Banbury councillor reappointed after Oxfordshire election result mix-up

Mark Cherry has been reappointed as the county councillor for Banbury Ruscote on Oxfordshire County Council

A council election result has been reversed after the wrong candidate was announced as the winner in May.

Labour candidate Mark Cherry took the result to the High Court after he lost his Banbury Ruscote seat on Oxfordshire County Council.

Conservative Jayne Strangwood, who was initially declared the winner, had been the division's councillor since then.

Two High Court judges declared Mr Cherry the rightful winner following a recount of votes on Wednesday.

Yvonne Rees said the council had to go through "the correct legal channels" after May's mix-up

On 9 May, Mr Cherry retained his seat for Banbury Ruscote on Cherwell District Council, beating Ms Strangwood.

However, returning officer and chief executive Yvonne Rees declared he had lost his Banbury Ruscote seat to Ms Strangwood in the county council election.

Labour said an "administrative error" by Ms Rees meant Mr Cherry's votes in the county council election were incorrectly announced as Ms Strangwood's, and vice versa.

Both elections were held on 6 May.

Mr Cherry said he was "very relieved" that he had now been confirmed as a county councillor, having served Banbury Ruscote since 2013.

Jayne Strangwood and the North Oxfordshire Conservative Association said they accept the High Court judgement

Ms Rees said the council had to go through "the correct legal channels" once the error had been made.

"We have now gone through each stage of that legal process, conducted a recount and reached a final conclusion," she added.

North Oxfordshire Conservative Association said Ms Strangwood had sought to represent Banbury Ruscote residents despite "the difficult circumstances... which were no fault of her own".

It added: "Both the association and Jayne accept the decision and wish Mark well as he returns to his role."

Mr Cherry's election victory means the Labour Party now has 16 seats on the county council.

The Tory-led Conservative Independent Alliance has 22 seats, the Liberal Democrats have 21 and the Green Party has three. There is one non-aligned independent.

The authority is currently run by a Fair Deal Alliance composed of Lib Dem, Green and Labour members.