The Conservatives have overtaken Labour on Monmouth Town Council by winning the Drybridge ward by-election with 62% of the vote.

New town councillor Dani Seymour has lived in Monmouth all her life and ran a positive campaign about what she wants to do to help improve the town.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of an independent, but now takes the political balance of the town council to six Conservatives, seven independents, and five Labour with one vacancy in Osbaston.

Despite Drybridge being a Labour-held ward on the County Council, Labour didn’t contest the by-election, making it the 16th consecutive by-election in Monmouthshire to not be contested by Labour.

Cllr Dani Seymour said, “I’m really grateful to residents for putting their trust in me to be their new town councillor. I’d like to thank everyone who gave up their time to cast their vote.

“I look forward to working with a much bigger Conservative team as well as other councillors to make our town the best it can possibly be.”

Dani’s colleague Cllr Jane Lucas (Osbaston ward) said, “Dani has been a fantastic candidate and thoroughly deserved this result. Dani is passionate about making our town a better place to live and her enthusiasm and hardwork clearly came across on the doorsteps.

“Dani joins a hardworking Conservative team on the town council, working closely with colleagues at both town and county council.

“We work as a team and have a plan to support local businesses, smarten up the town and keep council tax as low as possible.”