Reform take first council seat in North Tyneside in by-election
Reform UK has achieved its first electoral victory in North Tyneside, winning a vacant seat in the Killingworth by-election. The newly elected Reform councillor believes he is “the first of many”, ahead of next year’s local elections.
The voters of Killingworth elected coun Brian Smith to represent them in the council chamber, following a tense by-election count only a month after Reform narrowly lost its Mayoral bid in May. Labour, still the dominating political force in North Tyneside, saw its candidate Bryan John Macdonald declared the councillor for Longbenton and Benton in a separate by-election shortly after Coun Smith’s declaration.
The full list of results from both of North Tyneside Council by-elections are as follows:
Killingworth
AMOS Alexander James – Conservative: 429 DIXON Lucy Jane – Labour: 639 JONES Ian – Green Party: 85 SMITH Brian – Reform UK: 771 VINTON Emma Lillian – Liberal Democrat: 81 Turnout: 30.3%
Longbenton and Benton
CLARK Joshua Thomas – Conservative: 83 FALKENSTEIN John Roy – Reform UK: 602 HOWARD Jim – Green Party: 259 MACDONALD Bryan John – Labour:739 NISBET David – Liberal Democrat: 183 Turnout: 24.72%
Upon Coun Smith’s declaration, North Tyneside’s lone Reform councillor said: “As a very famous man once said, ‘this is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end’. This is the beginning for Reform in North Tyneside.”
On the future of Reform in the area, Coun Smith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Just on the door steps, talking to people, Reform have been very positively received and people are wanting change.”
On what his victory meant for the Labour administration, coun Smith said: “I am not thinking about Labour, the effort they put in today was unbelievable, how many people they had out in Killingworth. I’ve lived in Killingworth for 25 years and that was the first time I had seen them. ”
Coun Smith continued on his priorities, stating: “Just to get my head around everything, I’m no a political-type person. I was working in in a JD Gym as a cleaner before this. It’s about seeing how things operate, what is going on, with help, work out our priorities and who we can work with.”
He concluded: “I am the first of many, I hope so.”
Labour’s Bryan Macdonald, on his declaration, thanked the returning officer Jackie Laughton, the by-election counters, and the voters of Longbenton and Benton.
Following the results, Mayor of North Tyneside Karen Clark said: “Reform have gained a seat, obviously we would have preferred to hold that. It is always difficult, but it is always difficult when your party is in power” The Mayor went on to offer her commiseration’s to Lucy Dixon, Labour’s candidate for Killingworth, stating: “I am sure she will make a great councillor in the future.”