LABOUR’S shock by-election victory in Brunswick Park means there are “no no-go areas” in Barnet, says group leader Alison Moore.
Andreas Ioannidis became the first Labour councillor in the ward for a decade as he beat Conservative candidate Shaheen Kauser Mahmood by 171 votes.
Twenty nine per cent of voters turned out for the by-election, which was called following the death of Conservative councillor and former council leader Lynne Hillan last month.
The result saw Mr Ioannidis securing 1,769 votes to Mrs Mahmood’s 1,598. Liberal Democrat candidate Yahaya Dumba Kiingi polled just 97.
Mr Ioannidis said he will use the role to campaign for better road safety and the protection of the borough’s libraries. He added that he would continue his opposition to the private hire of public parks and the building of a waste plant in Pinkham Way.
“I will work hard to try to deliver the pledges I made in this election,” he said. “My aim is to always be on the side of local residents.”
Labour has not held a seat in Brunswick Park since current Woodhouse member Geof Cooke was ousted in 2002.
The result represents Labour’s second Tory scalp this month, after Brian Coleman lost his London Assembly seat to Andrew Dismore on May 3.
Ms Moore said the result was a damning indictment of national coalition government policies.
“It is also a complete rejection of the local Conservatives’ policies to privatise 70 per cent of council services, cut children’s centres, close day care centres and libraries, and hike up parking charges by an obscene amount in one year,” she said.
“Local people have elected a Labour councillor for the first time in ten years – they clearly want a change. There are no more no-go areas for Labour in this borough.”