THEY brought the big guns out for the Billericay Town Council By-Election and it paid off as a member of the UK Independence Party has been named the newest representative on Billericay Town Council.
Susan McCaffery, 69, of the Rising, Billericay, won the by-election with 480 votes, leaving Labour candidate Alan Bennett trailing with just 266.
Despite fears the British National Party would collect votes, candidate Tony Gladwin scored a paltry 95 votes.
On his way to the vote, YourThurrock spoke to MEP David Campbell-Bannerman about the variety of policies UKIP have to offer “beyond Europe”.
With a full slate of candidates expected for the council elections on May 6, they could well surprise a lot of people and upset the Tory applecart.
This is a joke post isnt it? This seat is not significant and the only reason true blue Billericay voted UKIP was because they did not want Labour or the BNP as a councillor. Anyone who knows anything about Billericay politics knows that the Parish council is ‘non-political’ – the LibDems and the Conservatives never stand candidates at the Parish elections. Labour usually don’t either but with the BNP standing they threw their hat into the ring.
The three main political parties usually never stand. Most of the Parish seats are uncontested – meaning a resident puts there name down and they become a Parish councillor. When a seat in this area is up for election for Basildon Council or Essex County Council the Conservative candidate is voted in with 2 or 3 thousand votes.
When the true blue folk of Billericay were confronted with the choice of a Socialist, a National Socialist or the Conservative Party Mk II (UKIP), they voted for the UKIP candidate. This was not a landslide or significant victory for UKIP – just a unique set of circumstances.
Billericay town council normally debates things like when to organise the next litter pick, the cleanliness of bus shelters and what flowers to put in the hanging baskets! It is probably best to describe them as being like a democratic community forum.