Anis Faruki was re-elected without competiton

An area of Preston is to receive a Labour councillor de facto after opposition parties failed to field candidates.

St Georges ward near Deepdale sees Anis Faruki automatically re-elected.

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Preston Conservatives chairman councillor Daniel Dewhurst said they didn’t put up a candidate in the local elections due to ‘an administrative error’.

He said an unregistered voter had made their way onto their list, meaning it couldn’t be submitted.

The Liberal Democrats saw their candidate pull out due to a family illness.

John Potter, speaking on behalf of the Preston Lib Dems, said: “It is regrettable that we have a uncontested council ward election in Preston but due to unforeseen circumstances our chosen candidate was no longer able to stand and we were unable to find a replacement in time.

“Unfortunately local councils struggle to encourage and retain good candidates and councillors especially those in full time employment. This is why last month I submitted a notice of motion calling on Preston City Council to explore the possibility of moving meetings into the evenings so more people of working age may stand for election. Hopefully my motion will be debated and voted through at the full council meeting on the 21st April.”

A UKIP spokesman said: “We are fielding candidates in the wards in which we believe we have the best chances.”

Related: Who wants your vote in the local elections?

A council spokeswoman said: “We just had the one candidate who put up for election in St Georges (Anis Faruki) so therefore he is automatically elected, thereby resulting in it being uncontested.”

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