The result of the by-election in East Ward is as follows:
Kevin Watt (Conservative) 252 votes, Labour 1063 votes, Lib/Dem 37 votes, BNP 141 votes.
Kevin would like to thank everyone who assisted him during his campaign and, although sorry not to win, is pleased to report that he increased his share of the vote considerably from the last election
It was truly embarrassing to have to listen to the totally unnecessary and lengthy partisan acceptance speech by the Labour candidate in which he criticised the government but made no mention of the mess the Labour party have got the town into. He seemed to think that he had been elected as prime minister rather than just a councillor and showed that he obviously considers himself to be a representative for the Socialist constituents only.