Labour Win Second Town Council Seat In Just Three Weeks As David Andrews Is Your New Town Councillor
3rd June 2012
By Peter Chapman
David Andrews is your newest Burgess Hill town councillor, representing the St Andrews Ward.
It was the second by-election win
in three weeks for the newly resurgent Labour party following Janet Smith's win in the Meeds North Ward earlier this month. It was also the second seat lost for the ruling Conservatives.
The voting with mighty close with the Lib Dems and Conservatives less than 1% of the vote behind the winner.
 The Full Result:
David Andrews - Labour - 318 votes 28.3%
Roger Cartwright - Liberal Democrats - 309 votes 27.5%
Jeremy Catharine - Conservatives - 307 votes 27.4%
Kevin Walker - UKIP - 127 votes 11.3%
Vicki Grimmitt - Green - 45 votes 4%
Malcolm Wenban - Ind -
16 votes 1.4%
The make-up of the town council is now....Conservative 13, Lib Dem 3, Labour 2.
Following his victory, David had these words for us....
 I attribute my success and that of my Labour colleague Janet Smith in Meeds North to the re-forming of the Burgess Hill Branch of the Party over the last 18 months with an enthusiastic membership. I feel that Labour can now have a serious influence in any Ward of the Town Council. The campaign team worked really hard and were well organised. The victories are their reward.
We are very aware that much of the income of Mid-Sussex Council is generated in Burgess Hill and we need to join other Councillors to ensure that we get a good share of this income allocated to the town.
There was a feeling amongst many of the electorate that the town is now run in the interests of Developers rather than the Community and we will fight to stop that happening.
Janet Smith and I will aim to be very good Community Councillors, listening to the concerns of our constituents and working with them to try to resolve problems which are not always capable of easy solutions. We are here to serve them and are proud to do so under the banner of the Labour Party.
We will donate our Council allowances to activities in our local Communities and will not claim any expenses.
 I assure all opponents that having obtained a foothold in the Council after 30 years Labour will not relinquish our seats easily or cease to fight for more as opportunities arise.
Did you find this news story useful? Please share it with your friends.
 Got an opinion on this story? Leave a comment below.....
Now with two victories under their belt, this was no fluke by Labour. Do you think they can build on their success and challenge the Conservatives in 2015? Does this show that the people have lost confidence in the Conservative run council?
|
