The St Pauls Ward in Clacton has switched from Independent to Conservative control following a by-election on Thursday.

The St Pauls Ward in Clacton has switched from Independent to Conservative control following a by-election on Thursday.

Susan Honeywood was elected to serve on Tendring District Council after polling 378 votes, over 200 votes ahead of the runner up, Stephen Andrews, who ran as an Independent candidate.

The by-election was called after councillor Jack Parsons resigned late last year.

Mr Parsons had previously caused a stir when he defected from UKIP to Labour, then to an Independent post, all in the space of six months. For a short span of five months, he was Clacton’s only Labour district councillor.

The turnout for the by-election was just over a quarter of eligible voters, at 25.5 percent.

Other candidates in the running for the seat included Robert Cockroft of the Green Party, Rosie-Roella Kevlin representing Labour, Liberal Democrat representative Keith Pitkin, and UKIP’s Michael Vaughan-Chatfield.