Labour reclaims seat in Rotherham Council by-election

Ms Foster (pictured) took almost twice as many votes as any other candidate as she won the by-election for Keppel Ward on Rotherham Council.

The Lib Dems candidate, electrical engineer Kholoud Ghanem, was a distant second.

The full results were as follows:

Simon Currie (commonly known as Sid Currie, independent) 381

Carole Foster (Labour)    745 ELECTED

Khoulod Ghanem (Lib Dems) 445

Peter Key (Yorkshire Party) 314

Paul Neville Martin (Green) 59

Mohammed Osman Suleman (Conservative) 119

There were four spoiled ballots and the turnout was 19.94 per cent.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of RDP councillor Paul Hague, who had attended just two meetings during 2022.

RDP backed ex-councillor Simon Currie for the by-election rather than putting forward its own choice.

Labour — which already holds two of the three Keppel seats — picked Kimberworth resident Ms Foster, who has volunteered in the community for 30 years and founded Winterhill-based Rotherham BMX Group, while also working with young people through Rotherham United Community Sports Trust and adding more volunteering roles during

Covid.

She said during the campaign that she had “always tried to do my bit to help out in the

community, so the opportunity to represent it would be a great honour.”

The Tories’ choice was Mohammed Suleman, who finished fifth in Sitwell

ward in 2021, while social care worker Paul Martin, was selected as Green party candidate and Peter Key, who contested the same ward in 2021, stood for the Yorkshire Party.