Two new councillors have been selected in by-elections in Bolton. In the Kearlsey ward, hyper-local party Farnworth and Kearsley First were triumphant with Tracey Wilkinson winning by a landslide.
She picked up 1,081 votes with Labour hopeful Jackie Schofield a distant second with 365 votes. The Liberal Democrats were successful in Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill, with newly elected Deidre McGeown picking up 959 votes, beating the Conservative’s Andrea Finney, who gained the support of 665 voters, into second.
Reform UK/Bolton for Change came third with 121 votes with the Conservatives polling just 35 votes. The elections were needed after the resignations of One Kearsley founder and leader Paul Heslop in the Kearsley ward and Conservative member Bernadette Eckersley-Fallon in Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill.
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Both quit their posts just five months after being elected to Bolton Council in May. One Kearsley took all three seats in the ward in the May elections but in the same week that Mr Heslop resigned the two other One Kearsley elected members, Debbie Newall and Melanie Livesey, crossed the floor to become part of Bolton Council’s controlling Labour group.
That move meant the One Kearsley party disintegrated and they did not field a candidate in the by election. Labour currently control the council with 28 out of the 60 members but do not have an overall majority.
The loss of the Westhoughton seats reduce the Conservative showing on the council to 15 members, the Liberal Democrats now have seven members, Farnworth and Kearsley First, three, Horwich and Blackrod First six and there is one independent.
Coun Wilkinson said her win was ‘a golden night for localism in the Kearsley ward’. She said: “I’m ecstatic that I got the seat back. Going into the count I felt positive from the reaction I got on the doorstep.
“I found people were angry at the One Kearsley councillors going off to Labour. “they were saying Kearsley is an independent ward and that’s why they voted the way they did in May.
“Our party has always been fighting for Kearsley and this is the start of getting more councillors here.”
Bolton Liberal Democrats described Coun McGeown’s victory in in the Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill as a ‘stunning win’. A spokesman, added: “The residents of Westhoughton have well and truly rejected the Conservatives. Labour were left trailing in third place.
“Deirdre would like to thank everyone who turned out for her today.”
Full Bolton Council by-election results for Thursday, November 16:
Kearsley Ward
COOPER, Charles – Liberal Democrats – 15
DEAN, Malaika Noor Ayesha Jabeen Tai – Conservative – 38
GREGORY, Dale Hindle – Reform UK/Bolton for Change – 121
JOHNSON, Alan – Green – 18
SCHOFIELD, Jackie – Labour – 365
WILKINSON, Tracey Louise Eden – Farnworth & Kearsley First – 1,081
Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill Ward
ARMSTRONG, Jeff – Reform UK/Bolton for Change – 101
FINNEY, Andrea – Conservative – 665
MCGEOWN, Deirdre Janice – Liberal Democrats – 959
MILLINGTON, Karen – Labour – 440
SHEPHERD, Wendy Ann – Green – 28
SPEIGHT, Jack – Westhoughton First Independents – 118
