Two independent candidates voted in at Bray Parish Council by-election

A pair of independent voices will be added to Bray Parish Council following last night’s double by-election.

Contesting the vacant Bray seat, Brian Millin was voted in with 247 votes – about 100 more than his Conservative challenger Lars Swann.

There was a three-way contest for the chance to represent Holyport, despite the best efforts of John Hudson who had tried to withdraw to help the chances of fellow independent Fiona Hattey.

However, he was too late to have his name taken off the ballot paper and ended the night with 25 votes.

It mattered little in the end however, as Hattey was elected, beating Conservative candidate Sunil Sharma, a 23-year-old foreign exchange broker and the son of the Royal Borough’s Cllr Hari Sharma (Con, Furze Platt).

She received 475 votes to Sharma's 146.