A MISSING ballot box raised the tension in the closely-contested Tavistock Rural ward at the county council elections last week. Cllr Roy Connelly, representing the Liberal Democrats, successfully defended his Tavistock seat, despite a strong challenge from Conservative candidate Philip Sanders and Independent Ted Sherrell. There were just three votes separating Connelly and Sanders with Sherrell not far behind when it was discovered an administrative blunder had resulted in a ballot box containing papers from two areas of Tavistock had been accidentally sent to Torridge District Council?s offices in Holsworthy. When the box finally arrived at the count being held at the Parklands Leisure Centre in Okehampton shortly after 2pm, rosette-wearing party activists and the candidates crowded round to try and gauge what the final batch of mauve ballot papers would mean in terms of the result. In the event, the delayed box contained ballot papers from the Tavistock North and South wards, and it was the popular support Cllr Connelly attracted in these areas which swung the vote decisively in his favour. Returning officer David Incoll announced that Cllr Connelly had polled just over 2,100 votes, with his Conservative challenger more than 200 behind and Sherrell a further 130 back. The two main parties finished all square in West Devon, with the two electoral divisions in the north of the borough painted blue by the Conservatives and the two divisions in the south held by the yellow of the Liberal Democrats. Alex Wood, speaking on behalf of Cllr Connelly, who was unable to attend the count, referred to the drama of the delayed vote and the closeness of the poll: ?You couldn?t write the script! ?It was a very close contest but Roy has come in with an increased majority. This is a vindication of the good casework Roy has done in the last four years and recognition of the tangible benefits he has brought to Tavistock and the surrounding area.? Mr Wood also paid tribute to serving Tavistock town councillor Ted Sherrell, who he said had achieved a laudable result taking around 25% of the vote standing as an Independent without the backing of a party organisation. Former mayor of Okehampton Christine Marsh was re-elected as a Conservative to serve the Okehampton Rural constituency. Cllr Marsh recorded a reduced majority of more than 450 votes over her Liberal Democrat challenger Ken Williams. Cllr Marsh said she was ?relieved and overjoyed? to have been re-elected and said she would continue to work hard for the people of the Okehampton area for the next four years. Two new county councillors were chosen by the West Devon electorate following the decision by Gretta Madigan (Yelverton Rural) and Bill Cann (Hatherleigh and Chagford) to step down from County Hall. The Liberal Democratss held Yelverton Rural with Alan Hoskins beating Conservative Bill Hitchins by just 40 votes. Alan Hoskins said: ?I feel very excited and very privileged to follow on from Cllr Gretta Madigan. She will be a hard act to follow but I will do my best. I pledge myself to serve the people of Yelverton Rural to the best of my abilities.? Hatherleigh and Chagford, which had previously returned an Independent councillor, now has a Conservative representative following the election of James McInnes. Cllr McInnes, already a borough councillor, finished comfortably ahead of Liberal Democrat challenger Anne Carter. Following the announcement of the result, Cllr McInnes paid tribute to the campaigns of all his opponents, particularly Mrs Carter. He also spoke about former councillor Bill Cann who had served Hatherleigh and Chagford for 24 years: ?I very much appreciate all the hard work he has done over the years.? The county elections resulted in the Liberal Democrats taking control of Devon County Council with 33 seats out of 62. The Conservatives won 23 seats, and Labour four, with two seats going to Independent candidates.
l Results (Asterisk denotes a sitting councillor) ?
Hatherleigh and Chagford: James McInnes (Cons) 3,358 Anne Carter (Lib Dem) 2,609 Susan Bamford (UKIP) 529 Brenda Lopez (Lab) 493
Okehampton Rural: *Christine Marsh (Cons) 3,216 Ken Williams (Lib Dem) 2,747 Alison Young (Lab) 740 Quentin Kelly (UKIP) 632
Tavistock Rural: *Roy Connelly (Lib Dem) 2,109 Philip Sanders (Cons) 1,898 Ted Sherrell (Ind) 1,769 Debra Hardy (Lab) 565 Doreen Mudge (UKIP) 464.
Yelverton Rural:
Alan Hosking (Lib Dem) 2,810 Bill Hitchins (Cons) 2,770 Edward Lopez (Lab) 809 Andrew Mudge (UKIP) 783
Holsworthy Rural: *Des Shadrick (Lib Dem) 3,864 Gaye Tabor (Cons) 2,617 William Vanstone (Lab) 517
Torrington Rural: *John Rawlinson (Lib Dem) 2,849 James Morrish (Cons) 2,788 Guy Pettifer (Labour) 714 Piers Merchant (UKIP) 596