Reform UK candidate Marion Mason has been elected to Central Bedfordshire Council after topping the Stotfold by-election poll.
She becomes the second Reform UK member on the local authority, but the first to do so via the ballot box.
Councillor Mason, of Arlesey, previously served as a Stevenage borough councillor for 11 years.
The party’s share of the vote was 30.8 per cent in taking the seat from the Labour Party, after the resignation of councillor Helen Wightwick in July.
Former CBC councillor and ex-deputy Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Dalgarno was runner-up for the Conservative Party, which received a 20.9 per cent vote share.
Labour selected Rachel Burgin as its replacement candidate, but she could only finish third with 19.9 per cent. Kate Hill-Lines for the Green Party was fourth with 15.6 per cent, ahead of the Liberal Democrats’ Neil Stevenson on 12.7 per cent.
The seat was held by the Conservatives before the May 2023 elections, when Labour’s Ms Wightwick came second in the poll to Independent councillor Kathryn Woodfine. Both were elected to serve Stotfold.
CBC now has 20 Conservatives, 15 Independent Alliance councillors, and 13 representing the Central Bedfordshire Community Network, including one from the Green Party.
There are eight Liberal Democrats, four Labour councillors, two representing Reform UK (one non-aligned), and a non-aligned Independent.
by Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
