Labour have triumphed in a local by-election with Joseph Ghayouba winning a seat with an impressive victory.

Coun. Ghayouba topped the polls in Thursday’s by-election, being elected to represent Whitehaven Central ward on Copeland Borough Council by his constituents.

The Labour councillor took an almost 100-vote lead against the Conservative candidate, William Robert Clive Spencer Dixon, with 633 votes to 542.

Coun. Ghayouba was also up against William Robert Dixon of the Heritage Party, who received 45 votes, Independent candidate Richard Ian William Donnan, who received 90 votes, and Liberal Democrat Mike Minogue, who received 18 votes.

Commenting on the result, he said: “I am delighted that residents of Whitehaven Central have put their trust in me, and I intend to be a strong voice for them on Copeland Council.”

Mayor of Copeland, Mike Starkie, said he pleased to see “young blood” getting involved with local politics, adding: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to Joseph – it’s always good to see young people coming into politics.

“We need to see more and more coming in who have a professional, real-work background, which Joseph really has

.”

But with a voter turnout of just 29.9 per cent, Mr Starkie hoped to see more people getting involved with politics in the future.

“It’s disappointing that just 29 per cent is quite a high turnout for a by-election,” he said.

“It would be lovely to see turnouts in the region of 60-70 per cent, and that’s why we need to get some younger blood coming in.”