Liberal Democrats candidate Jayne Phoenix thanks voters and her team as she wins the Bridlington North Ward by-election

Jayne Phoenix is the new Bridlington North Ward councillor. She said that the health service and Boris Johnson were key issues in the by-election. Photo submitted

The Liberal Democrats candidate Jayne Phoenix claimed the seat following the election yesterday (Thursday, June 30).

Jayne said there were two key issues that helped her win: her passion to improve Bridlington’s health services and anger at the Conservative leader Boris Johnson.

She said: “Firstly, I would like to voice my gratitude to all the people who voted for me yesterday. I would also like to thank the people who got out and about in Bridlington, delivering leaflets and listening to residents’ views.

“We conducted a health survey which shows people feel they are being let down by the local NHS Trust.

“People feel they are being treated unfairly and left behind when Scarborough and York Hospitals seem to get all the funding.

“We really want to make a difference and felt we were not getting the right response from the East Riding Council.

“It said it has no power to change the services but it has a health scrutiny board which could make more noise about the dire situation.

“We need more GPs and dentists in Bridlington and we all need to get this message across.

“I hope to get onto the relevant council committees and continue the battle for better services.

“The other issue people were mentioning while we were campaigning was Boris Johnson. They are very unhappy with him and the way he has bent and broken the rules during the lockdown.”

Jayne was elected with 57.1% of the total vote.

The by-election was triggered by the death of Cllr Chad Chadwick in April.

Jonathan Bibb said: “Sadly we could only manage second place, but I’m extremely proud of the campaign we fought focusing on local issues for local people.

“I want to thank everyone who voted for me, and everyone involved in my campaign who have worked incredibly hard to run an honest campaign on issues which ERYC Councillors have the powers to control.

“I have been very fortunate to build some great friendships and meet some amazing local residents whilst out and about campaigning. Even though I am not a councillor, I can assure you, I will continue to fight for the residents of Bridlington North, Sewerby and Flamborough to the best of my ability going forward.

“Myself, and my fellow East Yorkshire Conservatives will be watching the Liberal Democrats very closely, and are interested to see them deliver on their promises to residents that they will upgrade Bridlington Hospital.

“If they fail to deliver on their promises, we’ll be back at the elections next year to give the people of Bridlington, Flamborough and Sewerby the strong voice they deserve!”

The results are as follows:

○ Jonathan Bibb (Conservative Party) – 1,077

○ Davd Butland (Labour Party – 171

○ Jayne Phoenix (Liberal Democrats) – 1,950

○ Kimberley Thomas (Yorkshire Party) – 93

○ Carol Verda (Social Democratic Party) – 125.

3,422 ballot papers (including six spoilt ones) were returned out on an electorate of 11,386, meaning there was a voter turnout of 30.5%