Hurworth Ward By-election, September 2005
Following the sad death of Conservative Councillor Roderick Burtt, a by-election was held in Hurworth Ward in September 2005. The Liberal Democrats, represented by Martin Swainston, fought a hard campaign and were the deserved winners.
During the election campaign, it became apparent that the Conservatives simply took Hurworth for granted: confident that they could rely on local people to automatically vote Conservative. Our campaign revealed a great deal of dissatisfaction with the Conservative Councillors and their lack of activity in the ward. We uncovered a number of issues and problems that the Conservatives had just not bothered to do anything about.
We promised to work hard for Hurworth ward all year round, and to sort out these problems.
Liberal Democrats are known for their commitment to community values and for working hard for local people. The electorate showed they were fed up with the complacency of local Conservatives, and voted for Liberal Democrat Martin Swainston by a large majority.
This was a stunning victory in a hitherto 'safe' Conservative ward.
The by-election result
- Liberal Democrat Martin Swainston 527 (42.2%)
- Conservative 379 (30.4%)
- Independent 297 (23.8%)
- Labour 45 (3.6%)
The result was a humiliation for both the Conservative and Labour Parties. The Labour candidate, who managed to scrape together just 45 votes, was the wife of the Labour Councillor Chris McEwan, who is responsible for the proposed closure of Hurworth School.
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