Conservatives maintained their poll level, but dropped to fourth place, in a by-election for a seat in the Gainsborough East Ward of West Lindsey District Council. A By-Election was called for Thursday, 14th February 2013 following the death of Cllr. Mel Starkey, a Liberal Democrat, who died at the end of last October.

In a close fought contest—only forty votes separated top from bottom—Local Conservatives were disappointed to be relegated to fourth place, but were consoled that the party’s vote remained steady.

The Liberal Democrats retained the seat that Cllr. Starkey won for their party in 1987. Whilst Labour came in second and the U K Independence Party returned to the ward’s contest in third place with a respectable share of the vote—mostly at the expense of Labour, who had widely been tipped to win.

The Liberal Democrats vote was down 15.7% whilst Labour were down 6.3%. Our vote was down by only 2.2% and UKIP were up 24.2% since 2011. The contest saw a swing of 4.7% from the Liberal Democrats to Labour.

Turnout, in a ward that on average manages a turnout of 21%, was very low at only 11.44%.

The result of the Gainsborough East Ward of West Lindsey District Council contest is available by clicking here