Burntwood voters elect UKIP candidate to Staffordshire County Council

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: