WESTBURY’S new town council will be dominated by independent councillors following the local council elections last Thursday.
In the new council, nine councillors are independents, two are Conservatives, two are Labour and two are Liberal Democrats.
There were elections in just one out of the three Westbury wards; the other two wards were uncontested with both having five candidates for the five seats up for grabs.
In the Wiltshire Council elections held on the same day, the Liberal Democrats won two of the four Westbury seats with an Independent and a Conservative winning the other two seats. Gordon King (Liberal Democrat) was elected to the ward of Westbury East; David Jenkins (Liberal Democrat) was elected for Westbury North, Russell Hawker (Independent) won in Westbury West, and Linda Conley (Conservative) was elected for Ethandune.
Overall, the Conservatives have retained control of Wiltshire Council, with 58 seats; the Liberal Democrats have 27 seats, Independent councillors hold 8 seats, Labour holds 4 seats, while UKIP – who made big gains elsewhere in the country – won just one seat in Wiltshire.
The seats for Westbury Town Council were uncontested in two out of the three wards. There was no election for the Westbury East ward, with five candidates coming forward to fill the five seats. The same situation applied to the Westbury West ward.
The only election for town council was on the Westbury North Ward, where six candidates stood for five seats. The councillors that will make up the new town council are:
Westbury East: Stephen Andrews (Conservative), David Bradshaw (Conservative), Ian Cunningham (Independent), Gordon King (Liberal Democrats) and David Tout (Independent).
Westbury North: Sue Ezra (Independent), David Jenkins (Liberal Democrat), Stephen Miles (Independent), Michael Sutton (Labour) and Philip Wakeman (Independent).
Westbury West: Russell Hawker (Independent), Christine Mitchell (Labour), Francis Morland (Independent), Ian Taylor (Independent), David Windess (Independent).
The turnout across the county was 34.9%. Find the election results in full at www.wiltshire.gov.uk
