Candidates revealed for Easington and Shotton by-election

Voters in Easington and Shotton will elect a new county councillor to represent the ward on August 7 following the resignation of a Reform UK member. 

The Durham County Council poll was called after former councillor John Bailey stood down due to ill health. 

Reform won all three of the available seats within the East Durham ward during May’s ballot as it swept to power across the region to take control of Durham County Council. Mr Bailey came top with 1,849 votes ahead of party colleagues Howard Brown and Louise Taylor. 

The ward was resized as part of boundary changes ahead of the election, and meant three incumbent councillors – Chris Hood, Angela Surtees and Ivan Cochrane – were voted out.

Next month’s by-election will be the second held by the local authority since May’s local elections, after voters in the Benfieldside ward returned to the polls in July following the resignation of a Reform councillor. 

Then, Terry Rooney of the Liberal Democrats celebrated victory after overcoming a close challenge from the Labour Party and Reform. 

Full list of candidates: 

Stephen Ashfield – Green Party

Arlene Childs – Independent 

Ivan Cochrane – Independent 

Christopher Hood – Independent 

Chukwuka Okuchukwu – Liberal Democrats 

Louise Penders – Reform UK

Anthony Stubbs – Conservative Party

Angela Surtees – Labour Party 

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Anyone who wishes to vote must be registered to vote in Easington and Shotton and must also be able to provide an acceptable form of photo ID, which includes a passport, driving licence and concessionary travel pass, such as an older person’s bus pass. A full list of acceptable forms of photo ID can be found on poll cards.

The deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on July 23, and for proxy vote applications it is July 30.