Chorley election result corrected after vote declaration mix-up

During the early-hours-of-the-morning count at the town hall last Friday, returning officer Chris Sinnott – the authority’s chief executive – declared that the Green Party had come in as the runner up in the Chorley North West seat, pushing the Conservatives into third place.

However, a clerical error had led to the vote numbers for the two candidates being transposed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands.

Although that fact was obvious to the two prospective politicians concerned, it was less clear whether anything could be done to correct the official results – which correctly announced the Labour Party victor in the ward – once they had been declared.

READ MORE >» Chorley local election results 2023: Labour landslide as Tories suffer near wipeout .

While the rules surrounding such a situation were investigated, the council published that Tory representative Peter Maplas had secured 191 votes, trailing behind the Green Party’s Mark Tebbutt on 561 – when, in fact, the reverse was true.

Mr. Malpas said that it was important that the record was set straight – and not just for reasons of personal pride.

“I am pleased that the returning officer was able to correct the outcome for second and third place, because unchecked, it would give the wrong impression to electors across Chorley North West as to the true weight of their collective political feelings on polling day – and that could have influenced the outcome in future elections,” he told the LDRS.

Chorley Green Party co-ordinator Andy Hunter-Rossall hopes that, one day, a second place result for his group – which has yet to win a seat on Chorley Council – will be for real, or even that the party will go one better. However, for now, he says he was happy to see the true position published.

“We knew from watching the counting of the votes that a mistake had been made in the results. We’re happy the issue has been resolved and the results now accurately reflect how people voted,” Mr. Hunter Rossall said.

The full amended result for the Chorley North West ward – which includes the town centre and areas immediately to the west of it – saw Labour Party candidate Sarah Ainsworth duly elected with 1,425 votes, followed by Peter Maplas (Conservatives) on 561 and Mark Tebbutt (Green Party) on 191.