IT was a photo opportunity that with hindsight was almost certainly a tactical blunder. It was dubbed ‘the hands across the sands’ and was taken immediately after four Conservative council leaders announced plans to merge their authorities into what is now BCP.

But opponents of the plan said it showed the whole thing was a done deal from the start, despite the subsequent public consultation. That was 2015. The new authority held its first elections on Thursday.

But the four architects of LGR are all gone. East Dorset went into the rural Dorset Council.

Janet Walton of Poole lost her seat in Oakdale last week and Ray Nottage of Christchurch was defeated in Mudeford and West Highcliffe. Cllr John Beesley was re-elected in Westbourne and West Cliff but was beaten by Cllr Bob Lawton for the leadership of BCP Conservatives and will sit on the backbenches.