A CONSERVATIVE gain in a BCP by-election is being seen as a sign that “voters are fed up with the Three Towns Alliance”, Phil Broadhead has said. 

The Conservative leader in BCP said Toby Slade’s gain from the Independents is a “really convincing” result for an “exceptional local champion”. 

Conservatives gained the seat in the by-election held on Thursday, October 24, following the death of former Independent councillor Brian Castle. 

Cllr Toby Slade said he is “really, really excited” to be elected for the Muscliff and Strouden ward, saying he is grateful to everybody who voted for him. 

He said: “I want to help us get Bournemouth back to where it was when I was younger. I have two little ones and it’s a shame to see it in the state it is at the moment. 

“I want to get it back to the good old days. I want to tackle crime, the roads, the potholes, the parks that I can’t take [my children] to and protect the green belt.” 

Phil Broadhead and Toby SladePhil Broadhead and Toby Slade (Image: Phil Broadhead)

Cllr Broadhead said: “Toby has run a really good, really clean campaign, as did all the candidates, but the central focus of his campaign was about Bournemouth as much as anything else.  

“And does the electorate have confidence that Bournemouth is getting better or is it getting worse? Toby’s positive vision of how he was going to push against that. 

“The result is clear: residents think Bournemouth is heading in the wrong direction and they think that this current alliance of Liberal Democrats and Independents are not putting the focus where it should be.” 

Labour’s candidate in second place had less than half the number of votes than Cllr Slade, which Cllr Broadhead said is partly down to the “disastrous start to their government”. 

"They've backtracked all of their promises and it's pretty clear from where we're going with the budget next week that their answer to everything is tax, tax, tax.  

“Even in this local election, Labour actually moved backwards. Their vote share went down from where they were on this the last time these this this was fought back in 2023 by almost three per cent.” 

He added there is a lot of “remorse” among voters who put their cross on a Labour candidate.

Results:

Richard Blackwell-Whitehead – Lib Dem 174
Julie-Anne Houldey – Independent 406
Eyyup Kilinc – Labour 434
Roger Mann – Green 84
Conor O’Luby – Independent 100
Anthony Rogers – Independent 118
Toby Slade – Conservative 1008 (elected)