Liberal Democrat Steve Jarvis kept hold of the Royston West and Rural division.
And it was fellow Lib Dem Paul Clark who took the Hitchin South seat that had been held by Cllr Ashley – by a margin of just 42 votes.
Meanwhile the Conservatives have retained their control of Hertfordshire County Council – but lost their leader in an election shock when Cllr David Williams lost his Harpenden seat to Lib Dem Paul De Kort.
All 78 seats on the county council were up for grabs. The Conservatives won 46 seats – which is three fewer than they held before, but still 14 more than the other parties put together.
BBC News
Published
image captionVoting took place across Hertfordshire on Thursday, including for the county council at Tyttenhanger Green in St Albans
Labour has maintained control of Stevenage Borough Council, but the Conservatives gained power at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.
Labour held on in Stevenage despite losing six seats, five of them to the Conservatives.
At Welwyn Hatfield, the Tories won four seats from Labour and one from the Lib Dems to capture the authority.
St Albans Council is no longer in no overall control after a win by the Liberal Democrats.
The Tories kept control of Herts County Council, but their leader lost his seat to the Lib Dems.
From wildlife to changing landscapes - how HS2 could impact Hertfordshire
It s likely that the state-of-the-art high-speed train line would have an impact on Herts residents
Updated
Aerial view of the Chiltern Tunnel South Portal (Image: HS2)
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Proposed as long as 12 years ago, the possible impact of HS2 is still rumbling on today.
A summer holiday programme aims to tackle holiday hunger, physical inactivity and social isolation.
- Credit: WHBC
The summer holidays are looking brighter for disadvantaged children and young people in Welwyn Hatfield, thanks to a partnership which launched at Easter.
From July, Herts County Council, Herts Sports Partnership and Hertfordshire Community Foundation will join forces to deliver healthy food alongside sport and physical activity, under the name ‘HAPpy : Hertfordshire’s Holiday Activity Programme.
The programme is open to children and young people aged five to 16, with those in receipt of benefits-related free school meals eligible for free activity places.
It aims to tackle the triple inequalities of holiday hunger, physical inactivity and social isolation.
“It’s opened up democracy a lot more, which is what we have been trying to do.”
Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst, leader of Herts County Council s Liberal Democrat group
- Credit: Herts County Council
Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst also believes the decision of the High Court was “disappointing”.
He said it is “unreasonable” of the government not to have made parliamentary time to legislate, to allow remote meetings to continue while COVID was a risk, and he hopes the Secretary of State would bring forward parliamentary time to do so.
Cllr Giles-Medhurst also pointed to those councillors who will be wary about returning to face to face meetings – and to the ‘huge’ extra costs of making premises ‘safe’.