Conservatives win local election

The new Cheshire East council will be under Conservative control with the party winning a resounding victory in yesterday's elections. The overall result was 59 Conservative councillors; 12 Liberal Democrats; 6 Labour and 4 others in the 81 strong council.

In Cholmondeley – the huge and curiously pronounced rural ward that spreads from Audlem as far north as Middlewich – the result was:

Rachel Bailey (Con) – 3,350 votes

Margaret Hollins (Con) – 3,119 votes

Allan Richardson (Con) – 3,117 votes

Richard Fox (LibDem) – 821 votes

Natalie Kent (Lab) – 543 votes

Thomas Dunlop (Lab) – 535 votes

The local ward turnout was 38.7%, considerably higher than normal in a local election.

The three Conservative councillors, including Audlem's Rachel Bailey, will represent the new Cholmondeley ward on the new Cheshire East Council unitary authority – each voter was allowed to choose three candidates for the ward. These councillors will form a Shadow Council that will begin to make arrangements for the transfer of functions from the existing Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council and Cheshire County Council.

Cheshire East will come into effect on 1st April 2009. Hopefully, things will then happen a little faster than the publication of the election result. With 159 councils declaring results around England and Wales, the new authority was the very last in England to announce its figures, keeping anxious voters waiting until late afternoon. Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come!

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