Lib Dem plays his cards right in election decider
A LOCAL election which ended in a dead heat was decided when the victor picked the queen of clubs from a deck of cards – trumping his rival’s jack of spades.
The Lib Dem and Labour candidates in the Horwich town council by-election polled 384 votes each on Thursday night and two subsequent recounts failed to separate them.
The returning officer then ruled the contest would be decided on the turn of a card.
There were loud cheers among his supporters when Labour’s Richard Silvester drew the jack of spades from the pack.
But their premature celebrations were drowned out by the Liberal Democrats when their candidate, Gordon Stone, drew the queen of clubs.
The chairman of Bolton Lib Dems, Kevin Walsh, who witnessed the bizarre election count at Bolton town hall, told the M.E.N.: “The faces on the Labour team just dropped and Gordon’s face just lit up. It was a surreal moment.”
The election had been called because one of the 14 sitting Horwich town councillors had stood down and the vote took place at the same time as the poll for the new mayor of Greater Manchester.
Gordon, a college tutor who was standing in his first election, said: “It was one of the most tense experiences of my life. For the whole thing to come down to a turn of a card was nail-biting and when Richard turned over the jack I thought it was over. To then turn over a queen was phenomenal.
“This has been my first election and I’ve had such an amazing team behind me every step of the way. I want to thank everyone who has been out knocking on doors and delivering leaflets with me and especially thank all those that turned out to vote for me. It’s tremendously humbling to see so many people put their trust in me to represent them.”
A returning officer must decide a method to choose a winner in the event of a tie. In 2011 Bury’s Ramsbottom seat was decided by drawing straws to decide the winner.
Coun Stone added: “I’d also like to thank the other candidates who campaigned, particularly Coun Silvester. To lose on the turn of a card must be difficult but it does reinforce the Liberal Democrat call for proportional representation.”