Labour's Tracey Bailey won the New Bradwell by-election with 1,023 votes, 582 ahead of Reform UK. Turnout was 25.9%, down from 38% in May. Full result.

Labour’s Tracey Bailey has won the New Bradwell by-election for Milton Keynes City Council. She took 1,023 votes, more than the other four candidates put together.

Update, 27 September 2026: the Returning Officer declared the result on Friday 25 September. This page, first published before the poll, now leads on the result. The pre-poll details are kept further down as a record.

The result

The Returning Officer, Sharon Bridglalsingh, published the declaration of result of poll on Friday 25 September. The votes were:

Candidate Party Votes Share
Tracey Bailey (elected) Labour Party 1,023 54.2%
Julian Vernon Camies Reform UK 441 23.4%
Alan Francis The Green Party 175 9.3%
Gabriel Ferreira da Costa The Conservative Party Candidate 160 8.5%
Martin Kenneth Clarke Liberal Democrat 87 4.6%

The shares are our own working, out of the 1,886 valid votes. Bailey’s majority over Reform UK is 582.

Bar chart of the New Bradwell by-election result on 24 September 2026: Tracey Bailey, Labour, 1,023 votes; Julian Camies, Reform UK, 441; Alan Francis, Green, 175; Gabriel Ferreira da Costa, Conservative, 160; Martin Clarke, Liberal Democrat, 87. Turnout 25.9% of 7,300 electors.
The New Bradwell by-election result. Chart by MK Daily, from the Returning Officer's declaration.
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The declaration also records:

  • 1,891 ballot papers in total
  • 5 rejected, all for voting for more than one candidate
  • 7,300 people on the electoral register for the ward
  • 25.9% turnout

How it compares with May

Turnout fell sharply. At the city council elections on 7 May, the council’s results page records a 38% turnout in New Bradwell. That was 2,723 ballot papers from an electorate of 7,237.

The two contests are not directly comparable. May filled two seats, so each voter had two votes, and every party ran two candidates. September filled one seat with one vote each.

Labour won both seats in May. Stephen Brown topped the poll with 979 votes and Shanika Mahendran took 837. Two of September’s candidates also stood in May:

  • Julian Camies, Reform UK: 749 votes in May, 441 in September
  • Alan Francis, Green Party: 616 votes in May, 175 in September

Bailey now sits alongside Brown as one of the ward’s two councillors, according to the council’s list of councillors by ward.

Why there was a by-election

The seat became vacant when Councillor Shanika Mahendran died on 1 July. She was 28.

Milton Keynes City Council paid tribute to her the following day. Its account of her four years on the council reads:

  • first elected in 2022, at the age of 24, for Loughton and Shenley ward
  • Chair of Planning Committee from November 2022
  • joined the Cabinet in 2023, its youngest member and the first Asian woman to hold a Cabinet post in Milton Keynes
  • re-elected in May 2026 for New Bradwell, as Cabinet Member for Planning and Placemaking

“Councillor Shanika Mahendran devoted her skills and energy to making our city a better place to live,” said the council leader, Councillor Jane Carr.

The council issued a notice of casual vacancy on 5 August under section 89(1) of the Local Government Act 1972. Under that section a by-election only happens if two local government electors ask for one in writing. The council confirms that a valid request was received.

How the poll ran

Nominations closed at 4pm on Thursday 27 August. The statement of persons nominated listed the five candidates above.

Polls were open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 24 September. The notice of poll set five polling stations:

  • Bradville Hall, Community Centre, Mercers Drive, Bradville
  • Mathiesen Centre, Mathiesen Road, Bradville
  • New Bradwell Community Centre, Church Street, New Bradwell
  • Portacabin at Linear Park Car Park, Selkirk Drive, Oakridge Park
  • Christ Church Stantonbury Campus, Purbeck, Stantonbury

Voters needed accepted photo ID to vote in person. The votes were counted and declared on Friday 25 September.

What it means for you

If you live in New Bradwell, Bradville, Stantonbury or Oakridge Park, you have two Labour city councillors again: Tracey Bailey and Stephen Brown. You can contact either about a council problem in the ward through the council’s councillor pages.

The low turnout is worth knowing. Fewer than one elector in four chose the ward’s newest councillor. The next scheduled city council elections will decide far more seats, and the council they elect sets your council tax, runs your bin collections and decides planning applications across the city.

Sources

Updated 23 September 2026 with the polling stations from the notice of poll. Updated 27 September 2026 with the result.

Correction, 27 September 2026: an earlier version of this article described New Bradwell as a single-member ward. It elects two city councillors; this by-election filled one of the two seats.