Tories win both Crawley by-elections

the scene at the riverside polling station off sugar way as a quiet start to local election voting took place

Two by-elections in Crawley have seen resounding victories for the Conservatives.

Residents in Tilgate and Three Bridges went to the polls on Thursday following the death of Charles Petts, who represented the wards at borough and county level respectively.

Mr Petts died in July, aged 52.

Maureen Mwagale took the honours in Tilgate, winning 57 per cent of the vote, with the turnout standing at 29 per cent.

Her win takes the make-up of the council back to 19 Labour and 17 Conservative, the same as it was before Mr Petts’ death.

In Three Bridges, borough councillor Brenda Burgess also took the West Sussex County Council seat, with 52 per cent of the vote.

The result makes no real difference to the county council which has a large Tory majority – but things are very much on a knife-edge at borough level.

Results

TILGATE (Crawley Borough Council)

Derek HARDMAN (Green) 70

Arshad KHAN (Justice) 5

Kiran KHAN (Labour) 396

Maureen MWAGALE (Conservative) 741 ELECTED

Angharad OLD (Lib Dem) 82

Turnout: 29 per cent

THREE BRIDGES (West Sussex County Council)

David ANDERSON (Lib Dem) 257

Brenda BURGESS (Conservative) 1,102 ELECTED

Danielle KAIL (Green) 136

Arshad KHAN (Justice) 9

Angela MALIK (Labour) 628

Turnout: 25 per cent