LABOUR has comfortably held three council seats in Oxford by-elections this week.

The elections for Blackbird Leys and Northfield Brook wards in the city council, and Leys division on the county council, were triggered by the resignation of longstanding Leys representative Val Smith due to ill health.

Steve Curran won the Leys division after gaining 71 per cent of the votes, with 879 of the total 1238 votes.

His nearest challenger was UKIP’s Dave Slater who received 168 votes.

Oxford Mail:

Steve Curran.

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Linda Smith won the Blackbird Leys ward with 509 votes, again with Mr Slater coming second with 91. She said: “I’m delighted. I’m just looking forward to getting stuck in to the job. I’m looking forward to getting to know more people and building relationships with people and supporting local businesses.”

Mr Curran was the sitting councillor in Northfield Brook, but because new Labour rules prevent him from holding seats on both councils, he stood down from the city.

Sian Taylor won in Northfield Brook with 401 votes, beating the Conservatives Gary Dixon who polled 65 votes. The Blackbird Leys by-election saw just a 15.7 per cent turnout, a 12.9 per cent turnout for Northfield Brook and 14.2 per cent for the county council election.

Oxford Mail:

Sian Taylor.

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