Labour win by-election in council seat so safe the Tory candidate didn't turn up

Labour have won a by-election in a Manchester council seat so safe the Tory candidate didn't turn up at the count. Winning candidate Dave Marsh secured more than 60 per cent of the votes to become the new Brooklands ward councillor.

It comes after the last person to hold the post quit amid rumours she lived 200 miles away. Julia Baker Smith resigned in July due to the 'serious illness of a close family member' on the Isle of Wight, where she was once a councillor.

Conservative candidate Norman Decent came second in the contest, winning 189 votes. The former Bournemouth councillor did not attend the count.

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He stood for the Tories in the same Wythenshawe ward last year while he was still a councillor 250 miles away. His term in Bournemouth ended in May, two-and-a-half years after moving to south Manchester to live with his ex-wife.

They remarried on Wednesday (September 6), which is why he did not attend the count. He is hoping to stand as a candidate for Trafford council next year.

The Green Party, who came third, missed out on second place by just 11 votes. Grace Buczkowska, who stood in the same ward in May, secured 178 votes.

Reform UK candidate Dylan Evans, who also ran in Brooklands at the last local election, received 133 votes this time. Lib Dem candidate Euan Stewart came fifth, gaining 77 votes leaving the party with a similar share of votes as in May.

Turnout dropped from 24.45 pc in May to just 13.62 pc. Speaking after the results were declared, newly-elected Labour councillor Dave Marsh, who secured 61.32 pc of the votes - 923 in total - said it 'feels amazing' to win.

The 36-year-old, who was born and still