Mixed fortunes for Telford Tories in parish council by-elections
Two parish council by-elections in Telford saw the Conservatives hold one seat and lose another to an independent.
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Conservative Sonja Randhawa said she was proud to have been elected as a disabled person of colour to the Muxton ward of Donnington & Muxton Parish Council.
She won Thursday’s (March 27) by-election with 566 votes to Labour’s Heather Brennan’s 164 on a voter turnout of 17.11 per cent.
Independent Tim Keegan, a self-employed knife sharpener, swept to victory in the seat on The Gorge Parish Council’s Ironbridge Gorge ward by 334 votes to Tory Jack Hudson’s 91. He was delighted with the turnout of 25.9 per cent.
Ms Randhawa, a disability rights campaigner, said the issues on the doorstep for her in Muxton were “the smell from the Granville landfill site” at Redhill, and planned housing development in the area.
“Infrastructure has not been thought about,” she said.
“People want to be able to get to work on time and they do not want their children to smell the waste.”
She is hoping to use her experience as a disability rights campaigner to work on accessibility issues.
“Seeing a disabled person of colour becoming a councillor is important,” she said.
Ironbridge winner Mr Keegan, a married father of two, said the turnout in the ward was “beyond my wildest dreams". He ran his campaign mostly on Facebook and said the contest had been “entirely positive".
He said issues that he picked up were flooding, housing and issues including wanting pedestrian crossings.
Mr Keegan, who works at home, said his job would be to “go and moan at people who have the power to do things".
He added that he thinks there is a “lack of provision for young people” in the area.
“I am very pleased with the turnout and with the result, I hope I can deliver for The Gorge now that I have put my neck on the line.”
Leading local politicians were also at the count at Southwater, in central Telford.
Labour’s Councillor Ollie Vickers (Donnington) said Labour had seen its vote rise in “one of the safest Tory wards in the borough”.
The party did not field a candidate in Ironbridge and both contests were between only two candidates.
