The unusual electoral tradition of drawing straws in the event of a tie between candidates saw the Conservatives lose the chance to gain control of Northumberland county council after votes for the party in a crucial ward were matched by those for the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservative candidate Daniel Carr drew the short straw after two recounts for the South Blyth ward, meaning the Liberal Democrats’ Lesley Rickerby won the seat. Her victory leaves the county council with no party in overall control.
The result is still a historic success for the Conservatives, now the largest party on the council for the first time since it was established in 1972.
Rickerby, who leapt with delight after picking the correct straw, told reporters the experience had been “very traumatic” and that she was dissatisfied with the manner of her win.
“It’s unbelievable that when you consider we have a democratic service that we end up having to draw straws,” she said. “It was very traumatic and I certainly would have preferred it to be a majority, but the way our system works, after a couple of recounts, we had no choice.”
Rickerby said the returning officer had been given the choice of whether to flip a coin or draw straws and had decided on the latter.
“When you enjoy doing something like representing people I would have been very disappointed to lose it that way. I certainly don’t want to do that again in a hurry; it really was the last straw.”
The Conservatives won 33 seats on the council, but the combination of Labour’s 24 seats, the Lib Dems’ three and seven independent candidates meant they were denied a majority.
The election also saw Labour’s Laura Pidcock, who is standing for the seat of Durham North West in the general election, lose her council seat to the Tories. The Unite activist was selected to replace the retiring MP Pat Glass, who had a majority of more than 10,000 in 2015.
