CONSERVATIVES ruled the roost in the elections for the new unitary Shropshire Council by winning 12 of the 15 seats up for grabs in the Bridgnorth area.
The exceptions were in the Cleobury Mortimer ward where health campaigner Madge Shineton topped the poll for the Independent Community and Health Concern party, at Broseley where Labour’s Jean Jones beat off a Tory challenge and at Highley where Liberal Democrat Eunice Nicholls was elected.
The Tories swept the board in Bridgnorth to take four of their party’s 54 seats out of total of 74 up for grabs on the council. Les Winwood and John Hurst-Knight topped the list in the Bridgnorth West and Tasley ward, while Christian Lea and William Parr came out top in Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts.
Jean Jones was just one of seven Labour members to be elected across the county, while Eunice Nicholls was one of 10 Liberal Democrats to win a seat.
Local results were as follows (C=Conservative, L=Labour, LD=Liberal Democrat, I=Independent, UKIP=United Kingdom Independence Party, ICHC=Independent Community and Health Concern; *denotes elected member):-
Albrighton (1 seat):- *Malcolm Gregory Pate (C) 888, David Alan Beechey (I) 770, Paul Lusk (L) 170.
Alveley and Claverley (1):- *Tina Woodward (C) 797, Frederick David Voysey (LD) 430, George Benjamin Henry Lee (I) 394.
Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts (2):- *Christian Lea (C) 941, *William Michael Parr (C) 875, Adrian Tacchi (I) 796, David Walker (LD) 578, Paul Tacchi (I) 550, Iain Reginald Findlay Seivewright (LD) 520, Patricia Joan Lee (I) 172.
Bridgnorth West and Tasley (2):- *Les Winwood (C) 1,199, *John Hurst-Knight (C) 940, Richard Douglas Stilwell (LD) 564, Vanessa Naomi Voysey (LD) 512, Ed Shirley (I) 510, Norman Cottrell (I) 400, Geoff Bodenham (I) 272.
Broseley (1):- *Jean Elizabeth Jones (L) 1,006, Jo Challinor (C) 490.
Brown Clee (1):- *Robert Stuart Tindall (C) 919, Richard Andrew Kightley (LD) 419.
Cleobury Mortimer (2):- *Madge Shineton (ICHC) 1,454, *Gwilym Howard Leslie Butler (C) 1,304, Betty Doreen Davies (I) 1,181, Ian James Suthers (C) 575.
Highley (1):- *Eunice Mary Nicholls (LD) 654, Peter John Martin (C) 380.
Much Wenlock (1):- *Milner Whiteman (C) 779, David Michael John Gibbon (I) 531, Phil Robinson (LD) 357.
Shifnal North (1):- *Gordon Frank Tonkinson (C) 559, Kev Turley (I) 482, Jill Seymour (UKIP) 269, Ray Stickland (I) 86.
Shifnal South and Cosford (1):- *Stuart John West (C) 731, David Ridley Victor Murray (LD) 415, Brian Seymour (UKIP) 235, David John Carey (L) 151.
Worfield (1):- *Michael Linden Wood (C) 898, Margaret Edmonson Chalmers Winckler (I) 287, Helen Howell (LD) 246.
* BRIDGNORTH is in the West Midlands area in the European Parliamentary elections.
Two Conservatives, two UKIP, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat MEP were elected.
They are:- Philip Bradbourn, Malcolm Harbour (both Conservative), Mike Nattrass, Nikki Sinclaire (both UKIP), Michael Cashman (Labour) and Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat).