Labour has won the Caerphilly Town Council by-election in the Tonyfelin ward, held on Thursday December 18.
The party’s candidate Shayne Cook beat county councillor Mike Prew by 125 votes to 117 to take the ward from Plaid Cymru, a seat which the party had held for decades.
The by-election was called after Plaid Cymru’s Mike Thomas stood down from the town council for personal reasons.
Plaid Cymru, which controls Caerphilly Town Council, had argued for one of its members to be co-opted onto the council stating that a by-election would cost taxpayers between £2,000 and £3,000.
Councillor Cook, a 27-year-old NHS worker, said he would work hard to deliver the pledges he offered to the electorate and thanked everybody who supported him.
He said “I want to thank everybody for voting for me. I will work hard for all local people in Tonyfelin who voted for me and equally as hard for all those who didn’t. Its a great result for the Labour Party.”
The Tonyfelin ward mainly covers Bedwas Road and the Park Avenue estate in Caerphilly town.
This election result where new kid on the block beats experienced county councillor shows how wrong it was for Plaid Cymru to argue that there should be no election. An election is always the best way to settle who should represent the people and I hope we never again hear, from any party, that the council should co-opt one of their own members into a vacant seat on grounds that a by election would cost money.
Free elections is what the Levellers, Chartists and trade unions fought for and we cannot lightly cast aside their precious legacy to us.
Labour Councillor, Shayne, now represents a community which sits in the Morgan Jones Ward of Caerphilly County Council. I think this means that every community in that ward is now represented by three Labour Councillors, one being Councillor Jamie Pritchard who`s leadership brought about this remarkable result, considered even more suprising considering a new boy won the seat from Plaid Cymru in the face of his opponent being a sitting Plaid Cymru County Councillor, does this say anything to anyone trying to predict the result of the next County Elections?, particulalry if Shayne aspires to being a County Councillor representing his new constituents.
Well done Labour !!!!
Now lets support Labour to take control of Caerphilly Council and get some proper support for the town….
Is it not already a Labour controlled council? What is it about Labour you support/like?
Who do you support ? obviously not Labour….
You call for people to support Labour to bring about a Labour controlled council. Yet, CCBC is already controlled by Labour. I do not understand your call for more people to support Labour?
I am centre-right, but do not fully align with any party. Few people align in entirety with a party but I would say I’m between the Conservatives and UKIP.
Why ?
For the record Caerphilly Town Council, which controls and spends a large ratepayer budget, is Plaid Cymru controlled,
Come on Andrew, tell Dean what you like about Labour, would it be that they will abolish zero hours contracts, increase the basic wage and force employers to pay a `living wage`. sort out the discriminatory unbalanced education system in schools, reintroduce sport for all in schools, increase, in real terms the NHS Budget, increasingly tax the bankers bonuses, trousered from the trillions of pounds of tax payers money they are gambling with and reinvest that mney in health services, increased disability benfits, and maintain a reasonable level of child benefit.
Reduce the £8,million pounds the Tories pay for spin Eton Educated Spin Doctors, employed by No 10. reducing the £1,8 Billion deficit created by George Osbourne and his friends, and of course abolish the Bedroom Tax, NOW Dean, whats not to like about that?