Labour candidate Fabiha Askari wins by-election with over 46 per cent of vote

Fabiha will succeed Jack O’Dwyer-Henry as a councillor for the University and Scotforth Rural Ward


Fabiha Askari, the Labour Party hopeful in the University and Scotforth Rural by-election, has triumphed in becoming the ward’s next councillor until at least May 2023.

She succeeded in achieving a majority, amassing 46.1 per cent of the vote, defeating Conservative candidate Matthew Maxwell-Scott (9.4 per cent), Green Party candidate Jamie Payne (41.2 per cent) and Lib Dem candidate Zanna Ashton (3.4 per cent).

Turnout for the by-election was low, at just 13.43 per cent.

Fabiha is a third-year History and Politics student who has lived in Lancaster for the past ten years, whose primary policies focus on student safety and improved mental health services in the wake of the pandemic.

She was previously involved with the Lancaster University Labour Club as its C0-chair and headed the “Why Is My Curriculum White?” campaign.

Fabiha was a frontrunner for much of the election, claiming just under 50 per cent of the opinion poll posted by the Politics Society at their “Question Time” event and a 48 per cent vote share of a poll posted by the Tab Lancaster’s Instagram account.

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