Updated: Conservatives hold their own in Brentwood

10:41am Monday 5th May 2008

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THE Conservative party refused to loosen their grip on Brentwood Council during a night of few surprises at the local elections.

The Tories won nine of the 12 available seats, taking Brentwood South from Labour and Brizes and Doddinghurst from the Liberal Democrats.

In a victorious address, mayor of Brentwood Frank Kenny, re-elected emphatically in Hutton South, said: "The people of Brentwood have made a statement tonight, the administration that is looking after their well-being in this town is here to stay for the next four years."

The Lib Dems took Brentwood North from the Conservatives, and the party also held Pilgrims Hatch.

Leader David Kendall was satisfied with the result: "The important thing is the administration needs to keep listening.

"These elections were always going to be difficult against the backdrop of a very strong Conservative surge nationally and I am pleased with what we have been able to achieve."

But the biggest surprise of the night came in Tipps Cross ward where the independent candidate Roger Keeble beat his Conservative opponent Owen Rosindell by 20 votes to become the only independent member of the council.

As was the case all over the country, it proved to be a bad night for the Labour party as they lost a seat in Brentwood South to the Tories, with Michael Golding seeing off the challenge of Julie Morrissey by 832 votes to 627.

Party leader David Minns could not hide his frustration following the count.

He said: "It is disappointing. Our vote didn't go down on last year but it is a national swing and people now think it is respectable to vote Tory.

"We had a very strong candidate in Brentwood South but that doesn't always count for anything."

The UK Independence Party, like Labour, failed to win a seat but did gain more votes than Labour in the two wards they stood for, Brizes and Doddinghurst and Ingatestone, Fryerning and Mountnessing.

Turnout for each ward was fairly high, with the lowest being 37 per cent in Hutton North and the highest in Tipps Cross at 47.8 per cent.