Reform UK candidate in court battle after losing election in bizarre ‘name out of the hat' draw

Independent

2 days ago

A Reform UK candidate beaten by a Green Party councillor in a bizarre 'name out of the hat'-style draw after an election dead heat is fighting to overturn the result in the High Court.
The election was decided at random after recounts left Liz Williams and Green candidate Hannah Robson tied on 889 votes in a rural Worcestershire election in May.
Two ballot papers were placed in a box, and Mrs Robson's name was pulled out, securing victory for the Green candidate, who took her seat on the county council.
But Mrs Williams is now challenging the result after launching an "election petition" at the High Court in London, claiming that what happened was not fair.
As well as citing various alleged irregularities during the vote and count process, Mrs Williams says her defeat was on the equivalent of a "toss of a coin" and that the election should be declared void.
At a preliminary hearing this week, Mrs Justice Yip said the petition, naming Green Party candidate Mrs Robson and deputy returning officer Vic Allison as respondents, will be decided at the High Court later this year.
The two women were rival candidates for the Littletons ward, which comprises three tiny villages, of Worcestershire County Council, when the unlikely dead heat occurred.
According to Mrs Williams' petition, several counts resulted in the rivals being tied on 889 votes, with traditional party candidates behind.
"The declared result was determined only by folding and placing two used election ballot papers into a ballot box and the deputy returning officer pulling one out," she says.
"The petitioner believes this process was not carried out in accordance with due process of law, open to fraud and corruption and did not allow time for independent legal advice to be obtained when being pressured into accepting the process in principle.
"I did not feel able to witness the entire process without obstruction, nor my concerns to be heard at the time.
"I could not see the box for all of the preparation and was not included in that.
"I did not agree to a third person shuffling the papers. Once in the ballot box, only the returning officer should have had their hand in the box."
Footage posted online shows the returning officer putting his hand into a large black box and pulling out a slip of paper, before declaring her winner to cheers and applause in the counting room at Pershore Leisure Centre.
Mrs Robson was declared to have won by 890 to 889 votes.
Afterwards, she said: "I think I am still in shock and probably will be all weekend. This was just something - maybe next level.
"I am feeling like I don't know whether to be sick or jump up in excitement. I have never seen something like this and I know the staff here hasn't either."
Challenging the result, Mrs Williams says she wants, "a declaration that the said Hannah Robson was not elected by a due process of law, namely by the electorate as the Representation of Peoples Act 1983 provides; but by an equivalent of a 'toss of a coin' and therefore the election declaration be void."
As well as complaints about the way the dead heat was decided, she complains of irregularities in the vote and count.
Mrs Robson was not represented during the preliminary hearing this week, but Timothy Straker KC, representing the returning officer, said he would be applying to dismiss Mrs Williams' petition when the case comes back to court later this year.
"It would be on the basis that the petition cannot proceed because, unfortunately, from the petitioner's point of view, it is out of time and the time cannot be extended," he said.
As well as the winning candidate and the returning officer, Mrs Williams originally named local police and the council's chief executive in her petition.
But the cases against them were struck out by Mrs Justice Yip, who said the rules only allow winning candidates and returning officers to be respondents to election petitions.
Although very rare, it is not the first time a council election in the UK has ended in a dead heat between two candidates, leading to the winner being picked at random.
In Blyth in 2007, the winner in one ward was chosen by the drawing of straws, while a candidate in Yorkshire in 2022 offered to play poker to decide the winner, before going on to draw straws too.
Electoral Commission guidance to returning officers states: "When two or more candidates have the same number of votes, and the addition of a vote would entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected, you must decide between the candidates by lot.
"Whichever candidate wins the lot is treated as though they had received an additional vote that enables them to be declared elected."
Mrs Williams' challenge to the Littletons election result is expected to go ahead at the High Court after September.