Greens score first Swindon poll win at St Andrews by-election

Swindon Greens' Bradley Williams has won a by-election for a place on St Andrews Parish Council.

Cllr Williams secured 766 votes in the poll held yesterday - 9 June.

This was 130 more than Rahul Tarar, the Conservative candidate and the only other candidate in the election.

Cllr Williams secured 766 votes in the poll held yesterday - 9 June.

This was 130 more than Rahul Tarar, the Conservative candidate and the only other candidate in the election.

Cllr Williams becae the first person in Swindon to be elected as a Green parish councillor, following on from other Greens who have been co-opted onto parish councils or who have sat on parish councils on a non-party basis. 

He follows Steven Pipe in being the second Green to sit on St Andrews Parish Council.

Cllr Williams said: “I'd like to thank the residents of St Andrews for putting their trust in me to represent them, and I can’t wait to get started on working hard to improve our local area in collaboration with the rest of the parish council.

"I'm honoured to be the first person in our town to be elected as a Green parish councillor and to be a part of Swindon Greens' first ever election win. We've shown that Greens can win here in Swindon and that people are looking beyond the same parties that have always dominated."

There was controversy in the run-up to the election, with the Greens criticising the Conservative-led council for not sending out polling cards. The Greens said this might mean members of the public were unaware of the forthcoming election.

However, the council replied that sending out cards was not a legal requirement, that sending out cards might have cost £10,000 and that leaflets issued by candidates would alert the electorate to the poll.