THE Prime Minister has a new Labour councillor in his Witney constituency.

Labour and Co-operative party candidate Geoff Saul was elected as the new Chipping Norton councillor for West Oxfordshire District Council on Thursday night by a 310-vote margin.

Mr Saul, who works at Bradley Saul solicitors in the town, took 810 votes, ahead of Conservative Party candidate Joe Johnson’s 500.

Mr Saul has never sat on a council before.

The by-election was held to find a replacement for councillor Rob Evans, who died in early September after a long battle with cancer.

The vote saw a turnout of 29.10 per cent from an electorate of 4,903.

Green Party candidate Matthew Clayton took 58 votes, while Liberal Democrat Edward Crick took 53.

Mr Saul, right, said that his election sent a clear message to the Conservative county council about the strength of feeling regarding issues like the potential closure of children’s centres.

He said: “The Conservative-led local authorities are letting Chipping Norton down in a number of ways.

“Our campaign was centred around the fact that the county council was proposing children’s centre cuts, including Ace Children’s Centre in Chipping Norton. We said that by voting for Labour, people could send a clear message to the county about the strength of feeling.”