and look at the state of them.”

After suffering a whooping defeat she said the national Labour leadership needed to look at what had happened.

Referring to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she said: “I didn’t vote for him and I have made my opposition to his leadership clear. Having said that I’m a democrat. I accepted the results of that and I accept the results of this election.

“It doesn’t mean to say we have got to swallow them whole. The leadership has got to focus on people’s priorities in order to reconnect with all of their Labour voters.

“It is going to be a very difficult three or four weeks.

“I strongly appeal to the leadership to accept the fact these results were nothing but terrible for Labour. We can’t minimise the impact and say it wasn't quite as bad these were truly terrible results for Labour.

“We have got to focus now.

“Whether they are going to shift the direction of votes is difficult.”