Three win seats on town council in poll

The people of Shifnal have three new town councillors following by-elections called for vacant seats.

Conservative candidate Gordon Frank Tonkinson and Liberal Democrat David Ridley Victor Murray were voted into the two empty seats in the Manor ward on Thursday. Five people in total vied for the two seats and Councillor Tonkinson came out top in the poll with 289 votes.

Councillor Murray came in second with 157, 14 ahead of the next nearest challenger.

There are 2,151 residents in the ward eligible to vote but only 500 votes were cast, giving a turnout of just 23.25 per cent.

Councillor Tonkinson, already a Shropshire Council member, said: "I am delighted and I would just like to say this is a victory for Shifnal as it is the first time elections have been held in the town for a good many years."

Three candidates, meanwhile, contested the one vacant seat in the Rural ward which was taken by Independent Jane Theresa Blackstock with 63 votes, 27 ahead of her nearest challenger.

Just 118 votes were cast in a ward of 757 electors, giving a turnout of just 15.58 per cent.

Thursday's by-election in the Manor ward was held following the resignations last year of Shifnal Town Council members Jennifer Hurlstone and Stuart West.

The Rural ward poll was held after Tom W Jones, who was away studying at college, lost his seat on a technicality having not attended a meeting for about six months.

The defeated candidates in Manor ward were Independents Brian Oliver Jones, Anthony John Stringfellow and Kevin David Turley.

In Rural ward the defeated candidates were the Independent John Michael Horne and the UK Independence Party representative Gillian Elizabeth Seymour.