The Boston Bypass Independents were elected to Boston Borough Council at the 2007 local elections. The party campaigned on a wide range of issues but principally on the more vigorous promotion of a bypass for the town of Boston, Lincolnshire. The party contested all 32 seats, winning 25 to become the first party to take overall control of the council since the borough was formed in 1974. By autumn 2008, the party had 18 borough councillors remaining, after losing four members in defections to the Better Boston Group, one to become an independent, and two in by-elections. Following the 2011 local elections, the party was almost wiped out completely. In July 2009, the Audit Commission said, in an assessment covering the period from 2004 to 2009, that the council gave poor value for money for taxpayers. That period included 3 years of the previous administration's term of office and only 2 under the BBI. The most recent report from the Audit Commission, in February 2010, judged Boston as a 'fair' Council. In 2008, leader Richard Austin helped found a county-wide party, "Lincolnshire Independents – Lincolnshire First!". In 2012, the party was renamed as the Boston District Independents. Formation The Boston Bypass Independent Party was formed in September 2006. The bypass issue had already generated two campaign groups, the Boston & District Bypass Pressure Group (BBPG) and the Boston Bypass & Economic Growth Pressure Group (BBEG), and the BBI hoped to give this campaign a political element. Additionally the party hoped to re-invigorate local politics in the town which were perceived to have stagnated with several councillors elected unopposed. The BBI group were partly inspired by the success of the Kidderminster Hospital Campaign, which won 16 of the seats on Wyre Forest District Council in 2004. Electoral performance Boston Borough Council elections, 2007 The party's slogan for the 2007 local elections was "Getting Boston Moving". Boston had no opposition group as all the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent councillors were represented in a joint administration, meaning that public discontent over traffic congestion was directed at all the existing councillors. The Boston Bypass Independents won the election in a landslide victory with 25 seats, the first party to take overall control since the borough was formed in 1972. All the Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors lost their seats, with only five Conservatives and two Independents elected. 2008 by-elections One councillor stood