First pantomime dwarf elected, losing your seat to your Best Man, and winning by tombola – the highs and lows of 2017 North Wales local elections

Spending time at an election count might not sound like the most thrilling of days out, but the ones in North Wales had their fair share of excitement.

Amazingly the region had not one but two tied votes where candidates had exactly the same number of votes and the only way to pick a winner was by lottery.

For the Llangollen seat two best friends had to go through the agony of a draw after a hard fought campaign.

Sitting councillor Stuart Davies was level on on 657 votes with Mel Mile, who had been his best man, after three counts when officials decided the only way to separate them was by drawing a name from a ballot box.

Mel Mile was the name picked and will represent Llangollen on the council, “I am delighted for Mel he was my best man and I cannot think of a nicer man to lose out to,” said Mr Davies.

Similar scenes were played out in Gwynedd , where two candidates running for the Hendre ward in Bangor finished on 132.

There was heartbreak for Cllr John Wynn Jones who lost out when Richard Hughes name was picked out to become the ward’s next councillor.

Wrexham lead the way when it came to the biggest losers in this year’s council elections, some of the worst results in North Wales were recorded in the county.

Two of the county’s Ukip candidates got a combined total of a paltry 26 votes.

The party’s Gresford East and West nominee, Jeanette Stefani Bassford-Barton, had almost three times as many letters in her name as votes.

With just one per cent in the Gresford East and West ward she polled a grand total of 11 votes.

In the Llangollen Rural ward, which is in the same county, her Ukip colleague, Jeanie Barton got 15 votes and two percent of the vote.

Another candidate who got just 15 votes was Jorge Vieira De Figueiredo Szabo standing in Queensway in the town.

There was some good news for the beleagured Liberal Democrats in Llay where Rob Walsh got 1,111 votes, this was just a few hundred short of what he got when he stood for the party in Wrexham in the last General Election when he received 1,735 across the whole constituency.

In nearby Flintshire the lowest poll was for Green Party candidate, Rodney Milton who got 26 votes, but with 1,216, Dennis Hutchinson was out in front for the big hitters as he won in Buckley Pentrobin.

Breaking the mould for big wins was actor James Lusted in Landrill-yn-Rhos who was one of four candidates in the ward elected with more than one thousand votes, Mr Lusted becoming the first dwarf elected to Conwy council.

Ruthin’s post-master, Huw Hilditch-Roberts, got the highest number of votes in Denbighshire with, 1,237, but for him any candidate who takes part in an election is a winner.

“To take part in an election and put yourself out there is a brace act of public service and I think all candidates should be congratulated for taking part.
“As for me I am immensely grateful to the people of Ruthin who have supported and voted for me.”