Reform UK have won a council by-election in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Reform's Su Beardmore was victorious in the contest for the vacant Cheddleton seat on Staffordshire Moorlands District Council on Thursday.

She secured 471 votes in the by-election, comfortably ahead of second place Conservative candidate Rob Bateman.

The election was called following the resignation of previous Labour councillor Dylan Pascall, who has moved out of the area for work.

But Labour's Martin Sadler could only manage third place in the election. Turnout was 29.18 per cent.

Cllr Beardmore, who was already a Staffordshire county councillor and cabinet member, becomes Reform's second representative on SMDC.

She said her win was a 'sign of things to come', as her party sets its sights on the all-out elections in the Staffordshire Moorlands next May.

Reform has taken control of the county council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in the last two years.

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SMDC has been run by a minority Labour administration since 2023. There are now 19 Labour councillors, 21 Conservatives, 10 independents, two Green councillors, two Reform, one Lib Dem and one non-aligned councillor.

The full Cheddleton by-election results are as follows:

• Rob Bateman (Conservatives) – 327
• Su Beardmore (Reform UK) – 471
• Matthew Frith (Green Party) – 23
• Karen Pickering (Restore Britain) – 55
• Sue Rogers – 156
• Martin Sadler (Labour) – 213