Welcome, Councillor Mary McWilliams

Congratulations to Lib Dem candidate Mary McWilliams, who polled 427 votes in a Redruth Town council by-election to beat the only other candidate, Labour's Linda Moore, who got 139.

Mary is almost certainly the first ever black woman to get elected as a councillor in Cornwall. In one of the least racially diverse parts of Britain, where black and Asian people still account for less than 1% of the population (2.3% average in the South West and 9.1% in England), Mary's achievement should not go unrecognised.

Perhaps not quite as historic as President Obama now leading the United States of America but a milestone nonetheless. Incidentally, African Americans make up 14% of the population in the USA.