The by-election took place following Cllr Alan Webb's decision to step down from the Council and representing Labour due to health issues.
The by election result saw a 1.9 % swing to Labour since May. Labour took 51% of the vote. The result was:
The results were declared at around 11am today and showed:
Labour 1355
Conservatives 1026
Lib Dems 50
Greens 131
Other 101
In the May elections, Bletchley East was held by Labour with 1,483 votes (47.8%) with the Conservatives in second place with 1,218 of the votes (39.2%).
The contest was crucial for both main parties in Milton Keynes following the local election results, with both Labour and the Conservatives looking to boost the number of councillors they each have.
Labour had announced their candidate would be Emily Darlington and the Conservative candidate would be Angela Kennedy.
The close result meant that both parties would be pouring resources and efforts into the seat.
Alex Walker, Milton Keynes Conservative, says, "We came up short this time but I couldn't be any more proud of Angela and the Conservative team. We fought hard and made Labour work for it. We will try again in May!"
Emily Darlington said ''I would like to thank the residents of Bletchley East for their increased support for Labour. We now need to tackle some core issues affecting the different communities of Bletchley East. We need to improve litter picking and grassed area maintenance on the Lakes, improve parking in Fenny Stratford and traffic management in Water Eaton. The trees estate needs improved open space management and we need to see all community facilities built and roads adopted on Newton Leys ''
Her Top 10 priorities are:
- To make sure the Council delivers the blitz on litter and fly tipping.
- To improve parking
- To support residents in the Serpentine Court regeneration
- To see regeneration of the wider Lakes estate.
- To continue deliver more Council houses.
- To see Queensway improved.
- To support lower speeds on residential roads
- To support local schools get a fairer funding deal.
- To challenge the impact of Salden Chase on Bletchley.
- To improve open space maintenance, including weed removal and improved grass cutting.
