Political row over by-election

A BY-election is to be held for a council seat which was awarded to the wrong candidate in last May’s elections.
But a political row has broken out because Labour – who were wrongly awarded the seat on Poulton-with-Fearnhead Parish Council due to an error in the counting – have called for a by-election.
An independent investigation into the election revealed that Liberal Democrat Peter Edwards had received more than Labour’s Ian Johnson, who was formally elected.
When the investigation was announced, Mr Johnson said he would resign if it was found he had not won. Subsequently, when it was learned that Mr Edwards had polled the most votes, Mr Johnson stood down.
Now Labour have come under criticism from the Liberal Democrats for calling a by-election.
Mr Edwards said: “Mr Johnson offered to resign if the independent report found he had not won the election. That was the report’s conclusion and he has done the honourable thing and left his seat.
“The Labour Party, however, seem to have gone back on their word to make sure the seat was taken by the person who had won it in May’s election.
“They have now called for a by-election to fill the seat.”
“Not only do Labour feel no shame in breaking their word by calling for another election, they also want the taxpayer to foot the bill – possibly as much as £3,000 of public money.
“This by-election will cost local taxpayers money that could have been used to help out struggling families in these times of recession.
“Labour have shown by their latest move that not only can you not trust them to keep their word, but that they are completely deaf to the real concerns of local people who want their money spent carefully, not on wasteful and unnecessary elections.”