Conservatives on Telford & Wrekin Council were celebrating a double by-election success today.

The Tories took both the College and Nedge ward seats up for grabs yesterday and have overall control of the authority with the casting vote of the speaker, Ian Fletcher, who is a Conservative. The party is also still at the helm of the 54-seat council thanks to an alliance with the Telford and Wrekin People’s Association.

David Chaplin took the College ward for the Conservatives with 252 votes, 15 ahead of Independent Pat McCarthy.

Mr McCarthy had success elsewhere, however, as he also won in a by-election for a College ward seat on Wellington Town Council.

Tory Harvey Unwin won the Nedge ward seat with 760 votes, beating Shaun Davies of Labour by a margin of 72.

Resignation The results leave the Tories still the largest single group on Telford & Wrekin Council with 27 members, ahead of Labour with 17, the Lib Dems and Independents with six and Tawpa with four.

By-elections were called for the College wards on both the borough council and Wellington Town Council following the resignation in September of longstanding councillor Gary Davies.

Mr Davies, 70, had said he and his wife, Cath, wanted to move closer to their family in Surrey after living in Wellington for 48 years.

A seat was left vacant on Telford & Wrekin’s Nedge ward following the death of Ute Sambrook in December.

She entered public life in 1976 and was a cabinet member for adult social care from 2004 until 2007 but lost her battle against cancer and died at Severn Hospice. She was 67.

The turnout in the College ward was 39.7 per cent and in the Nedge ward just 27.2 per cent.

Councillor Andrew Eade, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said today: “We are very grateful for two tremendous results that vindicate our existing policies and plans for the borough.

“Now we have overall control of the council on the casting vote of the speaker, who is a Conservative.” He said they had an “exciting year” ahead of them.