In the final by-election of the year an Independent candidate was victorious in a seat vacated by an Independent. Last night's contest was for Sawbridgeworth, East Hertfordshire and for the second time in two months on this Council the Conservatives failed to pick up a seat from an Indpendent. In September Nigel & Deborah Clark, who are married, quit their seats in protest against the controlling Tory administration, which dominates East Hertfordshire DC holding 42 of the 50 seats. Deborah's seat was won by an Independent early in November and last night Nigel's produced a similar result.
The Conservatives took two of the three Sawbridgeworth seats in 2007 and they were hoping to add a third yesterday. As they 'won' the poll in 2007 with 42% of the vote this wasn't an unrealistic aim, however yesterday they were beaten quite convincingly by the Town's Mayor Eric Buckmaster. It has been suggested that Buckmaster had the Clark's support, and he would have be well known in the area as the Mayor. Comparing this by-election to previous years is a bit difficult as in 2007 there were three Conservative candidates competing with Nigel Clark and a Liberal Democrat for the three seats. Furthermore, turnout was unsurprisingly very low at just under 15%. The recent results in East Hertfordshire suggest there is a desire for Independent representation to challenge the Tories, but it will be interesting to see if this holds up in the full elections next May. Buckmaster will serve just four months before he has to face the voters again.
Sawbridgeworth (East Herts.) | ||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % |
Eric Buckmaster (E) | 441 | 45.1% |
William Mortimer | 343 | 35.1% |
Peter Mitchell | 99 | 10.1% |
Michael Shaw | 95 | 9.7% |
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