Labour comes a right cropper in Stowmarket

LIBERAL Democrat woes seem to have by-passed the voters of Stowmarket. They pushed Labour into fourth place behind the Greens as the Tories held on the couunty council division of Stowmarket South in yesterday's by-election.

What a rum result it was. Tories had been nervous at  the prospect of holding a seat they first won last May off Labour. They needn't have worried - Labour fell from grace in spectacular fashion.

And well done to the Greens. whose candidate "Twiggy" Davis fisnished third. The greater Stowmarket area, which includes Mendlesham, has a pocket of Green support which seems to be coming from Labour. They already have one Mid Suffolk district councillor and could even grab a county council seat before not too long.

Yesterday's turnout was far less than last May, when the contest was held on the same day as the General Election, but for Labour to lose 1,109 votes in a town where it once held sway is careless in the extreme.