IN A ward where they count the Labour vote with weighing scales, the result was unlikely to be close.

Nonetheless Nancy Platts’ victory for Labour in the East Brighton council by-election on Thursday night was nothing short of a rout. The city’s newest councillor received more than twice as many votes as her three opponents combined.

It was a case of third-time’s-the-charm for Ms Platts on election night, after her campaigns for Parliament against Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion in 2010 and against Simon Kirby in Brighton Kemptown in 2015.

This time she romped home, with 67 per cent and 1889 votes. Her vote, her winning margin and the turnout were all greater than when Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP won the seat in 2016.

Yesterday Councillor-elect Platts, who will join the council on February 15, said: “Thank you to the people of East Brighton for placing their trust in me. I am honoured to be elected to represent them as a city councillor.

“We went out every day and met over 3,000 people and we started solving problems from day one.

“The residents of Whitehawk will now be able to get washing machine tokens from the shop next door to their launderette and we’ve got a seat fitted in a lift in a block on the Bristol Estate for residents who have mobility issues.

“These are little things but they can make a big difference to people’s everyday lives.”

She said she would be campaigning with residents to restore the 21 bus service, and added: “I will be a loud voice in opposing austerity because austerity is the political choice of a Conservative Government and not an economic necessity.”

She added: “And I will do politics differently. I haven’t attacked opponents, even when invited to do so, and I won’t be getting involved in spats on Twitter or making insulting comments elsewhere about other politicians - I think the people of Brighton deserve better than that.”

During the campaign Ms Platts did not participate in the Argus-hosted hustings at which her opponents debated, and deleted her Twitter account. She lives and works in Brighton as a self-employed communications consultant and previously worked for the Labour Party as Jeremy Corbyn’s trades union liaison.

Council leader Councillor Warren Morgan said he was delighted and that Nancy Platts would be a “fantastic councillor.”

ELECTION FACTFILE

CANDIDATE        PARTY                  VOTES    PERCENTAGE
Nancy Platts       Labour                 1889       67 per cent
Edward Wilson    Conservative          481       17 per cent
Ed Baker            Green                    316       11 per cent
George Taylor    Liberal Democrats   114       4 per cent
2,800 votes were cast in a ward with an electorate of 10,275, which was a turnout of 27.25 per cent.