Nick Clegg suffered another dismal election night, losing scores of seats across England and control of the flagship Liberal Democrat council of Kingston-upon-Thames.
The Conservatives claimed an overall majority in Kingston, which has the highest council tax in London, for the first time since 1986.
The Lib-Dems held neighbouring Sutton, even increasing their number of seats, and kept 40 of 44 councillors in Eastleigh, which Ukip targeted at the parliamentary by-election.
Lib-Dem MPs are expected to face tough battles to win in marginals where Labour is second. In Haringey, the Lib-Dems lost 14 seats last night.
London local election count - in pictures
But the result in Kingston will also spark worries that even in Lib-Dem/Conservative contests, Mr Clegg’s MPs may struggle to hold on — and that could renew talk of a leadership challenge. Business Secretary Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham, said: “We take a kicking for the things the Government does that are unpopular and it does reflect on us.”
But he denied there would be a leadership challenge.
