Loveday Jenkin wins Wendron by-election

Congratulations to Loveday Jenkin who has won the Wendron by-election for Cornwall Council. The seat was previously held by the late Mike Clayton and it represents a gain for Mebyon Kernow from the Independents. The full results were:

Loveday Jenkin (MK) – 427 (36.4% – up 16.5%)
John Martin (Lib Dem) – 262 (22.3% – up 12.3%)
Linda Taylor (Con) – 227 (19.4% – up 3.9%)
Phil Martin (Ind) – 177 (15.1% – down 16.6%)
Robert Webber (Lab) – 80 (6.8% – up 3.8%)

It was clearly an excellent result for Loveday but I must make special mention of John Martin, who also had an outstanding campaign. In 2009 the Lib Dems finished fifth in this ward but a strong campaign from John saw him leap to second in a seat where many felt he had no chance. The Tories, who were confident they would win this by-election, finished a disappointing third while Labour barely troubled the scorers.

This result means that the ruling Tory/Indie coalition at County Hall have failed to win a single by-election since the formation of Cornwall Council in 2009.