A by-election for the vacant Birches Head and Northwood seat on Stoke-on-Trent City Council is today and the polls close at 10pm tonight. 

The candidates are Khawar Ali, of the Conservatives, Jean Bowers, of the City Independents, Maggie Bradley, of Labour and Luke Shenton, of Reform UK. 

It comes after Reform UK took control of Staffordshire County Council earlier this month and claimed its first seat on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, with Lynn Dean winning the Knutton ward. 

The by-election was called after Labour's Steve Blakemore was disqualified from being an elected member after Unitas, the council's housing repairs company which Mr Blakemore works for, was brought back into council control on 1 April. 

UK law states elected councillors cannot also be employees of the council, so a by-election was called. 

Mr Shenton was Reform UK's candidate for the Stoke-on-Trent Central parliamentary seat in last year's general election, where he came second with 24.2% of the vote share.

Meanwhile, Mr Ali has stood as a candidate for the Conservatives in council elections in 2023 and 2024.

Ms Bowers, of the City Independents, has served as the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent twice, 2009-10 and 2015-16, and lost her Birches Head and Northwood ward seat on the council in the 2023 elections.

Labour won both seats in the Birches Head and Northwood ward in the council elections in 2023.

Stoke Nub News will be at the count and will bring you the result when it's declared.

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