ELECTIONS were held in just 18 of Cheshire East’s 106 town and parish councils with the majority uncontested because of a lack of candidates – but there were a few surprises.
In Knutsford, where the Cross Town ward was being contested on the town council, the Independents took two of the three seats up for grabs.
This came after the controversy over a Conservative campaign leaflet which incorrectly told voters they only had two votes in the election when, in fact, they had three. The Tories were only fielding two candidates, as did the Independents.
The Conservatives had to reprint the leaflet with the correct information after the Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the elections office at Cheshire East seeking clarification on the matter.
In Crewe, for the first time since the town council was formed a decade ago, Labour no longer holds all 20 seats.
The town council is still Labour controlled after the party won 18 seats, but the shock result was Conservative James Pratt taking one of the two seats in the St Barnabas ward.
He also won St Barnabas on Cheshire East Council – a ward considered to be the most deprived in the borough.
Cllr Pratt said: “I want to say a huge thank you to every single person who has put their trust in me.
“I wanted to be elected to improve where we all live and I will do my best to continue to do that for you.”
In another upset, one of the two Crewe North seats on the town council went to Toni Mortimer, of Putting Crewe First Independent Residents Group.
Brian Silvester, who formed the group three years ago, said: “I would like to congratulate Cllr Toni Mortimer on her election.
“We have begun to change the face of politics for the better in Crewe... and it is long overdue.”
Meanwhile Middlewich Town Council, which has haemorrhaged councillors over the past 18 months, couldn’t muster up enough interest in candidates for a contested election and will begin the new four-year cycle with nearly half its seats vacant.
The 12-seat council will now be run by just seven Independents.
Middlewich Town Council has a troubled history with seven councillors quitting in the 18 months coming up to the election.
Labour councillors who did remain until last week’s election decided not to stand again and the Conservatives didn’t put up any candidates either.
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