Labour lose control of High Peak council as Tories take marginal seat

Yesterday a Conservative candidate gained a marginal council seat, previously held by Labour.

The Cote Heath ward by-election in High Peak council, Derbyshire, was prompted by the death of Labour councillor Keith Savage.

The Conservative win means Labour have lost control of the council, which includes the towns of Glossop and Buxton.

The Conservative candidate took 55.5 per cent of the vote, up 5.4 per cent from the last election.

Labour took just 39.2 per cent, while the Greens took 5.3 per cent.

The council sits in the ultra-marginal constituency of High Peak.

Robert Largan is‌ ‌the‌ Conservative MP‌,‌ ‌having‌ ‌first‌ ‌been‌ ‌elected‌ ‌to‌ ‌Parliament‌ ‌in‌ 2019, gaining the seat off the Labour Party with a majority of 590.

The High Peak constituency‌ ‌is‌ ‌found‌ ‌within‌ ‌the‌ ‌county‌ ‌of Derbyshire‌ ‌and‌ ‌covers‌ Buxton, Glossop, New Mills and large swathes of the Peak District.

This seat was held by the Conservative Party between 1970 and 1997.

However the Conservatives lost their grip on the constituency in 1997, and despite their landslide win, only narrowly managed to retake it in 2019.

In the 2016 EU referendum, the local electorate were evenly split on the merits of Brexit.

Speaking to the BBC last night, Largan claimed that: “Labour are failing to cut through – big time” in the area.