Conservative candidate Richard Frampton wins New Forest District Council by-election for Bransgore, Sopley, Burley and Ringwood East ward

Bransgore farmer Richard Frampton vowed to “hit the ground running” after again triumphing in a New Forest District Council by-election.

The Conservative won the Bransgore, Burley, Sopley and Ringwood East seat, scooping 997 votes in the polls yesterday (Thursday), beating the Green Party’s Barbara Czoch into second place with 314 votes.

Adam Elcock for Reform UK came third with 257, followed by Lib Dem candidate lestyn Lewis with 52 and Labour’s Sally Johnston with 42.

The turn-out was just over 30% of a 5,541-strong electorate, with one spoilt ballot paper.

Returning officer Kate Ryan declared the results in her role as NFDC chief executive.

This came after Cllr Frampton rejoined the Conservatives, having quit the party seven years ago to be an Independent. He started out as a Liberal Democrat member.

Celebrating his win, he told the A&T: “I was quite humbled by the majority, in all fairness. A lot of people have put a lot of faith in me, so there is a lot of pressure to get things done.

“I’m going to hit the ground running – it’s not as if I have to learn all the ropes, having been here before.”

The ward’s other seat is held by Independent Nigel Linford, a former Bransgore police beat officer with whom Cllr Frampton patrolled as a special constable in the 1990s.

“I get on very well with Nigel. We make a great team,” he said.

Defending the greenbelt is a priority, he said highlighting a possible “300-odd home” development on the border with BCP.

He also aimed to ensure a 100-home development recently approved for Derritt Lane is built in accordance with all planning conditions.

Cllr Frampton first won NFDC’s Bransgore and Sopley ward seat in 1999 as a Lib Dem. He returned to the authority in 2015 as a Tory, taking the vote after the ward switched to become Bransgore and Burley.

He made headlines in 2018 by quitting the Conservatives in protest over public service cuts which he said left residents at the mercy of criminals.

A catalyst for this was armed raiders hitting Bransgore’s Co-op store, a site he owns, twice in a fortnight.

Citing police cuts by then-Conservative police and crime commissioner Michael Lane, Cllr Frampton said at the time he could “no longer defend the indefensible”.

As an Independent, he claimed victory in December 2021’s NFDC by-election for the Bransgore and Burley seat after the resignation of Conservative Mark Steele.

On rejoining the Conservatives about a year ago, he told the A&T this was driven by a desire to bring about change from the inside.

“If you join the party you can have a bit of a voice,” he explained. “They need a lot of help, in all fairness, and I’m hoping to be able to give them a bit.

“I’ll be one little voice among many, although quite a loud voice!”

A fourth-generation Bransgore resident, for about the last seven years Cllr Frampton has run his own artisan cider company, Dickies Dribble.

He served as a member of the New Forest National Park Authority for eight years. In that role, he was proud to see Bransgore secure the district’s first two affordable rented houses.

On having served separate district councillor terms over the years, Cllr Frampton said: “My view is that if I go in fresh I’ve still got the ideas from the people who voted me in.

“I think the longer you stay in something, the more institutionalised you get and perhaps not so fresh with the ideas.

“I tend to go in all guns blazing, do the term, and then go back out to see how much I have achieved.”

He continued: “I don’t do it to be a councillor, but to try to improve the village and the surrounding area, and as long as I can do that, that’s what I’ll do.

“It’s about doing as much as I can for my fellow villagers.”