Conservatives win Essex seats from Reform at by-elections

The Conservatives won two council seats in by-elections held in Essex on Thursday.

Danielle Belton won more than half of the votes cast as she took the Sweyne Park and Grange seat on Rochford District Council.

She was leader of the council until she lost her seat on 7 May, but she will return to the council chamber in opposition to the Reform UK-led administration.

Meanwhile, her husband Stuart Belton won the Rayleigh West seat on Essex County Council, with Reform pushed into third place behind the Liberal Democrats.

“I was not predicting that kind of victory,” Belton told the BBC.

“It sends a message. This area is not prepared to be used as a stepping stone for opportunist Reform members.”

Belton lost her previous council seat of Hockley and Ashingdon in May to Reform by just 26 votes.

But she picked up 56% of the votes on Thursday, with a turnout of 37% – which is unusually high for a by-election.

The losses for Reform will not change the balance of power at either authority.

Reform has a majority on Essex County Council, with 52 members.

At Rochford District Council, the party is expected to remain in charge as a minority administration, as it is still the largest with 12 out of the 39 council seats.

Belton said: “I’m quite comfortable sitting in opposition and scrutinising the decisions they are going to try and make.”