WESTERN; LAB HOLD: SPECULATION was rife as to whether the presence of UK Independence Party candidate Michael Morton would damage the showing of the Conservatives.
The UKIP has stood in the ward in the past three council elections, but secured no more than eight per cent of the vote.
Last night, the party saw its share of the vote surge to 12 per cent, perhaps on the strength of the party's rising national profile. And it seemed to damage the popularity of both Labour and the Conservatives.
The last time voters went to the polls in Western ward was in January, when Labour managed 47 per cent and the Conservatives 37 per cent.
This time, Labour candidate Michael Barnes saw his party's share fall to 38 per cent, while the Conservatives' Mark Edwards secured 33 per cent.
However, in spite of the downward trend, Labour still maintains a clean sweep of three councillors in the ward.
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