As the political frenzy takes off in the run-up to the General Election, the Conservatives are celebrating as they came out on top in yesterday’s double by-election.

Steve McKeown and Richard Curthoys will be joining Salih Gaygusuz as councillors for Marshalswick South, after receiving the most votes in last night’s district council ballot.

There were two seats up for grabs following the resignations of Heidi Allen and Seema Kennedy, who have both become Tory parliamentary candidates - for South Ribble and South East Cambs respectively.

The council’s leader Julian Daly said it was a “convincing win” after a “hard fought local campaign”, despite the Conservative majority being slashed with their worst performance in the ward since 2002.

Conservative councillor Daly said: “Richard Curthoys, Steve McKeown and Councillor Salih Gaygusuz worked hard throughout the campaign period.

“They put in hundreds of hours to knock on every door. I think that commitment is recognised by the voters and Richard and Steve are welcome additions to the local Conservative team.

“I appreciate that the voters gave our team a vote of confidence.”

The votes were counted at the council’s offices in St Peter’s Street last night after the polling stations closed at 10pm, with a voter turnout of 37.5 per cent.

Conservative candidate McKeown kept one of the ward’s seats blue after being elected with 667 votes, while Curthoys came in second with 647 votes.

Liberal Democrats surged into second place with candidates Mark Pedroz and Liz Needham getting 495 votes and 488 votes respectively.

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Sandy Walkington said: “This was the last real test of voting intention in St Albans before the General Election.

“The five per cent swing from the Conservatives to Liberal Democrats is more than enough to overturn Anne Main’s Westminster majority. “The Liberal Democrats are now confirmed as the clear main challenger in St Albans.”

The total amount of votes cast yesterday were 3,926 - down ten per cent on the loccal eleciton in May. 

Labour candidate Richard Harris came sixth with 406 votes, while Vivienne Windle came eight with 312 – meaning the party drop from second to third on percentage of the vote. 

Meanwhile, the Green Party doubled their vote in the ward to 21 per cent, with Jill Mills getting 450 votes and Tim Robinson receiving 166.

Labour spokesperson Councillor Jacob Quagliozzi said: “Away from the cynical post election spin, this was not a good night for any political party.

“The Conservative share of the vote dropped and all three parties on the progressive left split almost equally and ended up with nothing.

“What clear is that when the vote on the progressive left splits, we end up with the Tories. There’s a lesson there for the general election.

“The fact remains that a majority of people in Marshalswick South were looking for something better than the status quo, that could have been either Labour, Green or Lib Dem but it could not be all three.

“The challenge for Labour is to be that better and we’ve got 96 days to between now and May to get out and be the change people in St Albans want.”

As it stands, the council’s makeup remains unchanged with 28 Conservatives, 17 Liberal Democrats, 10 Labour, and three independent and Green Party members.

Councillor Daly added: “I am surprised to see Labour drop from second last time, to fourth this time.

“It looks like they were squeezed by the Green Party's tactic of saying that there was a preference voting system and picking up some 250 + 'second' votes – which was more than half their total.”

UKIP also saw their vote fall with Michael Hollins receiving 147 votes and David Dickson receiving 148.

 

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