Liberal Democrat candidate Lorna Dupre swept to victory in the Sutton by-election on Thursday.

The seat, formerly held by Conservative Peter Moakes, was turned yellow after Ms Dupre scooped more than 50 per cent of the vote, leaving the Conservative’s Neil Hitchin trailing in second place.

Daniel Divine, of UKIP, came a distant third, with 162 votes, and Labour’s Jane Frances came home last with just 63 votes.

In all, 1,028 votes were cast, which amounted to a reasonable turnout of about 33 per cent. There were six spoiled papers.

Although the result doesn’t change the comfortable Conservative majority on East Cambridgeshire District Council, it means that there is no longer local Tory representation in the village after Sutton’s second councillor, Phil Read, resigned from the party last month.

Ms Dupre, who was the only candidate in the election from Sutton, said she was delighted with the win. She said: “I was feeling fairly positive going into the election and im delighted with the level of support in the village and people’s faith in our campaign. I think it is important, especially in rural areas, to try wherever possible to elect someone who lives locally and who understands the community.

“We were talking to people on the doorstep about issues that matter to them, like lorries coming through the village and the lack of crossing points.”

Ms Dupre said she hoped the party could carry its momentum into next year’s general election, where they hope to unseat North East Cambridgeshire MP, Steve Barclay, a Conservative.

Lorna added: “I think it goes to show that, despite all the opinion polls, where we are active and campaigning, we can get results. I was quite surprised that, from a very strong Conservative area, Sutton has changed completely in just a matter of months.”

Daniel Divine (UKIP) 162

Lorna Dupre (Liberal Democrats) 523

Jane Frances (Labour Party) 63

Neil Hitchin (Conservative) 280

Total of votes cast 1028