Tories regain council seat

Reform UK candidate scrapes third place following by-election

- Kerry Ashdown [e-mail]

CONSERVATIVE councillor Jeremy Pert is back on Staffordshire County Council - after regaining his seat from Reform UK in a by-election.

Mr Pert was narrowly defeated in May’s all-out elections by Reform UK’s Wayne Titley by just 27 votes.

But Mr Titley resigned less than a fortnight later, with personal reasons cited for his departure.

In the days between his election and resignation, controversy had swirled on social media as comments attributed to his Facebook account about illegal boat crossings came to light.