TRAINEE science teacher and mum Amanda Ineson won the Newton Abbot town council by-election for the Liberal Democrats.

She polled 248 votes in a very low turnout of less than 12 per cent having filled a seat vacated by the resignation of a Conservative councillor. 

Amanda said: ‘I am delighted to be elected and I would like to thank the people for coming out to vote, whoever they supported, on a windy and rainy day. Newton Abbot is a great town with strong heritage and real community feel to it, amazing local parks and lots of independent shops which should all be celebrated.’

Amanda lives in Newton Abbot and her son attends Bradley Barton primary school. 

Teignbridge councillor, Jackie Hook said: ‘Amanda’s election is fantastic, she will make a great town councillor. I know she will bring enthusiasm as well local knowledge. I am looking forward to working with her.’

Amanda told the Mid Devon Advertiser: ‘I want to serve the residents of Bushell Ward and Newton Abbot, it is important to listen to people’s concerns.’

Previously, she has campaigned for better funding for schools in Devon. 

She claimed Teignbridge schools could lose thousands of pounds in funding over the after the Government bungled funding calculations.

She explained: ‘Schools in Devon are already underfunded. The nationwide difference is equal roughly to £50 per pupil or 900 teachers.’

At the end of last year the Department for Education (DfE) admitted miscalculating the amount of funding for state schools in England.

The Government ordered an inquiry and the DfE apologised after the error in processing forecast pupil numbers, which would mean the overall cost of the core schools budget would be 0.62per cent greater than allocated in 2024/25.

When the funding error was first highlighted in October last year, the then Minister of State at the Department for Education Nick Gibb described the error as ‘unfortunate’ but insisted ‘no money has been taken out of the school budget’.