Labour wins county council by-election
LDRSLabour has won a county council by-election, taking the seat back from Reform.
Julie Griffiths was elected to serve the Murton ward on Durham County Council on Thursday.
The by-election was called after former Reform member David Cumming stepped down last year due to work commitments. The turnout was 24.9%.
Griffiths got 1,004 votes, with Reform's Theo Bell coming in second on 786 votes, and Isaac Short of the Green Party third with 95 votes.
She will represent Murton alongside Reform's Mark Rowney.
Griffiths, who is also the chair of Murton Parish Council, previously served the ward until the local elections in 2025 when she lost her seat.
"I have always been a pavement politician and listened to local people. I couldn't let people down," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Thursday's vote was the third by-election in County Durham since last year's full council vote, following the resignation of two former Reform councillors due to an employment conflict and ill health.
The latest win has increased the number of Labour members on Durham County Council to five.
The rest of the council is made up of 60 Reform councillors, 15 Liberal Democrats, 14 Independents, two Greens, one Conservative, and one Advance UK representative.
