POPULAR politician Mike McCusker has returned to the borough council chamber.

He won the Westminster seat in Ellesmere Port for the Labour Party in a by-election on Thursday.

However, the low turn-out of 15% meant that roughly only one in six people bothered voting.

Cllr McCusker, who used to represent Whitby ward on the council until he stepped down a few years ago, racked up 227 votes.

Conservative candidate Thomas Edward Hughes received 123 and Liberal Democrat Hilary Ann Chrusciezl 45. There were three spoilt ballot papers.

The seat was vacated last year by Jimmy Murphy who stood down for health reasons.

Cllr McCusker said: “I am delighted to be back on board at the council and I look forward to serving the tenants and residents of the Westminster community.

“My majority was over 100 but the turn-out was terrible, it was just 15%. The weather was good but I don’t know if it was the right time of year for people to be going out to vote.

“I was expecting more of a fight from the Tories. It would have been more interesting and a challenge if they had put forward their champion Jonathan Starkey, but they didn’t.”

Cllr McCusker had campaigned on law and order issues, saying: “There are some problems with youths and anti-social behaviour in the area which need sorting.

“There were residents recognising me from my campaign with the Pioneer to ban yobs from boozing in the streets.”

Welcoming Cllr McCusker back into the fold, borough leader Justin Madders said of him: “His passion and energy will be a welcome addition to the Labour group and I am sure he will prove to be a dynamic representative for Westminster.

“Although the turn-out was low, that was to be expected in an election at this time of year.

“There is no doubt the Tories were disappointed with the outcome. They were hoping to cause an upset and even brought one of the Shadow Cabinet down to help.

“I’m not sure that did them much good as I suspect more people in Westminster have heard of Mike McCusker than Francis Maude.”