MIDDLEWICH First has been wiped off the town council following a second whitewash for Labour in two days.

All 11 of Labour’s candidates have been elected, following the party’s Cheshire East Council success yesterday.

Labour has taken all six seats on the Cledford ward – with Pauline Hickey (942 votes), Mike Hunter (1,004), Jonathan Parry (1,008), Rachel Pendleton (940), Helen Watkinson (921) and Russell Watkinson (885) all elected.

It means that Middlewich First’s Bill Walmsley (433) and Simon McGrory (463) have lost their seats on the town council, while the group’s other candidates Mike Parsons (491) and Amy Edwards (491) were also unsuccessful.

Conservative Paul Edwards, former Middlewich First member, also failed to be elected with 436 votes.

Meanwhile in the Kinderton ward, Sean Boyle (729), Carol Bulman (782), Victoria Dominguez-Perez (675), Chris Jones (713) and Gareth Williams (724) have all been elected.

However, David Latham, independent, was the most popular choice at the Kinderton ballot box – taking the 12th seat with 912 votes.

It means Middlewich First’s Jean Eaton (625), Pam Farrell (573) and Bernice Walmsley (576) have lost their seats, while Claire Armstrong (577) and independent Sonya Edwards (474) were also unsuccessful.

In a statement issued following the result, Middlewich First said: “Middlewich First was formed by residents in 2002 together with disgruntled councillors from Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems

“For 17 years we have been reelected to serve the wishes of Middlewich. We love Middlewich, we still have a strong representation, a strong will to see the town do well and improve.

“After seeing this election fought by Labour, time will tell if false promises will be delivered.

“We will not give up putting Middlewich first, we will regroup and assess how best to continue to represent those who voted for us, and we will continue to contribute positively to the Middlewich town we all love.”

The result comes after Jonathan Parry, Mike Hunter and Carol Bulman were elected onto CEC – finishing ahead of Middlewich First and the Conservatives.

Following his election on Friday, Mike said: “[This result is a] very strong protest against the way Middlewich has been treated by CEC, and one of Labour’s priorities will be to secure a new and better deal for the town.

“Ahead of the election, I promised that Labour would be a strong voice for Middlewich in Cheshire East, rather than Cheshire East’s voice in Middlewich – and that is precisely what we will be.

“If we have learned anything from this election, it is that residents matter. We, as their representatives, must let them be heard – not just through the ballot box, but at council itself. Even if we don’t like what they have to say, we have to listen and we have to act on their behalf.

“One thing is for sure – you can’t treat residents with disdain and then expect them to vote for you. If you do you are surely on a rocky road to ruin.”

Labour had only fielded five of the available six candidates for Kinderton with the hope David Latham would be reelected.

But he emerged as the most popular out of all Kinderton candidates at the ballot box – and he is now looking forward to the work that lies ahead.

He said: “I’m looking forward to the next four years, I will work hard for Middlewich as I have always done, and I will put Middlewich first in its entirety. I’m very thankful to get as many votes as I did.

“I’m a bit shocked at the full turnaround of the council – but the people have spoken, they wanted change and now they have got it. It’s now up to the council to give the public of Middlewich what they want.

“The overall result sees a lot of friends go out of the council, but I welcome the 11 Labour councillors – some of which I’ve worked with before.

“CEC should stand up now and listen because there’s a strong force behind Middlewich and we will get the town what it deserves over the next four years.”