I DON'T know UKIP's Richard Leppington, and have no idea if he lives in the Berry Hill ward or not. He claims that the Labour Party has been "playing politics" with the timing of the by-election to fill the vacancy left by the sad and untimely death of our dear friend and colleague Helen Stewart.

His ridiculous claim that it was UKIP's intervention that was responsible for prompting the Labour Party to call the election shows a complete ignorance of electoral law. Political parties cannot trigger local government by-elections. Any two registered electors can; including UKIP members.

Perhaps Richard doesn't live in Berry Hill or if he does "Richard no-mates" couldn't find a second person to sign a letter requesting an election.

It is true that the upcoming by-election has been triggered by electors who will be supporting the Labour candidate Tim Gwilliam. The timing of the election call took into account a number of factors.

We didn't think it respectful, or sensitive to the feelings of Helen's friends and family to call an immediate election. In November, the council's electoral service officers were coping with the Police and Crime Commissioner election. Although the turn-out was pathetic, the work involved was similar to that for a General Election. Calling an election in December in the run-up to Christmas would be just plain daft. Calling an election in January would have required the district council's officers to work over the Christmas / New Year break. Hence, we will have the election on February 7th.

No thanks to UKIP, just rational and sensitive decisions taken by those who took the responsibility for calling the election i.e. Labour Party supporting electors from Berry Hill.

– Cllr Bruce Hogan, secretary, Forest of Dean Constituency Labour Party.