INDEPENDENT candidate Chris Warren has won the Saltford by-election by just four votes.
He beat the Liberal Democrat contender who had been defending the party’s seat on Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Mr Warren chaired Saltford Parish Council for seven years and has been a major voice in the campaign to bring back Saltford Station.
He said he was delighted with the result, adding: “An incredibly narrow margin but a win is a win and there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
He received 587 votes to Liberal Democrat hopeful Hossein Pirooz’s 583 in the by-election on January 16.
Mr Pirooz said: “I thought the campaign went really well. I’m obviously very disappointed to have lost by such a margin of just four votes.”
Meanwhile, Labour’s support collapsed to just 60 votes — and their candidate was in Australia. A member of the Labour team said this trip had already been booked before the by-election.
There was a turnout of 42.5% in the election, with 1,972 out of an electorate of 4,897 casting their votes. There were four spoiled ballots. Counting went on until 1am in Saltford Hall, after a recount was called over the close result.
Mr Warren said: “It’s very satisfying to win in my home village. I have lived here for 26 years. It was quite shocking to see the amount of resource which was thrown at this seat by the Liberal Democrats – so it made it even sweeter to win tonight.”
During the byelection campaign, Mr Warren insisted he was not behind an account on X (formerly Twitter) which had used abusive language about the council and its staff.
He suggested images of him tweeted by the account may have been taken from Facebook and said: “It ain’t me. I’ve been trolled.”
After his election victory, he said he wanted to thank the people working the count and the other candidates, adding: “Especially young Dan [Condick, Reform UK candidate]. I think it’s great to see that young people are getting involved in the political arena.”
Mr Condick, who came fourth with 205 votes, said: “At least Saltford has voted for something different than the Liberal Democrats. And I’m glad I’m ahead of Labour, being the governing party.”
Green candidate Luanne Thornton said coming fifth with 159 votes showed the Greens could maintain or improve on previous performance.
She said: “It’s great in terms of the WECA Combined Authority mayoral elections and in terms of what might occur – and showing that young people in politics can make a real difference.”
The votes cast for each candidate were:
Andrew David Busby (Conservative) – 375
Daniel Patrick Condick (Reform UK) – 205
Jane Emma Giddins (Labour) – 60
Hossein Pirooz (Liberal Democrat) – 583
Luanne Thornton (Green) – 159
Christopher John Warren (Independent) – 587
The result means that the independents now have seven councillors – the same number as the Labour group who are the opposition on the council. The Liberal Democrats still have an overwhelming majority, with 40 of the 59 seats on the council.
The by-election was triggered after Liberal Democrat councillor Alison Streatfeild-James stepped down to take on a new role at the Financial Conduct Authority, where she cannot hold political office. Duncan Hounsell (also Liberal Democrat) remains Saltford’s other councillor.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Pictured, Chris Warren (centre left) with supporters including Nathan Hartley (right) in Saltford Hall after winning the byelection
Independent Chris Warren wins Saltford by-election
