February 25, 2022 4.30 pm This story is over 40 months old

Conservatives hold ‘racist tweet’ councillor’s seat in by-election

Voters took to the polls
Conservative by-election winners Ben Green, Richard Dixon-Warren and Charlotte Vernon.

The Conservatives have held on to two South Kesteven District Council seats in by-elections held this week.

Ben Green and Richard Dixon-Warren took the Isaac Newton and Aveland Ward seats respectively following a vote on Thursday.

They replace Councillor Bob Adams and Councillor Dr Peter Moseley.

The party’s Charlotte Vernon also took the Colsterworth Ward at Lincolnshire County Council.

Here are the results in full:

Aveland Ward (Turnout 25.85%)

  • Richard Dixon-Warren, Conservative, 373 votes.
  • Barry Hare, Labour, 142 votes
  • Spoiled ballot papers, 7 votes

Isaac Newton Ward (Turnout 21.53%)

  • Stuart Fawcett, Labour, 147 votes
  • Ben Green, Conservative, 412 votes.
  • Andrew Skelton, 165 votes
  • Mike Turner, Green, 72 votes
  • Spoiled ballot papers, 5 votes

Colsterworth Rural (Turnout 22.84%)

  • Harrish Bisnauthsing, Lib Dem, 277 votes
  • Stuart Fawcett, Labour, 269 votes
  • Mike Turner, Green, 121 votes
  • Charlotte Vernon, Conservative, 986 votes
  • Spoiled papers, 15 votes

Conservative Councillor Bob Adams passed away in November at the age of 81 following a short period in hospital.

He had represented the Isaac Newton Ward since May 2007 and served as chairman of the council in 2009/10. He was leader of the council from March 2015 to May 2017.

He had served as a member of Lincolnshire County Council since 2013.

The elections filled the seats left by Councillors Bob Adams and Dr Peter Moseley

Councillor Dr Peter Moseley resigned from his role earlier this year after accusing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau of “going all Hitler” for introducing vaccine mandates.

He was also suspended from the Conservative party after retweeting a deeply offensive mock post about British citizenship application, with just one question on the picture being “do you like bacon?”

People of Muslim and Jewish faith do not eat pork, prompting many to suggest the tweet was a direct character assassination of British Muslims and Jewish people.

Their first public meeting will be the important budget-setting by the full Council on Thursday March 3.