IT was a bad night for the Conservatives who hoped to begin the long haul back to power in Winchester.

Their target was to win many seats they had lost in 1996 during the depths of John Major's unpopularity.

Although the Liberal Democrats were defending nine, the Conserv-atives made little headway against them.

Gloomy Tory faces at the Guildhall contrasted with the Liberals who held all bar one of the seats they defended - and won two.

But Andrew Hayes, prospective Tory parliamentary candidate, tried to put a positive spin on the results.

He said the Tory overall vote was 10,554 compared to the Liberals' 9,886, Labour's 2,818 and the Independents' 1,678.

There were several narrow defeats, notably in St Michael, St Paul, Wonston and Owslebury and Colden Common wards.

"We would have liked to have won seats, but I am very encouraged that we got more votes across the district and that will pay dividends at the general election," he said.

However, the Tories, whose membership is largely elderly, are increasingly having problems finding enough party activists to do the crucial legwork.

The Liberal Democrats have well-drilled teams who are steadily eating into Labour strongholds. Their campaigning provokes controversy. Last night Labour leader Patrick Davies said he considered legal action over one Lib Dem leaflet.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Oliver de Peyer. In 1998 he polled just seven votes for Labour in Sparsholt. Yesterday in Shedfield, he attracted . . . seven votes. It is the lowest tally for a major party in Winchester and among the lowest in Britain.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.