Independent sweeps to victory in Telford parish council by election

An independent candidate swept to an overwhelming win in a parish council by election in Telford.

Anna Rothwell, 37, took the Beveley ward seat on Ketley Parish Council with 71 votes, comfortably ahead of Labour's Mark Boylan who finished Thursday's poll on 41.

Mum of two Rothwell, who works from her home in the ward's Princess Square. thanked voters for their support and vowed to pick up the issues she had been made aware of.

"I am really grateful for everyone who voted for me," she said, as the result sank in after the declaration was read out barely half an hour after the polls closed at 10pm.

"I look forward to doing the best I can," she added, as her 54 per cent of the poll meant she took more votes than everyone else combined.

She had previously unsuccessfully put her name forward to be co-opted onto the council a few years ago but this was the first time she faced the judgement of voters at a contested election.

Rothwell was supported at count at Ketley Community Centre by independent parish councillors Helen Barker and Nick Heath who she is set to join at her first meeting next week.

As the vote was being counted, and the small piles of ballot papers grew, Labour candidate Mark Boylan accepted that it was not to be his night.

The councillor, who sits on the borough council, Oakengates Town Council and chairs Lawley and Overdale Parish Council, generously praised the winner for her victory and conceded "It is what it is."

Boylan, 53, said: "I was not just a paper candidate. I knocked on doors and we delivered leaflets to every home in the ward."

He had been the borough councillor for the area previously and pledged despite the by election loss to continue working on tackling 'cross border' issues of concern in the area including antisocial behaviour.

He was supported on results night by two members of Telford & Wrekin Council's ruling Labour cabinet, the current Mayor of Oakengates, and a leading member of Ketley Parish Council as the local party took a keen interest in the result.

Candidates for the Green party and the Liberal Democrats did not, in cricketing terms bother the scorers. They were not present or represented at the declaration on Thursday, September 3, to hear their results.

Benedict Johnson, of the Green Party, notched 12 votes to grab third place while Kerry Louise Weston's six votes meant the Liberal Democrats did not break into double figures at the bottom of the results pile.

The Conservatives and Reform UK did not field candidates in the by election but everyone won't have to wait too long for the chance to be elected.

This seat, along with every other borough, town and parish council seat across Telford & Wrekin will be up for grabs again in the all out elections in May, 2027.

The turnout of just 11.65 per cent in this by election was low, but in fact marked an increase from the last time the local electorate was invited to go to the polls.

In February, 2024 Maggie Evans had taken the seat as a Friend of Ketley Paddock Mound with 38 votes, beating Conservative Claire McKeown by five votes on a turnout of just 9.2 per cent.

Councillor Evans' death in May was followed by the calling of an election in which only the 1,124 voters of Beveley ward were qualified to vote. Before that the seat had been uncontested in May 2023.