The Liberal Democrats have made gains over their political opponents ahead of the main local elections. The party surged in April's by-elections at the expense of both Tory and Labour. Poor Conservative performance suggests the Government's low forecast for June's vote may be right. Labour lost out to the Tories in Leeds – with Labour pushed into third place with the BNP. But both were eclipsed by Liberal Democrats, who made five gains from Labour at Wycombe DC. Lib Dems also won from Labour at Redcar and Cleveland Council, and took an independent, previously Conservative, seat at Harlow DC. In Scotland, Liberal Democrats triumphed on the first count of the proportional representation system, to gain from independent at Highland Council, and Rosemary Bruce, wife of Gordon's MP, Malcolm Bruce, won from Tories at Aberdeenshire. Despite its performance at Leeds, the BNP was contained elsewhere. So far this year, Liberal Democrats have 10 net gains in by-elections, SNP one and BNP one. Tories have lost six seats overall, Labour one and independent and others five.