Happy to retain control of the council
Labour held their seat in the Freshney by-election in Grimsby on Thursday.
Sheldon Mill had a majority of 42 votes (692 total) over rival Conservative Steve Holland (650).
He said: “We put a lot of effort in, knocked on a lot doors, met a lot of residents and all the hard work really paid up for the team.”
North East Lincolnshire Council leader (Labour) Cllr Ray Oxby said the competition had been close and praised the credibility of their competitors.
He said: “Sheldon has won because Labour pulled together, worked hard and most important the people of this ward realised this man is credible, will work hard for his members and recognise the Labour group in this part of the world has got a vision for the future.
Mr Oxby explained the victory did not change to the council’s current make-up which sees the Labour Party in a confidence and supply arrangement with the Liberal Democrats to set up a minority-led authority.
The results of the by-election mean the council has 19 Labour councillors, 18 Conservative, 4 Liberal Democrats and one Independent.
“Tonight is a symbolic victory for Labour,” Ray Oxby said. We’ve had to deal with a lot of austerity cuts from central government and the public haven’t liked that and neither have, we but they recognise we’re doing our very best in difficult financial circumstances. We do listen and we’re trying to improve front-line services as we speak and Sheldon will certainly support that.”
Labour MP for Great Grimsby Melanie Onn said Sheldon Mill worked ‘incredibly hard’ on the campaign trail.
“He’s going to be a phenomenal fighter for residents so I think they’ve made absolutely the right choice and I’m looking forward to seeing him in council.
“It was essential we held this seat. Labour has no overall control at the moment so it would have tipped the balance into the favour of the Conservatives had we not held this seat.
“It’s good that the programme of work that the Labour party administration has planned can now be rolled out much more comfortably.”
The turnout for the vote was 23.22%, a total 1,678 out of 7,225 eligible voters.
The result was as follows:
Spoilt ballots: 3
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