THE leader of the city council was sensationally dumped from his seat on a disastrous night which saw his party lose seven councillors.
Cllr Chris Mitchell, the Tory leader of Worcester City Council, was defeated by Green candidate Tor Pingree in the St Clement ward in the result of the night following Thursday’s elections.
The loss for Chris Mitchell and the Conservatives was one of seven across Worcester – humiliating defeats which saw the party plummet from the council’s biggest to third with the Greens jumping to second behind Labour on an impressive day at the polls which now left the party with ten councillors.
READ MORE: Huge wins for Greens in Worcester sees party become second largest
The Conservatives also lost to the Greens in St Peter’s, with Elena Round making the previous Tory stronghold now all-Green, and Warndon Parish South where Andrew Cross defeated Conservative incumbent Lucy Hodgson on a miserable night for the party.
Another loss for the Tories in Warndon Parish North, where Sarah Murray secured the seat for the Lib Dems, and an historic win in Bedwardine meant the Conservatives lost out to Labour for the first time ever.
The spanking for the Tories meant the party was left with eight councillors at the end of the night with Labour gaining one overall to push the party up to 13, with the Greens moving into second place with ten and the Lib Dems doubling their numbers to four.
READ MORE: Labour become biggest party in Worcester after Tories lose big
Chris Mitchell was first elected to represent St Clement in 2011 and had picked up three comfortable re-election wins since – the last of which was with 45 per cent of the vote.
He was elected leader of the city council in November last year following the departure of Marc Bayliss.
The city’s Greens had turned to Ms Pingree, who is the party’s parliamentary candidate for Worcester and has eyes on becoming the city’s first female MP.
She had finished second for the Greens against Conservative county council leader and long-time St Clement councillor Simon Geraghty two years ago as he looked to be re-elected in the area he has lived in all his life and represented since 2000.
Despite finishing 500 votes behind, the Greens still had faith they could oust Cllr Mitchell picking up the historic win following the vote on May 4.
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