Posted by In an amazing final twist to the eventful Luton and Wayfield by-election, the Conservative candidate, Tashi Tamang Bhutia, won the poll by just four votes.
According to AlanWCollins‘ sources, a recount was called after a first result in which the Labour Party believed they had won by more than thirty votes.
Early indications suggested that turnout in the election was quite low, however, compared to the full council elections of 2007, the figure was much the same.
Former Ghurka Bhutia will take up the council seat alongside former Labour-turned Independent Councillors Tony and Val Goulden, although he is unlikely to find much support from the husband and wife pair.
Labour’s candidate, schools campaigner Sam Whittington, who was catapulted to the candidacy within weeks of becoming a party member, achieved 1038 votes, compared to Bhutia’s 1042.
Her selection, rather than her as a person, was behind the Gouldens’ departure from the Labour Group, according to their daughter, who spoke out on AlanWCollins on Wednesday.
Following the election, the Conservative Group now has 34 councillors, leaving the Labour Group as an unpaid opposition – with just 10 councillors. The Liberal Democrats have eight and the newly-formed Independent Group has three.
Ironically, given the majority, there were four spoilt ballot papers.
2009 By-Election Result
September 3, 2009
Turnout: 29.78%
| Candidates | Party | Votes | |||
| Gary Allanach | Liberal Democrat | 223 | |||
| Tashi Tamang Bhutia | Conservative | 1042 | |||
| Brian Cartwright | Independent | 87 | |||
| Robin Johnson | UK Independence Party | 200 | |||
| Sarah March D’Angelo | Green Party | 51 | |||
| Brian Christian Ravenscroft | British National Party | 186 | |||
| Sam Kelly Whittington | Labour | 1038 | |||
AlanWCollins was all prepared to Tweet the result – with a template Tweet prepared for each potential victor. However, due to personal reasons, this author does not wish his personal Facebook status to change for at least 24 hours. His Facebook status has been tweaked to update with his Twitter, and there seems to be little point in turning this tweak off for just 24 hours. Therefore, all Tweets are off until further notice.
If you liked this post, please donate. A portion of your donation will go to charity.Related posts
A nail-bitingly close — but truly historic — result!
I heard there were two recounts, so it was quite an achievement to get the result announced when it was.
Although the Gouldens might not be entirely friendly toward Tashi, he has in effect saved them from having to share the ward with Ms Whittington, whom they said they would shun, so I suspect they are secretly pleased with the outcome even though the Independent they were supporting came nowhere in the end.