The election was called after the death of Councillor Mick Eddy.
Ted came third, beating the Conservatives and the LibDems. Although the Thornaby Independents won, with 800 votes, holding onto the seat and increasing their share of the vote by 8.1%. UKIP took most of the votes from Labour who’s share went from 20.6 (2011) to 11.6.
This is encouraging for UKIP as the North East is a usually a Labour stronghold.
If we can erode Labours support and make gains of this kind, then that has to be encouraging in subsequent elections.
Ted fought an excellent campaign and was well received on the doorstep. The Thornaby Independents are very well established which makes Ted’s result even more credible.
This is the first time UKIP fought this seat and the efforts of Ted and all those who helped fight his campaign certainly bore fruit.
The main theme of Ted’s campaign was the issue of council tax increases. Ted stated: “Last year the coalition government announced a second year of subsidies on council tax, which the Labour lead coalition in Thornaby, along with their IBIS partners (Ingleby Barwick Independent Society) turned down. Stockton Borough Council would have received between £700,000 and £800,000 from the government. Instead, they chose to increase the council tax by 3.5%. This raised approximately £3 million, which we believe went straight into the councils reserve funds which reportedly stood at £15 million at the time of the election in 2011. This was supported by Thornaby Independent Association councillors. “This year, the coalition has again offered to freeze council tax, offering £700,000 and £800,000. We again believe that Labour/IBIS have agreed to reject this and instead increase the council tax by 2%.”
The election results were as follows:
THURSDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2013 12:00
Thornaby Independent Association 800 (61.2; +8.1)
Lab 270 (20.6; -11.6)
UKIP 135 (10.3; +10.3)
Con 85 (6.5; -5.3)
LD Isabel Willis 18 (1.4; -1.6)
Majority 530
Turnout 24.4%
Thornaby Independent Association hold.
Percentage change is since May 2011.
