The three-way fight for a town council seat was won by a narrow majority.

The Wyesham ward seat for Monmouth Town Council was vacated by former mayor Alice Fletcher and three candidates contested the seat.

Surprisingly, there was no Labour candidate in an area that is one of the most-deprived areas of Monmouth with a high proportion of social housing.

Xavier Turner, Local Conservatives, Jem Jenkins-Jones, Independent and Reform UK candidate, Robert Kavanagh drew a 30 percent turnout on a ward of nearly 2,000 voters, with Conservatives candidate Turner taking the seat by 17 votes.

Second place was Jem-Jenkins-Jones and the Reform candidate came third.

Monmouthshire County Council failed to deliver the polling cards for the day, having posted them out nearly a month ago by second-class post so the town council were requested to quickly put up posters in the last week of the election campaign reminding voters of the day and the place to vote, with a reassurance that polling cards were not required for voting.

Newly elected town councillor Xavier Turner said, “I’m incredibly grateful to the residents of Wyesham for putting their trust in me. I’m ready to work and make sure your voices are heard.”

Cllr Richard John, who supported the election campaign for the Conservative candidate said, “This is a great result for residents in Wyesham, whose ward has been neglected under Labour with vandalised bus shelters, chronic potholes and weeds everywhere.

“22-year-old Xavier is a breath of fresh air for Monmouth Town Council and a great addition to our growing team, but most of all a hardworking representative for the Wyesham community.

“Reform were confident of winning in Wyesham, a ward previously represented by their Reform MS, so coming last is quite a humiliating defeat. Residents could clearly see there’s no substance behind their soundbites and they don’t offer any solutions to the challenges experienced by families in Monmouthshire. Monmouthshire remains a Reform-free zone.”

Independent candidate Jem Jenkins-Jones, a former town councillor who came second said on her social media page: “This was a local town council election which turned into a massive political fight which ended up in Independent me vs all the Monmouthshire Conservatives and their supporters including former Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies.

“It was crazy! Especially at the count last night when they and Reform were all there in large groups.

The lack of poll cards from MCC for anyone other than pre-registered postal voters definitely made a difference to voting numbers as some did not know they could vote without a card and others who needed to vote by Post or Proxy were not given any notice to register and were too late and couldn't vote.

“I want to thank all those amazing people who supported me, helped me with design, leafleting and sent me lovely messages.”

The final result was Xavier Turner, Local Conservatives 201 (39.5 percent):Jem Jenkins-Jones, Independent 184 (36.1 percent): Robert Kavanagh, Reform UK 124 (24.4 percent).

Turnout: 30 percent