LABOUR by-election hopeful Terry Ledlie has accused Somerset Council of mismanaging and taking West Somerset for granted.

Mr Ledlie is among four candidates seeking to fill a Dunster division vacancy caused by the resignation of Conservative Christine Lawrence.

A by-election will be held on Thursday, October 23.

Mr Ledlie, who lives in Yeovil, first moved to Somerset in 1996, joining RNAS Yeovilton, before returning to Yeovil in 2005 to work for Royal Mail.

Since then, he has served as an area delivery representative for the Communications Workers Union.

As a Trade Union representative, he believed the ‘New Deal for Workers’ would go a long way to making working lives better and to improve living standards for everybody.

He said: “Somerset has been taken for granted and mismanaged by both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, running our local services into the ground and taking us to the brink of financial collapse.

“On all fronts, we are paying more, but getting less, be it housing, education, or social care.

“Now, with a Labour Government in Westminster, we are finally seeing the necessary reforms to local government funding, social care, and local bus services, enabling local community management.

“This is alongside all else the Labour Government has achieved in its first year alone, strengthening rights for private renters and workers, building the council homes we need, and saving our NHS by delivering over five million elective operations, appointments, and tests in England.”

Council Labour group leader Cllr Leigh Redman said: “I hope you vote for Terry, he already knows Somerset well, our communities are strong and will be stronger with Terry as your local champion.

“You have a clear choice when you vote, a vote for anybody other than Terry will give you the same.”

The other candidates are James Bellamy (Conservative), Jonathan Rollason (Reform), and Cara Strom (Liberal Democrat).