IF things don t change, they remain the same goes the saying and it proved remarkably true in Cambridgeshire today as the Conservatives mirrored their 2005 election result. They ended the day with 42 councillors returned to Shire Hall, the precise number

IF things don't change, they remain the same goes the saying and it proved remarkably true in Cambridgeshire today as the Conservatives mirrored their 2005 election result.

They ended the day with 42 councillors returned to Shire Hall, the precise number they returned in 2005.

And to take coincidence further, the Lib Dems returned 23 councillors, again the exact number they returned four years ago.

However the Lib Dems may boost that number to 24 if they hold onto the Ramsey seat won last time by Ray Powell, who died just days before the poll. The seat will be contested later this summer.

For Labour it was near annihilation with Labour leader Paul Sales of Cambridge among the casualties. It was in his ward that the Greens won their first seat on the county council, with Simon Sedgwick-Jell topping the poll.

However there was an optimistic note struck by UKIP who came in second or third in many wards, and offering an indication of votes they are likely to secure in the European election. Results of that poll will be announced on Sunday evening.

One unusual aspect of today's vote was the large number of spoilt ballot papers and the comments attached to some of them. "You're all useless" was one remark on a Fenland ballot paper.

"Local voters have become totally disillusioned and fed up by the expenses scandal in central government," said David Wheeler, a Conservative district councillor watching the results being counted in Wisbech.

"It's completely understandable. Some national politicians have behaved disgracefully."

"I've attended several local elections and I've never seen so many invalid voting papers. People are choosing to express their right to vote, but say none of you are good enough.