DARLINGTON’S newest councillor has vowed to keep his promises to constituents and represent the interests of all residents in the council chamber.

Labour’s Eddie Heslop was elected to the authority following the death of Cllr David Regan, which prompted a by-election in Cockerton.

After running against an independent candidate and representatives from the Tories, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and For Britain, Cllr Heslop received 555 votes, more than twice as many as Conservative Scott Durham, who came second.

The 58-year-old said he was thrilled to have been elected and had already embarked upon his mission to get to know the ward and its inhabitants, having arranged meetings with local authorities and visited people in their homes to find out about the issues they are facing.

He says he will attempt to address common concerns around Cockerton, with residents having raised problems with speeding, bins and grass cutting.

On a wider scale, Cllr Heslop says he is aware of widespread worries about Darlington’s town centre and the potential loss of Crown Street Library.

He said: “People feel sad about the reduction in shops and I understand that but I don’t think this is just happening in Darlington.

“The new council leader Steven Harker says there is need for a pause for thought about the library and I think we need to look at where we go from here with that.

“In an ideal world, the library should stay and if people want to campaign, that’s great, but if someone takes a third of your income, you cannot afford to do what you have been doing.”

Cllr Heslop is a married father of two who was born in Sunderland and has lived in Darlington since the 1980s.

He is a former member of the Socialist Workers’ Party and Darlington’s Trade Union Socialist Coalition (TUSC) who re-joined the Labour party following the election of Jeremy Corbyn.

Having worked as a mental health worker for decades, Cllr Heslop says that the plight of vulnerable people and issues around substance abuse are close to his heart.

He said: “I’d like to see more investment in mental health as it affects everything, from employment and productivity to health service budgets – it has a knock on effect, if drug and alcohol services are cut for example, those people will turn up at A&E because everybody needs somewhere to go.”

Cllr Heslop is now urging all residents of his ward to contact him with any issues, adding: “It is important to me to keep my promises.

“If you say you’ll do something, you need to deliver it.”