Lib Dems gain seat at Chelmsford Council (From Chelmsford Weekly News)

Lib Dems gain seat at Chelmsford Council

7:00am Thursday 28th February 2013 in News

A SEAT has been gained by the Lib Dem group at Chelmsford Council after their candidate won a by-election.

Graham Pooley was elected back onto the council by winning the vote for the position in Broomfield and the Walthams which was vacated after the death of Independent councillor Delmas Ashford in November.

Mr Pooley, a former councillor for Marconi ward, received 543 votes which put him 120 votes in front of Conservative candidate Will Wetton.

Having previously represented Broomfield and Great Waltham from 1995 to 2003 and Marconi from 2007 to 2011, Mr Pooley said he was pleased to be back on the council once again.

He said: “During the campaign I felt like I was at home and I did have a lot of people coming up to me during the campaign greeting me like a long lost friend.

“There are a lot of things that I want to see get done and I look to do it from the inside rather than the outside as it is far more productive.

“There are big issues within the ward with how the infrastructure will cope with the new houses being put forward by the council, so there are things we need to address looking forwards.”

The win for Mr Pooley now means the council has 40 Conservative members, 16 Lib Dems and one Labour Co-operative.

Speaking after his defeat, Mr Wetton said he would continue to “work hard” on ward issues.

Mr Wetton said: “I have applied to join Broomfield Parish Council as a Councillor so as to be able to support, help and work for our local community.”

****RESULTS**** Graham Pooley (Lib Dem): 543 (38.1 per cent).

Will Wetton (Con): 423 (29.7 per cent).

Ian Nicholls (UKIP): 280 (19.6 per cent).

Sinead Jein (Lab): 129 (9 per cent).

Reza Hossain: 47 (3.3 per cent).

Total votes cast: 1,426.

Spoilt ballot papers: four.

Turnout 22.2 per cent.