River: Conservative David Craggs gains seat from Labour by 70 votes

The Conservative candidate in the River Ward by-election, David Craggs, has beaten Labour’s John Jones by over 70 votes.

With just 25.3% of River Ward’s 5,484 voters either turning out, appointing a proxy or posting their vote, David Craggs secured a 73-vote majority over Labour’s John Jones when votes were declared less than 90 minutes after polls were closed.

The other 4 candidates, Liberal Democrat Garry Harrison, Green Steven Keevil, British National Brian Ravenscroft and English Democrat Ron Sands, failed to poll anywhere near the two front-runners, even with their votes combined.

The result increases the Conservative majority on Medway Council to 12 seats, with 34 seats in total. Labour now hold just 9 seats, the Liberal Democrats 7 and the Independents 4, with 1 other independent member.

School Headteacher and Special Constable Mr Craggs joins fellow Conservative Craig MacKinlay, who was elected alongside Labour’s Bill Esterson in May 2007, as River Ward’s elected representative on Medway Council.