The Conservatives have won former Worthing Labour leader Beccy Cooper’s council seat following a by-election.
The by-election was called after Dr Cooper resigned as leader of Labour-run Worthing Borough Council, and Marine ward councillor, following her election as MP for Worthing West in July’s general election.
The by-election on Thursday, September 19, saw 20-year-old Conservative Thomas Taylor take the Marine ward seat, with Labour’s Mary Mernagh second.
The full results were as follows: Thomas Taylor (Conservatives), 865; Mary Mernagh (Labour), 781; Lionel Harman (Reform UK), 228; Jimi Taylor (Green), 138 and Nick Wiltshire (Lib Dem), 113. The turnout was about 32 per cent.
Mr Taylor, who runs the young Conservatives in Worthing, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it felt ‘amazing’ to be elected to the seat, adding he had been a member of the party since he was 16 and had looked to fight a more ‘old-school’ campaign over the last month.
He said: “I don’t think [Labour] expected us to campaign as hard as we did and to come back from, obviously, the defeat at the general election. The factor that fed this election was the contact we had with the people of Marine and the connection we had with voters – to be an actual person to them rather than just a name on the sheet.
“We were regularly holding canvassing sessions multiple times a day since the election was called, getting in touch with the people of Marine and I think that relationship won us the election.”
When asked about his priorities as a councillor he said he would look to hold the Labour administration to account in opposition, and to champion ‘youth representation in politics’.
Conservative campaigners present at the vote said the party’s ‘fight-back’ had started and the turnout had been an ‘earthquake’ in by-election terms. They also felt the changes to the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, to be introduced by the government this year, had played a ‘big part’ in the success of their campaign.
Dr Cooper, who was at the count, said she did not see the result as an upset to the Worthing Labour administration, adding she thought there was still ‘a lot of support’ for the party locally.
The MP said it had been a ‘low’ turnout compared to local elections in May this year, which saw about a 40 per cent turnout in Marine, with Dr Cooper being re-elected to the council before her resignation.
The Conservatives now hold ten seats on the council, with Labour having 22. There are two Greens, and three Worthing Community Independents.
