LABOUR have held the former council leader’s Leigh West seat in a by-election.

Samantha Brown has been elected as councillor for the ward which Lord Peter Smith, who died in the summer, represented for 43 years.

She received 1,004 votes, winning 55.7pc of the total ballot papers counted.

Speaking after the results were announced, the newly-elected councillor paid tribute to the ‘inspirational’ Lord Smith who led Wigan council for 27 years.

She said: “I’m not stepping into his shoes because nobody could.”

The 36-year-old from Manchester who worked at Leigh Sports Village and has lived in the town for 12 years, committed to being councillor as a full time job.

She pledged to listen, be visible and available to the people of Leigh West.

Addressing her constituents in a victory speech, Cllr Brown said: “I am determined to prove my worth to you and to those who didn’t vote for me as my work will be non-partisan. I will always be available when needed.”

Conservative candidate James Geddes congratulated his opponent following the results, saying it was a ‘well-fought’ campaign which was ‘really pleasant’.

He came second in the contest, receiving 432 votes – nearly 24 pc of the total.

Wigan’s Conservative group leader Michael Winstanley said the results were ‘outstanding’ for the Tories, claiming the party has made progress in the ward.

Leigh MP James Grundy, who was the first Conservative candidate to win the parliamentary seat in 2019, said the Tories ‘held their own’ in a ‘difficult’ ward.

He said: “Especially given what’s been going on recently, if people wanted to make a protest and kick the government, they would have done so.

“It hasn’t happened. We’ve held our vote share – even on a lower turnout.

“So I’m reasonably optimistic in terms of what’s going to happen in next year’s local elections and indeed whenever a general election comes.”

Grundy described the turnout – which was only 16 pc – as ‘disappointing’.

However, the other candidates in the contest said the by-election campaign had been refreshingly positive with political opponents helping each other.

Leigh and Atherton Independents leader Jayson Hargreaves, who appeared on the ballot as the Leigh West Independent candidate, received 257 votes.

He was happy his vote share increased since he last stood in the seat in May.

Liberal Democrats candidate Sharron Honey, who also stood in the seat at the last local elections,  received 103 votes this time – just one less than last time.

She promised the friendly spirit between candidates will continue, saying: “We need to show the rest of the country that people can all work together.”