Labour has held its Fazakerley seat on Liverpool Council but there was a strong showing for a new group of independent councillors who broke away from the party.
Helen Stephens was elected in the north Liverpool ward this evening after securing 57% of the vote. The election was called after the resignation of former councillor Lindsay Melia in March.
With 1,365 votes, Cllr Stephens saw off a strong challenge from Laura Wharton, standing for the Liverpool Community Independents in their first election since the group was formed earlier this year by a group of ex-Labour rebels. She secured 26% of the vote share with 638 votes.
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Liberal Democrat candidate Jack Williams took third place with 290 votes while Green Party member Paul Corry came in fourth securing 79 votes. A total of 2,381 votes were cast on a turnout of 21%.
Cllr Stephens joins Cllr Frazer Lake, cabinet member for social care and health, and assistant mayor Cllr Paul Brant. Her victory now takes Labour’s numbers to 61 on the city council as voters stuck with the party despite a number of expensive mistakes that continues to cause problems for the ruling group.
Cllr Stephens said: “It’s very exciting and overwhelming, I’m made up. Representing my own ward will just be amazing, I’ve lived here for 12 years and do a lot of work in the community and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in. We’ve just tried to be really positive and we put ourselves forward because we want to make a difference.”
Cllr Stephens will have less than a year in post before going to the electorate again, with all out council elections to take place next year. Mayor Joanne Anderson offered her congratulations to the new Labour councillor on Twitter. She said: “Fantastic result for Helen in Fazakerley tonight.
“Residents have put their faith in the right place and I know Helen will be an amazing councillor for the community she lives in. A great by-election turnout and a stonking victory for Labour.” Second place candidate, Laura Wharton, said she would stand again for the seat in 2023.
She added: “I feel really proud, we had a grassroots campaign, with hardly any funds. We had very little time to prepare and we’re going to come back in 2023 even stronger.
“I’m very happy because it shows we’ve made an impact and the percentage for Labour is lower than the last election. We will come back bigger and better.”
Cllr Alan Gibbons, deputy leader of the Liverpool Community Independents, said it was an “excellent result for a new political group to come a good second” and they had “ran a great campaign in a Labour heartland."
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