New date for town election after candidate death

A new date has been set for an election which had to be postponed following the death of a candidate.

The death of John Ratcliffe, who was standing for the Liberal Democrats in the Higham Ferrers ward of North Northamptonshire Council, was announced on the eve of last Thursday's local elections in England.

The ward election will now be held on Thursday 12 June with new poll cards to be issued to all affected voters.

The council said any postal votes that had already been submitted for the ward would not be counted and new voting forms would be sent to those who had registered to vote by post.

Mr Ratcliffe was one of 11 candidates fighting for two Higham Ferrers seats on the unitary authority.

The three Higham Ferrers ward seats will remain vacant until the election takes place and any residents with queries or complaints regarding services in the town is asked the contact the council's customer feedback team "in the short term".

Last week's elections saw Reform UK take control of both West and North Northamptonshire Council.

The Tories had headed the former county council since 2005 and led both unitaries since their formation in 2021.

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