Labour increases its majority at Crawley Borough Council after local election results
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Richard Burrett, who has served as a Conservative councillor since 1992, lost his Pound Hill North & Forge Wood seat to Justin Russell by 1,314 votes to 1,137.
The result saw Labour extend its control of the council, with 20 seats compared to the Conservatives’ 16.
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Hide AdLabour leader Michael Jones said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ with the day’s results.
He added: “It was a really solid set of results for the party. I’m very pleased with the result in Pound Hill North & Forge Wood – it’s the first time we’ve won that ward since 1995.
“It showed a real vote of confidence from Crawley people that the council’s doing good things.”
Mr Jones said Mr Burrett had ‘served his community faithfully’ and suggested that he may have been a victim of his party’s plummeting national popularity.
He added: “Sometimes politics can be brutal.
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Hide Ad“He’s still a county councillor and I’m sure he will continue to serve there. I wish him all the best for the future.”
The Conservatives regained the Pound Hill South & Worth seat, which had been vacant since the death of Andrew Belben.
Craig Burke took up the reins, seeing off challenges from Labour and the Greens.
One-third of the council’s 36 seats were contested, with only Tilgate residents not going to the polls.
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Hide AdThere were some nervy moments, with Conservative leader Duncan Crow facing a strong challenge from Labour in his Furnace Green ward.
Mr Crow kept hold of the seat by 990 votes to 851, with Reform UK proving no challenge whatsoever with 127 votes.
In his column Mr Crow said: “Nationally, it was the worst set of Conservative local election results since 1995, losing one in three seats we were defending. While disappointing, it wasn’t a huge surprise being mid-term after thirteen years in government and broadly in line with national predictions.
“However, in Crawley we continued to buck the national trend. We did lose one of the five seats we were defending but we held the other four and narrowed the gap in Ifield. The one seat we did lose was Pound Hill North & Forge Wood.
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Hide Ad“It is disappointing to lose such a good councillor in Richard Burrett from Crawley Borough Council, but he remains as County Councillor for Pound Hill and will continue to stand up for residents.”
Mr Jones will have some work to do reorganising his cabinet as two members – Shahzad Malik (Langley Green & Tushmore) and Sandra Buck (Ifield) – did not stand for re-election.
The turnout was 30.8 per cent, with 375 people being turned away for having no photo ID.
Of those, only 208 returned to cast their vote.
RESULTS
BEWBUSH & NORTH BROADFIELD – LAB HOLD
Marion Louise Ayling (Labour) – 934
Robin Burnham (Independent) – 154
Tom Liddiard (Conservative) – 378
Debra Louise Plaister (Heritage Party) – 25
Holly Rose Smith (Green) – 185
BROADFIELD – LAB HOLD
Ian Thomas Irvine (Labour) – 928
Parveen Khan (Lib Dem) – 124
Ioannis Kouratos (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) – 33
Carolina Morra (Heritage Party) – 107
Karlo Christopher Pharoah (Conservative) – 507
FURNACE GREEN – CON HOLD
Duncan Crow (Conservative) – 990
Allan Peter Griffiths (Reform UK) – 127
Dipesh Patel (Labour And Cooperative) – 851
GOSSOPS GREEN & NORTH EAST BROADFIELD – LAB HOLD
Iain Bradley Martin Dickson (Green) – 194
Chris Mullins (Labour And Cooperative) – 852
Dominic Patrick Ramsay (Conservative) – 516
IFIELD – LAB HOLD
Thomas Adam Henry Bidwell (Conservative) – 834
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Hide AdJulian George Joseph Charatan (Labour and Cooperative) – 990
Lawrence Car Mallinson (Lib Dem) – 110
Ines Elva Manning (Green) – 205
LANGLEY GREEN & TUSHMORE – LAB HOLD
Imran Ashraf (Labour and Cooperative) – 1,033
Alan Hellier (Conservative) – 592
MAIDENBOWER – CON HOLD
Olu Adeniyi (Labour and Cooperative) – 456
Kim Louise Jaggard (Conservative) – 1,131
Max Perry (Green) – 608
NORTHGATE & WEST GREEN _ LAB HOLD
Sally Claire Fadelle (Green) – 249
Tony Johnson (Conservative) – 696
Peter Keir Lamb (Labour and Cooperative) – 1,136
POUND HILL NORTH & FORGE WOOD – LAB GAIN
Richard David Burrett (Conservative) – 1,137
Justin Russell (Labour and Cooperative) – 1,314
POUND HILL SOUTH & WORTH – CON GAIN
Craig Martin Burke (Conservative) – 1,099
Cyril James Gambrell (Green) – 268
Nicholas Richard Hilton (Labour) – 928
SOUTHGATE – LAB HOLD
Robin David Fitton (Green) – 186
Bob Noyce (Labour) – 974
Jan Tarrant (Conservative) – 710
Paul James Taylor-Burr (Lib Dem) – 115
THREE BRIDGES – CON HOLD
Nicola Mary Addley (Heritage) – 61
Brenda Josephine Burgess (Conservative) – 1,018
Esra Guler (Labour) – 958
Danielle Kail (Green) – 177