LABOUR held on to their Radcliffe West seat last night by a margin of just nine votes.

Rishi Shori was elected into the seat after receiving 879 votes from people living in the ward.

Councillor Shori said: “I think it is a good result in what is a difficult time and we have learned a lot of lessons from the national situation. I am delighted that we have done so well.”

In a close second was Conservative candidate Samantha Davies with 870 votes, closing the 460 vote majority gained by Labour in the ward last year.

The other results were: Jean Purdy (BNP) with 459, Mike Halsall (Liberal Democrats) with 429, and Stephen Morris (English Democrats) with 228 votes.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of long-standing Labour councillor Wayne Campbell, who left to take a job as maintenance manager for Six Town Housing.

Turnout in the by-election was 35.1 per cent.