ELECTIONS: Landslide win for Tories in South Northants

Blue was once again the colour in South Northants as the Conservatives recorded a huge win at district council level - despite losing two seats.
And the story was the same within those wards in The Hunsbury Herald region as voters elected five Conservative candidates and one Independent.
Across the council, the Tory party won the first nine seats to confirm they would retain control of the area. And ultimately they won a massive 33 of the 42 available seats, with six Independent candidates being elected, two Liberal Democrats and one from Labour.
But even this huge margin actually represented a small loss as it meant two seats had been shed from the previous results.
Those came in Towcester Brook, where Lib Dems Chris Lofts and Martin Johns recorded victories to buck the trend.
In our region, their were Conservative wins in Grange Park, Harpole & Grange and Heyford & Bugbrooke, as well as an uncontested walkout for Tories Steve Clark and Sally Townsend in Blisworth & Roade.
In Grange Park, sitting councillor Paul Farrow was elected again along with first time candidate, Mark Davidson.
There was a respectable performance from Green Party candidate James Fearnley, who earned 231 votes.
He said: "It was better than I expected to be honest, 231 when the winner gets 590 is a good start for a ward with no past Green challenge."
Tory pair Ann Addison and Janet Eliot were both elected in Harpole and Grange, beating off the challenge of Liberal Democrat Shaun Hope.
It was to be a double day of defeat for the Hope family, with Northampton Borough Council candidate for West Hunsbury and Shaun's wife, Jill Hope, defeated by Conservative Brian Oldham.
But the Tory bluewash was stopped in Heyfords & Bugbrooke where Independent David Harries was elected alongside Phil Bignell.
The referendum result in South Northants was also a victory for Conservative policy, with a massive majority voting against the alternative vote.
The final results saw 9,064 votes case for 'Yes2AV' and 22,860 votes for 'No2AV'.
This reflected the national result where more than two-thirds of voters opposed the newly proposed system.

The full district council results can be seen below: * elected

BLISWORTH & ROADE (uncontested)

Steve Clarke Conservative *
Sally Townsend Conservative *

GRANGE PARK

Mark Davidson Conservative 590 *
Paul Farrow Conservative 697 *
James Fearnley Green Party 231

HARPOLE & GRANGE (covers Rothersthorpe and Milton Malsor)

Ann Addison Conservative 1049 *
Janet Eliot Conservative 1156 *
Shaun Hope Liberal Democrat 451

HEYFORD & BUGBROOKE

Phil Bignell Conservative 1043 *
David Harries Independent 886 *
Shaun Walton Green Party 396