Conservatives take King’s Lynn ward in by-election

Conservative candidate Mike Taylor has won the St Margaret’s with St Nicholas ward by-election, taking the seat previously held by Labour.

Mr Taylor, who is well-known in the area as the founder of Lynn-based charity Bridge for Heroes, defeated Labour candidate Francis Bone by 43 votes.

Speaking shortly after the result was declared, Mr Taylor said he was very pleased with the result.

He said: “I am thrilled actually. It has been a very hard campaign, obviously with the Conservative party and their national story, but we have shown the public what we can deliver.

“This is historically a Labour seat – a very pro-Labour area, but through our hard work we have shown what we can do locally.”

Mr Taylor said he wanted to thank his team who had been “very supportive” throughout the campaign process.

“I would like to really thank all the residents who turned out to vote because they didn’t vote for change, they voted for stability.”

Mr Taylor hopes those in the borough will look to his social media channels to keep up to date.

“I intend to support the local residents and businesses in Lynn. People can follow me on Twitter and Facebook where I am going to continue telling everyone what’s happening,” he said.

Conservative election agent Ian Sherwood said they were happy with the result despite the difficult period for the party nationally.

“The party is really pleased with the result. We knew it would be a challenge with the ward but we are absolutely delighted.

“This makes Mike the 51st Conservative borough councillor. It’s a challenging time for the party after the general election, but locally we are pleased with the way its gone.

“Mike has put a tremendous amount of hard work in and he is a really great candidate.”

The results for the by-election were: Mike Taylor, Conservative, 253 votes; Francis Bone, Labour, 210 votes; Helen Russell-Johnson, Liberal Democrat, 173 votes; and Rob Archer, Green Party, 63 votes.

There were 703 votes cast in total, out of 3,664 voters on the register of electors, meaning turnout was 19.19 per cent.

The election was called following Labour’s Claire Kittow losing her seat.