MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Five new Councillors in Falklands' election
The voters in the Falkland Islands have spoken and voted for change, with only three of the previous eight members of Legislative Council being re-elected.
For the Stanley constituency, which had a voter turnout of 69% Dr Richard Davies led the polls with 546 votes closely followed by Mike Summers and Dr Andrea Clausen with 477 and 466 votes respectively.
In an extremely close contest, Richard Cockwell was fourth with 302 votes, followed by Janet Robertson, who took the last place for Stanley with 299 votes.
Jan Cheek and John Birmingham, who both served on the previous council, missed out this time and polled 275 and 240 respectively.
The Camp Constituency had an incredible voter turnout of 86%, although ex-councillors Phillip Miller and Roger Edwards were both unsuccessful with 86 and 91 votes respectively.
Ian Hansen led the voting in Camp, polling 188, with first time candidate Mike Rendell coming second with 139. Richard Stevens, who served on Legislative Council between 1993 and 1997, took the last Camp seat with 121 votes.
Talking after the result, Dr Richard Davies, who led the voting, said he had been hopeful he would be elected but, "was not confident." Dr Davies added that it was, "difficult to gauge public opinion," but did say that he had had, "a lot of positive feedback," in the run up to polling day.
Mike Summers, who saw his percentage of the vote cut this time, said he had been confident of re-election, although he was conscious that as a standing councillor, "you are there to be shot at". Councillor Summers added that he was "ready for a lot of hard work," especially considering the high number of first time councillors who had been elected.
Dr Andrea Clausen said she was, "quietly confident," about the result, and said she was, "very pleased." Dr Clausen added that, "people have been quite supportive, although you never know till the day."
Winning a third straight term on Legislative Council, Richard Cockwell said the contest was, "quite a close thing," but said he was "very pleased to be re-elected and looking forward to the next four years."
"Very excited," was how Janet Robertson described her feelings after the result, saying it was, "wonderful." Janet was also looking forward to the four years ahead, but said she was, "disappointed that John Fowler had not been elected."
All eight successful candidates will tomorrow been sworn in at a ceremony in Stanley.
Photo L to R: Dr.Richard Davis; Mike Summers; Richard Cockwell; Mrs. Andrea Clausen; Mrs. Janet Robertson.
Rob Burnett - Stanley
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