Conservatives Keith Girling has won Nottinghamshire County Council’s by-election in Newark West division

All the votes have been counted, and recounted, and Conservative Keith Girling has won the Newark by-election.

Mr Girling has been elected as the new representative for Newark West on Nottinghamshire County Council.

He narrowly beat his closest rival, Reform UK’s Caroline Hinds, by just 8 votes following the late drama of a recount at Castle House.

He reclaims the seat that he had held for eight years before he came runner up in the May 1 local elections.

The winner, Reform’s David Clarke resigned less than a week later, triggering the by-election.

Speaking to the Advertiser upon his by-election victory, Mr Girling said: “I’m proud to have been elected to this position and I’m looking forward to getting back into the county council.

“We really worked hard and we’ve had some fantastic support from all over the country.

“And a big thank you to everyone that voted for me, I won’t let you down. I’ll carry on doing what I do, working on your behalf and I’ll be a strong voice for Newark West.”

Reform UK candidate Caroline Hinds congratulated Mr Girling on his victory, and said she would continue to be involved in politics.

She added: ”I feel very grateful for the fantastic team of people who have supported me.

“I have so enjoyed getting to know the people of Newark, there is such a fabulous community here.”

“We went about everything the right way, but I do think there is some slight wariness about engaging in the democratic process, so we need to work on getting that message out there.”

There was an overall voter turnout of 21.99%, while a total of 1,962 ballots were cast.

This was a decline of 6.56%, with 568 fewer votes cast compared to the May 1 local election.

Postal votes represented 860 of the total and the remaining 1,102 ballots were cast at polling stations.

Returning officer John Robinson confirmed the results, which are as follows (listed alphabetically by surname):

• WINNER: Keith Girling (Local Conservatives) — 680

• Caroline Hinds (Reform UK) — 672

• Rosemary Johnson Sabine (Liberal Democrats) — 90

• Andrew Leatherland (Social Democratic Party) — 11

• Matthew Spoors (Green Party) — 190

• Paul Taylor (Labour Party) — 316