Deposed Warwickshire County Council leader Izzi Seccombe admits it will be a long road back for the Conservatives after a battering by Reform UK.

Mrs Seccombe had served for 24 years on the authority and led it for the past 12 before being ousted from her Stour & the Vale seat by Liberal Democrat David Curtis. 

The yellows made significant gains, particularly in Stratford district, to move from five to 14 seats and establish themselves as the second largest party behind the big story – Reform leading the way with 23 seats, albeit six short of a decisive majority. 

The Tories lost 32 seats, ending up on nine, with Mrs Seccombe 178 votes short of returning to Shire Hall – Reform's Sean Edmunds took 760 votes. 

"I knew it would be very difficult," she said. 

"Reform has changed the pattern of voting everywhere and we have seen a very different message come from our electorate. At the end of the day, the electorate is always right. 

"Warwickshire will have a big change. The stability that the council has had will be different but there is no right or wrong in politics – change happens.

"It has been a fantastic journey, I have had a wonderful time and feel very honoured to have served and been leader for such a long time.

"It is massively time consuming but it is a choice that you make and I have loved what I have done. Warwickshire is a very special place."

With no party gaining overall control it remains to be seen who takes charge, whether it involves deals between parties or the rest sitting back to see how Reform's newbies fare.

"Overall control would have been better," said Mrs Seccombe. 

"It would have meant there wouldn't have been the messy attempts to do alliances and things like that. It is very tough, though, because Reform's candidates are all new, there isn't that history with the council.

"There is a heck of a lot of work to be done and very, very quickly. With that, I wish them a lot of luck because my heart is with Warwickshire and I want it to be the best it can be."

Asked how likely she felt it was that Reform would have the answers, Mrs Seccombe replied: "For the sake of British politics, I hope it will be."

She added: "Reform take on a fantastic council, the staff are amazing and they will support them and help them on this journey.

"Led by an outstanding chief executive in Monica Fogarty, I think they have a really good chance of making Warwickshire continue to be the great council that it is." 

Nine Tories survived the cull, including existing cabinet members Yousef Dahmash (Hillmorton), Andy Crump (Southam, Stockton & Napton) and Jan Matecki (Budbrooke & Bishop's Tachbrook) but Sue Markham and Martin Watson both suffered from northern boroughs turning a different shade of blue in another bruising round of local elections.

Mrs Seccombe admitted there would be no quick fix. 

"I think it is going to take a while if I am honest," she said.

"For me, this is about a disaffected society and there are a lot of messages in this.

"Most of us who get involved in politics know the ins and outs of the various things around statutory responsibilities and all those things but it means little or nothing to the people who cast their votes. For it to make sense to people we are going to have to simplify it and communicate better.

"Undoubtedly these results have been about dissatisfaction with the two big parties. Labour and Conservatives have had a terrible time and there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the political system we have, people don't feel it represents them."

She plans to make more time for friends, family and her beloved garden but added: "This won't mean that I stop supporting the people of Warwickshire. I have particular areas of interest that I can now become more engaged with."