LABOUR held the vacant Brandon seat on Durham County Council in a by-election yesterday.
The party's candidate John Alexander Turnbull, who lives in the village, west of Durham, polled 1,204 votes, giving him a 666 margin of victory over Liberal Democrat, former Durham city councillor Maureen Smith, who received 538 votes.
A distant third in the traditional Labour stronghold was Conservative candidate Marc Alexander Krajewski, with 140 votes.
The turn-out of 1,886 represented 26.09 per cent of the 7,229 electorate.
Yesterday's by-election was called following the death of previous ward member, long-serving Labour councillor Ronnie Rodgers, who chaired the council's central planning committee, in May.
The result maintains Labour's majority on the council.
Labour holds 68 of the 126 seats at County Hall, where there are 24 Liberal Democrat councillors, 11 Independents, ten Conservatives and Derwentside Independents, and three Independent Liberals.
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