Burntwood voters have elected a UKIP representative on to Staffordshire County Council.
Jeffrey Sheriff took the Burntwood South seat, with the previous incumbent – independent candidate Paul Atkins – beaten back into fourth place, behind Labour and the Conservatives.
There was also a Labour and Co-operative Party gain in Burntwood North, with Conservative Steve Tranter losing his seat to Susan Woodward, who polled 41 per cent of the vote.
The overall picture was strong in the town for UKIP, bagging 1,532 votes in total. Labour secured 726, while the Labour and Cooperative Party picked up 1,097.
The Tories enjoyed more success in Lichfield, though, with Terry Finn holding City South and Alan White taking Rural East. Janet Eagland also retained her seat in Rural North for the party, while David Smith won in the Rural South area and Martin Tittley topped the poll in Rural West.
Labour enjoyed some success in Lichfield, Caroline Wood narrowly saw off the challenge of Conservative candidate Colin Greatorex by just 41 votes in the City North poll.
Despite not taking a seat in Lichfield, UKIP will be delighted by their overall showing across the six areas after they found themselves in second place in terms of total votes cast in the city and rural wards with 4,797 – more than a thousand in front of Labour. The Conservatives, meanwhile, secured 7,849 votes.
Things weren’t so bright for the Liberal Democrats, who could only manage to chalk up 1,222 votes across the whole of Lichfield.
Meanwhile, the Tories remain in control of Staffordshire County Council after securing 34 seats. Labour picked up 20, while Labour and Co-operative Party candidates secured four seats. Two seats went to UKIP, with an independent and a candidate from the Staffordshire Independent Group complete the new-look council.
Full results:
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Susan Woodward | Lab | 1097 |
| Steve Tranter | Cons | 812 |
| Trish Edwards | UKIP | 689 |
| Jeyan Anketell | Lib Dem | 77 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Jeffrey Sheriff | UKIP | 843 |
| Steven Norman | Lab | 726 |
| Ken Humphreys | Cons | 568 |
| Paul Atkins | Ind | 434 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Caroline Wood | Lab | 1124 |
| Colin Greatorex | Cons | 1083 |
| John Maunder | UKIP | 720 |
| Paul Ray | Lib Dem | 242 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Terry Finn | Cons | 1361 |
| Eileen Cope | UKIP | 626 |
| Colin Ball | Lab | 580 |
| Ian Jackson | Lib Dem | 437 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Alan White | Cons | 1219 |
| Martin Dewes | UKIP | 812 |
| Glen Mynott | Lab | 608 |
| Marion Bland | Lib Dem | 141 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Martin Tittley | Cons | 1300 |
| Karen Maunder | UKIP | 974 |
| Steve Hyden | Lab | 553 |
| Ray Jones | Lib Dem | 113 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Janet Eagland | Cons | 1307 |
| Jackie Littlewood | UKIP | 748 |
| Dave Whatton | Lab | 440 |
| Stuart Stockdale | Lib Dem | 171 |
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| David Smith | Cons | 1579 |
| Bob Green | UKIP | 917 |
| Roy Boffy | Lab | 398 |
| Alison Anketell | Lib Dem | 118 |
Just for accuracy you also have to add the 484 votes that the sitting Councillor, Paul Atkins, got for the Lib Dems as he was part of the Lib Dem/Independent Group at the County Council and before that Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem/Independent Group on Lichfield District Council. Or, of course, you could add these to the Labour vote as there are still people in Burntwood who think he is still with the Labour Party and thought they were voting Labour.
If you think I’m wrong why did the Liberal Democrats not put up a candidate in Burntwood South and why was Ian Jackson (their Parliamentary Candidate – publicly supported by Atkins at the last General Election – acting as his Election Agent at the count yesterday (I understand Atkins was holidaying in Turkey rather than attend the count). I predicted this on Twitter as Ian Jackson was also acting as his Election Agent in 2009 when he also claimed to be standing as an Independent! You can fool some of the people some of the time etc.
What?
Girly political bitching. Lovely.
Bob
Whatever Bob, but Steven Norman is prepared to come on here and have his say you cannot fault him for that. Perhaps if a little more interest was shown regarding the need of more bus shelters in the Burntwood area, that might have helped.
I’m delighted to have been elected to represent Burntwood North – and, just for the record, votes for Labour/Coop are Labour votes too so the total Labour vote in Burntwood was 1823.