Former City of York Council leader Chris Steward has been elected to the council again.
He has taken Copmanthorpe ward for the Conservatives in the first result of the day.
He told YorkMix: “I didn’t know which way it would go. It was a very tough call with the national picture not being as great as it could be.
“But I have worked hard, I’ve knocked on every door I possibly could, I’ve had some really fantastic conversations with residents.
“And I thought and hoped that my vision about council focusing on frontline services, potholes, buses, delivering a Local Plan, and council tax just being far too high were worthy issues and it turns out, obviously, certain people agreed with me.”
He said he would “love it” if this signalled a Conservative resurgence on the council.
“We’ve got some fantastic candidates and other wards that we can hopefully pick up but it is a tough, tough sort of national situation. So we’ll wait to see.”