Clear winner in Wickham ward

9.58.55pm GMT Mon 26th Nov 2007

Liz Leffman and fellow Liberal Democrats across Meon Valley were elated to see Angela Clear romp to victory in the Winchester City Council by-election for Wickham ward on November 22.

Angela picked up 630 votes, with the Conservative candidate coming in a distant second place with 349, UKIP third with 40 and Labour trailing with just 15. This means there was a swing in votes of 1.3 per cent to the Lib Dems, while the Conservative vote was down by 2.9 per cent on last May.

Liz, prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Meon Valley, said: "Angela won over 60 per cent of the vote and was miles ahead of the other candidates. She was the only candidate to live in the ward and Wickham turned out to support her."

Angela, who has lived in Wickham for 31 years and is Chair of Wickham Parish Council, said: "This was a sad by-election for Wickham, as it was caused by the unexpected death of the previous councillor Sue Fitzgerald. But I am so pleased to be elected and will try and carry on with the good work Sue had started."

Therese Evans, Angela's fellow ward colleague in Wickham and Leader of the Liberal Democrats on WCC, said: "Sue's death was a great loss to Wickham and Knowle, but Angela will be a very committed local councillor and she already has so much experience of working in the community. This win now returns the number of Liberal Democrat councillors on the council to 23.