Record swing in County Council by-election  

The result of the Brent County Council by-election on December 5th was: Con 1285 (58.0; -12.0) LD Helen Groves 932 (42.0; +17.4) [Lab (0.0; -5.4)] Majority 353 Turnout 29.7% Con hold Percentage change is since June 2009. The Brent division of Somerset County Council is a collection of small villages in the Somerset Levels sandwiched between the resorts of Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea. Until 1988 it had a Liberal Councillor, but since then it has become the safest Conservative seat in Somerset with them receiving nearly 70% of the vote in the last county council elections. Our candidate Helen Groves is a town councillor from Burnham-on-Sea who is involved with a number of local community groups. The Conservatives chose a local farmer and district councillor as their candidate. What this by-election showed though was that even in big very rural county divisions, it's...