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LibDems obliterated in Andover

It was an almost complete sweep out of the old guard in the Andover town council elections.

The new Andover Alliance party claimed all but one of the 16 seats. Labour retained one seat, held by Andy Fitchett.

Andover Alliance party leader Richard Rowles told Andover Radio, “The Liberal Democrats representing the town have been demolished.”

The party achieved no seats in the Andover area at the earlier announced borough elections.

Mr Rowles added, “Along with our success at the borough election results earlier this morning, this is proves that people in Andover demand change and they want action.”

“We have a detailed plan to make Andover a better place to live. We may lose some battles to come but make no mistake we’re not going to walk into walls, we will run at them full speed, we will not be threatened by issues, we are going to raise the level of debate in Andover, if nothing else, let that be our legacy.

“The people have give us a mandate to make our town and the surrounding villages a better place to live, work and play.

“Starting immediately, this is the time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done.”

The Liberal Democrat party now have no seats in the Andover area. The party had previously controlled the town council.

LibDems Katherine Bird, Luigi Gregori and Richard Kidd lost their seats in St Mary’s, Harrowway and Romans respectively.

This result in Andover goes against the national tide where the Lib Dems have gained more than 300 councillors across the country and have taken control of several councils, largely at the expense of the Tories.

A great many more ballot papers in the town council election were spoilt, in comparison to spoilt papers in the borough elections.

One un-elected candidate commented that many papers had comments written on the papers: “None of the above”, “I voted leave” and similar such comments.

Andover Alliance deputy leader David Coole, elected for Romans ward said, “Many papers were simply left blank or had rude comments written across the ballot paper.

“This shows how unhappy people were with what went before.

“For the first time in decades people have been given hope and a vision for a better Andover and surrounding villages.

“Having taken control of Andover town council and having a clearly written local manifesto, we are determined and committed to transform how the council operates so that it produces not only value for money but also true and beneficial improvements for the people of Andover.”

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About the author

David Harber

David Harber is the founder and Managing Director of Love Andover, including the Love Andover Observer newspaper and 95.9FM Andover Radio. He is a fellow at the Royal Society of Arts and a card carrying member of the Nation Union of Journalists.