Liberal Democrat wins North Kesteven’s Billinghay Rural by-election

Liberal Democrat Adrian Whittle won 41.1 per cent of the vote, claiming the Billinghay Rural Ward seat from the Conservatives after the death of Tory Councillor Gill Ogden.

He will be the first Liberal Democrat on the council in about 20 years. His father, Geoffrey Whittle, was a Conservative district councillor for 11 years.

Coun Whittle, commented: “First and foremost, thank you to those who supported me throughout this campaign, and with their votes .“I’d like to congratulate the fellow candidates on running a good campaign, and pay tribute to former councillor Gill Ogden for her public service to North Kesteven over many decades.“We fought a good campaign on fixing frontline services, cleaning up our community and fighting for a better deal for Billinghay Rural from the county and district council. People locally have had Conservative councillors for decades in Billinghay Rural - but time and time again on doorsteps people told us they never hear from them. I'm delighted local people backed our positive message and proactive work across the villages of Billinghay Rural.”

“My main aim is purely to represent the local community and address their immediate concerns,” Coun Whittle said.

“The first job I want to do is try and map all the potholes in the ward because that is something that drives everybody up the wall. It’s a bone of contention for most residents.

“There’s a lot of bad streets, and while I can’t go and fix them individually, if I can draw up a complete list of them, then I will certainly be taking it to the relevant people and say, ‘look, can we have a plan of action’?”

Coun Whittle was previously a Conservative until 2016, but shifted his allegiance following the Brexit vote.

He acknowledged that as a one-man band he might not be able to solve issues, but that by having a foot in the council door, he felt he could highlight issues and communicate with his ward.

“It’s about being proactive and doing your best; that’s all anybody can ever do.”

He shares the ward with current Conservative Councillor Sarah Lawrence.

The full results were:

Anthony Brand (Independent) 29 votes.

Wendy Anne Liles (Lincolnshire Independent) 225 votes.

Adrian Michael Whittle (Liberal Democrat) 354 votes.

Andy Wilkes (The Conservative Party) 254 votes.

Overall, there were 862 votes, and the turnout for the election was 19.83%.Councillor Clare Smalley, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Lincoln Lib Dems, added: “This result is the clearest evidence that the Liberal Democrats are back in Lincolnshire. We are winning against Labour in Lincoln, and winning against the Conservatives in their rural heartland.“To go from a standing start to 41 per cent is a vote of confidence in the Liberal Democrats as the positive alternative to the Conservative’s dreadful record running North Kesteven and County Hall.“With the Conservatives imploding both locally and nationally, it’s the Liberal Democrats who are offering real change in Lincolnshire.”

However, the result means there will be no change in council leadership. The council make-up will now be:

Conservative 24 (-1 from 25)

Lincolnshire Independents 10

Labour 2

Independent (no political party) 6

Lib Dems 1 (+1 from 0)

Conservative and NKDC Leader Councillor Richard Wright said it was a “disappointing” result for the party.

“Our candidate worked really hard; he was a local guy who’s well-placed in the community and faced an absolute barrage of literature from the Liberal Democrat area team, which seems to have got them across the line,” he said.

“As I say, we had a good candidate that we’ll no doubt see again, because he’s rooted in the community and wasn’t somebody who’s just come from another area to stand in the election.

“The Conservative Group have got a clear majority and will just continue as we have previously,” said Coun Wright.

“Nobody likes to lose a by-election, it would be untruthful to say differently, but we’ll continue.”

Asked if national politics had played a part, he said that was an issue on the doorstep.

“There was not so much a concentration on local issues, but people were being swayed by what they were seeing in the national press.

“That’s quite often something everyone struggles to break through in local elections, but it did seem to be a big conversation piece this time.”

Coun Marianne Overton, who leads the Lincolnshire Independents, the main opposition at NKDC, said: “Lincolnshire Independent Wendy Liles does a brilliant job in her community, which was reflected in a strong vote in this close three-way battle.”

She congratulated Adrian and his team on their successful campaign and thanked residents for voting “despite the winter cold and wet”.