Paul & Jo our recent candidates for Barrow Borough By-elections
Paul & Jo our recent candidates for Barrow Borough By-elections

BARROW Labour by-election candidates Joanne Tyson and Paul Griffiths have said thanks to party workers in the aftermath of the battles.

Joanne comfortably won the Hindpool seat after securing 600 votes compared with her Tory opponent who garnered just 359.

Joanne – along with party activists – had spent many days campaigning in the working-class stronghold.

Paul’s popularity in his own back yard of Roosecote was reflected with a vote of 564 – which would have taken the seat under 2019 conditions.

This time round it wasn’t enough to beat the Conservative candidate who attracted 881 votes, but Paul was supported by a small army of volunteers and he intends to stand again for Labour.

Joanne said: “I would like to thank my campaign team for helping me run a very positive campaign which was solely focused on the people of Hindpool and what I could help deliver for them.

“I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support, but most importantly, I would like to thank the people of Hindpool for each and every vote given to me and for showing their overwhelming support for me to be their new councillor.

“I see it as a huge privilege to represent the community and they can be assured that I will do my utmost to help them tackle the issues of importance to them.”

Paul said: “As a newcomer to the role of candidate I didn’t really know what to expect. However our complete team of volunteers quickly made me feel at ease bringing me up to speed with the normal run of events and expectations.

“I have been absolutely blown away by the level of care, support and understanding of my concerns and also the respectful way my wishes were listened to and implemented.

“Throughout the last six weeks I experienced some tough moments but every single time, a different member of the team seemed to be on hand just when I needed that lift. This was apparent from the very first moment I expressed a tentative interest, right through to the evening of the final count.

“My welfare was clearly paramount and I am so proud to have been a part of this journey. I am extremely grateful to my comrades for their total support and also to my family who, although not normally politically active, were out in solidarity with me, delivering leaflets morning, noon and night and also allowing me to turn our home into a satellite collection point/office.

“Sadly I couldn’t get the result that all your hard work deserved and while I am proud of my achievements, I am even more proud of the team that worked tirelessly on my behalf and hope to get the opportunity to represent you all again in the future.

“Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

Party stalwart Brendan Sweeney added: “I’d like to thank everyone who made this election possible; the candidates, the volunteers, the council staff who did a fantastic job in running the elections in these challenging times, and of course the voters who turned out in this exercise of democracy.

“Joanne will make a brilliant councillor and we look forward to working with the new Roosecote councillor and keeping him to the promises he made during his election campaign.”

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