BRENTWOOD: Lib Dems stage comeback in elections

THE Liberal Democrats staged a dramatic county council comeback last night, snatching two of Brentwood's four available council seats from the ruling Conservatives.

And, in two of the four Brentwood wards, the right-wing British National Party managed to gain more votes than Labour.

In Brentwood North, Lib Dem councillor Barry Aspinell won his seat from Conservative Phil Baker – with 301 more votes – and Brentwood and Ongar Lib Dem leader, Cllr David Kendall, took the Brentwood South seat from Conservative Lionel Lee by just seven votes.

Conservative councillors Ann Naylor and John Roberts held onto their seats on Essex County Council in Brentwood Rural and Brentwood Hutton respectively.

Ann Naylor received 1,653 more votes than her nearest rival, UKIP candidate Yvonne Maguire, with John Roberts retaining a majority of 2,933 votes over nearest rival Lib Dem Ross Carter.

BNP candidate for Brentwood Hutton, Clifford Houghton, managed to grab 182 more votes than Labour candidate Kees Maxey and in Brentwood South BNP member Kevin Swaby gained 58 more votes than his Labour rival, Gareth Barrett.

European election votes were verified last night, but will not be counted until Sunday, when the rest of the EU has voted.

23,702 votes were cast in the European elections, translating to a 43.5 per cent voter turnout.

For more, see Wednesday's Brentwood Gazette.