Matt Fry of the Liberal Democrats was last night elected councillor for Stopsley Ward following the by-election, with the final count concluding at 12.30pm at Luton Town Hall.
Fry secured 935 votes, narrowly defeating Reform UK’s Jim Cohen, who received 820 votes. Labour’s Moazzem Hussain came third with 251 votes, followed by Conservative Roger Nichols with 152, Green Party candidate Edward Carpenter with 87, and independent Marc Scheimann with 19. A total of 2,279 verified votes were cast, corresponding to a turnout of 24.8 per cent.
The by-election was triggered by the death of former Liberal Democrat deputy group leader, Councillor David Wynn, who had held one of the three Stopsley seats and passed away in June. In 2023, Wynn and fellow Lib Dems had achieved a landslide, winning around 78 per cent of the vote in the ward.
Mark Fowler, Returning Officer for Luton, said: “The election of a councillor is a vital part of our local democracy. I would like to congratulate councillor Matt Fry on their success and thank everyone who turned out to vote. I’d also like to express my appreciation to all our staff who worked at the five polling stations throughout the day, as well as those who supported the count at the town hall this evening.”
