Jeremy Pert was narrowly defeated at May’s Staffordshire County Council election by Reform UK’s Wayne Titley, losing out by just 27 votes. But Mr Titley resigned less than a fortnight later, with personal reasons cited for his departure. In the days between his election and resignation, controversy had swirled on social media as comments attributed to his Facebook account about illegal boat crossings came to light. Former Stafford Borough councillor Ray Barron, who stood as a Reform UK candidate at the May elections, had hoped to retain the Eccleshall and Gnosall seat for the party that swept to power two months ago. He lost out then on the Stafford South East seat, which was held by veteran Conservative councillor Ann Edgeller. In the early hours of Friday (July 18) he had to settle for third place however, with 938 votes, after Councillor Pert won the Eccleshall and Gnosall by-election by a sizeable margin. He took the top spot with 1,689 votes. Green Party candidate and fellow borough councillor Scott Spencer was in second place with 1,037 votes. Labour’s Leah Elston-Thompson was in fourth place with 140 votes. Overall turnout at Thursday’s by-election was 34.8% – higher than some areas of Stafford Borough saw in the May poll. There were 16 polling stations open across the rural division, with venues ranging from village halls to Forton Cricket Club and a caravan in High Offley. Before his May unseating, Councillor Pert had served as a cabinet member on the Conservative administration. He is also the current opposition group leader at Stafford Borough Council. Following his victory at Gnosall Memorial Village Hall, he paid tribute to the elections team and polling station and count staff, describing the process as a “well-oiled machine”. He added: “It has been 12 or 13 years since we had a by-election in the borough and it was a slick operation. “None of us expected to see a by-election so early on and none of us wanted that. Thank you to everyone for coming out and voting. “The work starts tomorrow. I have been elected by the residents of Eccleshall and Gnosall and I am here to support them. “There is a significant amount of casework that we need to sort out and there is a whole range of issues. Some residents are suffering from the speed of traffic, while other residents are suffering with the threat of rampant housing development. “I have eight years’ experience running a cabinet department. I am sure that experience can be very useful to the wider council.” The by-election result means that the Conservatives now hold 11 county council seats. Reform UK retain the lion’s share however, with 48 out of 62, while Labour, Green and Stafford Borough Independents each have one seat. Staffordshire County Council Eccleshall and Gnosall Division by-election result Ray Barron (Reform UK) 938 Leah Elston-Thompson (Labour) 140 Jeremy Pert (Conservative) 1,689 ELECTED Scott Spencer (Green Party) 1,037 Number of rejected papers: 1 Turnout: 34.8%