UKIP is set to win its first seats on a Labour-run town council.

Labour will not field candidates in all 21 seats on Hetton Town Council being contested on May 7, which means Ukip will automatically win six seats on the local authority.

The remaining 15 seats will be contested between Labour, Ukip and Independent candidates.

Richard Elvin, Ukip’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Houghton and Sunderland South, said:

“This is a clear illustration that the traditional dominance of Labour in the North East is coming to an end.

“A healthy democracy thrives when there is an effective opposition.

“For too long the North East has been a one party state and this has not been good for the region”.

> Not so healthy for democracy if councillors are elected by default, though ?

Not so democratic if you get a Ukip councillor without the chance to vote against them.

Source – Northern Echo, 13 Apr 2015