SHE recently started her third term as mayor of Okehampton but a new challenge beckons for Christine Marsh who was elected as the new county councillor for Okehampton Rural with a 700-vote majority last Thursday, writes Alison Stephenson.
The 54-year-old Conservative candidate gave up her job as an office administrator at Waitrose to fight the seat previously held by Liberal Democrat Coleen Herriman, and the gamble has paid off.
'I am thrilled to bits,' said Cllr Marsh, who gained 3,340 votes. 'Waiting for the result in the Charter Hall was quite tense and I must admit it took a while to sink in. I never thought I would do it.'
Liberal Democrat Ken Williams received 2,640 votes and Labour's Rebecca Richards-Mole 690.
The key issues for Cllr Marsh are education and roads: 'We need to make sure the infrastructure is in place to cope with all the new development planned for the area,' she said.
The new county councillor said the next few months would be a learning curve for her and it would be a case of sitting and listening before getting stuck in.
With Okehampton Rural stretching as far as Mary Tavy, Cllr Marsh has a large area to cover but she stressed her mayoral duties would not suffer.
'I plan to be just as busy in Okehampton — now I am not working I will have time to dedicate to both jobs,' she said.
At county council level, Cllr Marsh hopes to have more say in things that affect the area but her aim is to be a voice for local people.
'The main thing for me is to listen to what the people want and speak up for them,' she said.
As a new face represents Okehampton Rural, a familiar face prepares for another term as county councillor for Hatherleigh and Chagford. Winning the seat by 322 votes, Bill Cann, who stood as an Independent candidate, believes his 20 years' experience helped him to victory.
'It is a very good result for me as this time it was a four-cornered fight taking in all the major political parties.
'I am very pleased people thought I was worth another opportunity and I thank them for their loyalty.'
Cllr Cann, 56, gained 2,388 votes while Conservative Alan Roberton received 2,066 votes, Liberal Democrat Noel Cartwright 1,672, and Labour's Margaret Cash 388.
It was a Liberal Democrat win in the Holsworthy Rural ward with Desmond Shadrick retaining his seat with 4,314 votes. Conservative Geoffrey Broyd received 2,776 votes and Labour's Ian Knight 628 votes.
In the Torrington Rural ward, Liberal Democrat John Rawlinson won the seat with 3,181 votes, Conservative Richard Westlake received 2,939 votes, Labour's Stanley Johnston 861, and Independents Patricia Ferguson 458, Jonathan Rose 229 and Paul Camilleri 216.
The keenly fought election battle in the county has left the county council with no single political party in overall control, unlike four years ago when the Liberal Democrats were the majority party with 14 seats more than the Conservatives.
As a result of last Thursday's election the Conservatives gained nine seats and lost one, the Liberal Democrats gained one and lost nine, Labour gained one, the Independents lost one and the Liberals remained unchanged.
The Conservatives now have the largest number of seats with 22, Liberal Democrats 21, Labour 5, Independent 4 and Liberal 2.