The Conservative Party candidate Peter Zinkin has held a council seat in a Barnet Council by-election, comfortably holding on to the Tory safe seat.
Mr Zinkin retained the seat with 66.8 per cent of the vote, while the Labour candidate Sue Walker came second with 22.5 per cent of the vote, followed by Rejoin EU with 4.1 per cent of the vote.
The Green Party came fourth with 3.9 per cent of the vote, and the Liberal Democrats plummeted to last place, winning just 2.7 per cent, or 65 votes.
Excellent Conservative by-election result in Golders Green.
— Greg Hands (@GregHands) February 17, 2023
Congratulations to our new Councillor Peter Zinkin!
Shows the Conservatives are recovering in London.
Augurs well for the Mayoral contest next year and for the next General Election in a key marginal. pic.twitter.com/QKMNRqUDV1
The turnout in the election for the vacant Barnet Borough Council seat was 27.2 per cent. The result was a small boost for the Tories whose vote share rose by 1.6 per cent, but Labour enjoyed a greater gain with a rise in the vote share of three per cent.
The election was called after the death of Barnet's longest-serving councillor and two-time mayor Melvin Cohen on 13 December last year.
His successor, Mr Zinkin, was previously a Barnet councillor in Childs Hill, and he narrowly lost his seat in last year's local elections when Labour took control of Barnet Council.
Last few hours left to vote for Peter Zinkin in Golders Green 🗳
— Emma Best AM (@emmabest22) February 16, 2023
There was tremendous support for him on the doors earlier today, well done to @BarnetTories for organising a great campaign 💪 pic.twitter.com/1vrP4ZoI7D
Peter Zinkin (right) pictured yesterday ahead of polls closing
He was raised in a secular Jewish home, and like his party leader and prime minister Rishi Sunak, he attended Winchester College, going on to Cambridge, rather than Oxford.
He was also the Chairman of the Golders Green Synagogue for more than a decade and was a trustee and Vice-President of the United Synagogue for 6 years.
Conservative Party Chairman Greg Hands praised the "excellent" by-election result on social media, and said that it "shows the Conservatives are recovering in London.
"Augurs well for the Mayoral contest next year and for the next General Election in a key marginal," he added.
