A BY-ELECTION being held just five months since the local government elections could be crucial to establishing control of Monmouthshire County Council. 

The Labour group currently runs the council but fell one seat short of a majority in May when a red tide saw it gain 14 seats which cost the Conservatives control of the council, which had been the only one in Wales with a Tory majority. 

Labour was then able to form a ruling administration but the Thursday, October 20 by-election will give the party the chance of adding an additional councillor which would take the number of seats it holds up to 23 which is enough for outright control of the 46 member council. The Labour candidate is Jim MacTaggart. 

The by-election has been forced by the death of long-serving Conservative councillor Bob Greenland, who had been deputy leader of the council before May’s elections. 

The Conservatives will be aiming to hold on to the seat and get Rachel Egerton Buckler elected to restore their number at County Hall to 18 but the Green Party could hold the balance of power if they take the seat. 

At present Llantilio Crossenny councillor Ian Chandler is the only Green Party member on the council and he sits as part of the six strong Independent Group. But if the party can get Emily Fairman elected its two members could then strike a deal to shore up the Labour administration. 

Conservative Cllr Greenland won the seat in May with 318 votes, 49 per cent of all those cast, holding off Labour candidate Margaret Griffiths who polled 198 votes (31 per cent) while Ms Fairman got 66 votes for the Green Party which was three more than Liberal Democrat candidate Moira Coleman, both parties receiving 10 per cent of the vote. 

Former Conservative MS for Monmouth, Nick Ramsay, is the Liberal Democrat candidate for the by-election. He had stood for the party in the Raglan ward in May picking up 294 votes which wasn’t enough to win the seat where 422 votes were cast in favour of the Conservatives. 

Mr Ramsay, following his deselection by the Conservatives, also stood as an independent candidate for the Monmouth constituency in May 2021 finishing sixth, of 10 candidates, with 1,293 votes while the Conservatives retained the seat. 

The five candidates standing in the Devauden ward by-election on October 20 are: Rachel Egerton Buckler (Welsh Conservative); Emily Fairman (Green Party); Jim MacTaggart (Welsh Labour); Nick Ramsay (Welsh Liberal Democrats); Ed Webb (Independent)