English Democrat wins mayor vote

Alliance targets town mayor post

An English Democrats candidate has been elected the new mayor of Doncaster.

Earlier this year it was disclosed that serious case reviews were under way into the deaths of seven children known to the social services in the town.

Independent Mayor Martin Winter decided not to run for re-election amid criticism of his handling of the issue.

Peter Davies won the second round of counting to be elected mayor. The Labour and Conservative candidates were knocked out of the contest earlier.

Mr Davies was elected with 25,344 votes, fewer than 400 votes ahead of his closest rival, independent candidate Michael Maye.

He said his victory marked "a new day for Doncaster" and promised "better times" for the town's residents in the future.

Mr Davies and Mr Maye gained the most first preference votes.

They progressed to the second round after no mayoral hopeful managed to win 50% of the vote.

All other candidates, including members of the Labour party, the Conservatives and the British National Party, were eliminated from the vote after the first round.

Labour's Sandra Holland narrowly missed her place in the second round.

Figures from the Doncaster election put turnout at 34.59%. In 2005, the turnout was 50.39%.