LABOUR has maintained its majority on Cheshire West and Chester Council after winning Thursday’s by-election in Ellesmere Port.

Retired nurse Mike Edwardson won the town centre ward’s second seat, claiming 1,447 votes – a share of 83 per cent.

Robert Griffiths, the Conservative candidate, finished second with 239 votes, while Green candidate Matthew Roberts received 60 votes.

“It’s very exciting, and very much an honour,” Mr Edwardson said following the result.

“I’m going to tackle the issues of fly-tipping, speeding and social isolation – I’m keen to tackle that, particularly as an ex-nurse.”

The Ellesmere Port seat had been vacant since the town’s popular councillor Lynn Clare MBE died in February.

Cllr Edwardson admits the result has a tinge of sadness because of her death, but he is looking forward to building on her work in Ellesmere Port by continuing to develop links with the community.

“She was a very important part of the local Labour Party, and she is very much missed by the community and by the party itself,” he said.

“She was very inspirational to me when I joined the party three years ago, and very supportive. It feels a privilege to build on her memory.”

Labour’s victory means the party has regained its majority of two at CWAC with 38 councillors, while the Tories remain on 36.

Cllr Samantha Dixon, leader of CWAC, praised both her party’s newest councillor and his predecessor.

“We lost Lynn Clare earlier in the year and she was a great councillor,” she said.

“But I’m sure Mike will be a worthy replacement, he’s a lovely guy and people who live in the Ellesmere Port Town ward have really taken him to their hearts.

“He worked so hard for this result. He was a fantastic candidate and he’ll be a fantastic councillor.”

Despite the result, Mr Griffiths was pleased with the bigger picture for his party – and he has his eyes firmly set on next year’s local elections.

He said: “I wanted to increase my vote share and I doubled it from six to 14 per cent, so there is good groundwork that we can build on as a party for next year.

“We’ve got a lot of building work going on here in Ellesmere Port so there are a lot more people moving in with aspirations, who do want good local services.

“The more we can make the case that the Conservatives can deliver those services – as we are seeing nationally tonight – I think we have got a case to make next year.”

Turnout for the vote was 24.51 per cent.