Well-known councillor makes comeback after winning Staveley’s Duckmanton by-election

Following the resignation of Labour Staveley Town Cllr Debbie Wheeldon, Mick Bagshaw – a former Chesterfield Borough Councillor and former Chesterfield Deputy Mayor – clinched the vacant parish council seat with 63 votes as a Staveley Matters candidate, ahead of his closest rival Liberal Democrat candidate Stephen James Hartley, with 60 votes.

Town Cllr Bagshaw, who has previously served as a Staveley Town Councillor, said: “I am so proud because Duckmanton has once again put their faith in me.”

Cllr Bagshaw added that he and fellow Staveley Matters Town Councillor, Carl Chambers, had been out and about in Duckmanton all day during the by-election, on Thursday, February 15, apart from when they stopped for a half-hour coffee break

The newly-elected councillor said: “All the residents throughout the day kept saying you have got this but I didn’t think I would get it because there were so many Liberal Democrats up there.

“There were only two of us and yesterday (Feb 15) I did not think I was going to get on because the Lib Dems kept saying they had got it and they must have had 12 to 14 people helping them to campaign.”

Cllr Bagshaw has previously served as a councillor during the late 1990s until 2022 and he has served as a councillor for Barrow Hill and as Chesterfield Borough Council’s Deputy Mayor.

Staveley Town Council – within the Chesterfield borough – has recently heralded a new era after it has begun to right the ship after an independent Improvement Board had criticised its financial management between 2011 and 2022 in a report which stated its difficulties had been caused by events not just faced by one particular political group’s administration.

The town council also avoided bankruptcy after Chesterfield Borough Council agreed to loan the authority £400,000 in February, 2023, and despite the Improvement Board’s report it acknowledged the council’s potential and that councillors want to make the authority effective and it praised the current town clerk while urging a better partnership between councillors.

Following his re-election, Cllr Bagshaw said “I am hoping this will put some trust back into the council, and let’s show the people of Staveley that it is worthwhile having a parish council.”

Cllr Bagshaw hopes to encourage businesses to support the town council with jointly arranged events and he has already set his sights on trying to mark the 130th anniversary of the town’s first parish council and the 50th anniversary of Staveley Town Council.

He added: “I want to get back to putting things on for the community but obviously sticking within the budget.”

Cllr Bagshaw said: “It needs to be turned around. It’s going to be a hard battle – I know it’s going to be a hard battle – but it makes it easier to have support from Duckmanton. Duckamnton residents have been marvellous.”

The Staveley Matters councillor has now been elected for the Duckmanton Ward seat for Staveley Town Council after Labour Staveley Town Cllr Debbie Wheeldon resigned and triggered a by-election poll for the vacant seat.

Staveley Town Council’s political make-up is now five Labour councillors, five Liberal Democrat councillors, five Community Independents, and two independent Staveley Matters councillors.

Other by-election candidates for the vacant Duckmanton Ward seat included Community Independent Martin Christopher Hibbert who received 43 votes, and Labour’s Channi Khera who received 25 votes. The recorded voter turnout was registered as 24.24per cent.

The Improvement Board Report has confirmed Staveley Town Council had ‘balanced’ its budget by November, 2023, and that the council has been showing an understanding of its commitments and that a new financial system was underway and expenditure was being reduced.

However, Chesterfield Borough Council is still reviewing Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins’ request for a Community Governance Review to be set up to consider the future of Staveley Town Council.