Imagine a situation in which the Conservative Party has just won enough seats to control Nottingham City Council, but its leader is not happy. The party has gained enough councillors to lead the authority, but only by a majority of one, and its leader in Nottingham therefore reacts to this election by saying: "I am pleased with the result but I would have liked a bigger majority."
This was the very situation facing Nottingham's Conservatives back in 1987. Perhaps its leader back then, Bill Bradbury, would have enjoyed this moment more if he had known that this would be the last time the Conservatives were in control of Nottingham City Council for decades.
What would have been even more difficult for him to imagine was that 36 years later, the Conservative Party wouldn't just end up without control of Nottingham City Council. Instead, it would end up without one single elected member on the authority for the first time in history.
