Tories lose council majority in by-election

They are now the minority administration at Harrogate Borough Council following the poll, held following the death of Coun John Wren in November last year.

Coun Wren, who represented the Woodfield ward on the council and died after a short illness, was elected as a Liberal Democrat but later defected to the Tory group.

Liberal Democrat candidate Greta Knight triumphed in Thursday's by-election, polling 688 votes. The turnout was just under 27 per cent, as voters battled through the snow and ice to polling stations.

Coun Knight said: "I am delighted to have been elected and it is going to be an interesting time for Harrogate Council, especially in the run-up to the General Election.

"Hopefully this will be an indication of the successes which the Liberal Democrats will have on a national level when the General Election is called later this year.

"The turnout was actually higher than we expected, and the people of Woodfield were amazing – they turned up in what were the most vile conditions to exercise their democratic right."

Tory candidate Heather Adderley came in second with 246 votes, while Labour, which narrowly missed taking second place in the previous election in 2007, came last behind the BNP.

The Labour candidate, Daniel Maguire, secured 73 votes, while the BNP's Steve Gill polled 92.

Harrogate Council is now made up of 27 Conservative members, 21 Liberal Democrats and six Independents.

Coun Knight, a grandmother of five who lives with her husband, Chris, in Bilton Grove Avenue in Harrogate, is a former primary school headteacher who has been involved with volunteering at the spa town's St Michael's Hospice for the past decade.

It was the first time she had stood for election on a local authority.