Large legal bill looms over Leeds election they decided on a coin toss

Scott Jones, a 38-year-old electrician, and chairman of Bramham Sport and Leisure Committee, stood for the parish council of Bramham cum Ogilthorpe for the first time where nine seats were being contested.

After polling an equivalent number of votes - 243 - to Valerie Whitbread he then lost on the toss of a coin. But while he was prepared to be a gracious loser he became incensed when he found several people had been missed off the parish list who could have voted for him. He is now taking legal advice on what he should do. He said: “I feel very disappointed obviously especially as it is the council’s error and not mine. I had three friends who would have voted for me but were unable to do so. I feel Leeds City Council has let me down and I am going to take legal advice about what to do next after discussion with my solicitor.”

Senior Leeds councillor John Procter who sits on the council’s elections working group, said: “It is a very, very unfortunate position. In an ideal world you would want the election to be rerun.”

He said officials had also considered whether it would be possible to co-opt Mr Jones onto the parish council but this would involve a public inquiry and the redrawing of boundaries. He said the error had arisen because of inaccurate

information provided by an external company.

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: “We are aware of an error affecting the late registration of around 15 electors in the Bramham cum Ogilthorpe ward.

“They were registered to vote in the local elections and the AV referendum but their names were not included on the parish register. We apologise for this error and are looking into how it happened.

“Local, town and parish elections - and the AV referendum - ran smoothly across Leeds and hundreds of thousands of votes were cast and counted. “The result in Bramham cum Ogilthorpe currently stands. Any appeal would have to be made within 21 days of the result being announced and it would then be up to a High Court Judge to make a decision on the outcome.”