East Wolds and Coastal ward by-election won by Conservative candidate Charlie Dewhirst

The Conservative candidate won the seat for the party with 1,190 votes, 54 per cent of the 2,209 votes cast.

Labour’s Daniel Vulliamy came second with 447 votes, with Yorkshire Party candidate Kim Thomas coming third with 347.

John Scullion, standing for the Green Party, came fourth with 142 votes while Liberal Democrat Peter Astell came fifth and last with 79.

Turnout in the election was around 18.4 per cent.

Mr Dewhirst’s victory leaves East Riding Council with a political makeup of 48 Conservatives, nine Liberal Democrats, eight Independents and two Yorkshire Party members.

He will join fellow East Wolds and Coastal members Cllr Jane Evison, portfolio holder for economic growth and tourism and council leader Jonathan Owen when he takes up his seat.

Mr Dewhirst’s first council meetings will be in September as the authority is currently in its summer recess.

The by election was called following the death of Cllr Paul Lisseter in June.

The councillor, an Independent at the time of his death, was previously in the Conservative group before being suspended over alleged conflicts of interest related to his property development business.

Cllr Lisseter denied any wrongdoing and planned to fight his suspension before passing away.

East Wolds and Coastal voters were the first in the East Riding to go to the polls for a council seat since May.

May saw voters in the wards of South East and South West Holderness elect Conservatives David Winter and Claire Holmes respectively.

Voters also went to the polls for Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections in May which Conservative Jonathan Evison won, unseating Labour incumbent Keith Hunter.

The last all out elections for East Riding Council were held in May 2019.

Article by Joe Gerrard (Local Democracy Reporting Service)