We would like to thank everyone that supported our Town Council by-election campaign and voted for James Minter in the Snodland West & Holborough Lakes ward.
The result was as below:
James Minter 380 (49%)
Labour 273 (35%)
Liberal Democrats 123 (16%)
The turnout was 16.7%.
296 votes were cast in person. 480 votes were cast by post.
Although we are obviously pleased to win, we sincerely regret that an election was called at all. All political parties (except the Lib Dems) had agreed to co-opt a new councillor instead of having an election.
This option would have cost nothing and is common practice in these circumstances.
Instead, the Town Council has now been forced to spend between £8k and £10k. Clearly, this money cannot now be spent on services in Snodland.
We are all supportive of democracy; but not at any price. We consider that the approximate £10,000 (the Borough Council has not invoiced the Town Council yet, so we don't know the exact cost) is not good value for money to elect one Town Councillor out of fifteen. The Town Council has a budget for the four-yearly cost of its elections, but the by-election was an unexpected cost.
We feel it is particularly ironic that the party who called the election came last. The Lib Dems were fully aware of the cost of an election and also fully aware that they were extremely unlikely to win. Given these circumstances, it is difficult to see why they organised for the election to take place.
All political parties need to consider how they spend tax-payers' hard-earned money, and make sure that expenditure overs value for money. We hope that should any future vacancies occur, that we can all agree to co-opt someone with the right skills to fill the post.
