Bizarre Moment Local Election Result Is Decided On A Coin Toss

In a bizarre - and incredibly tense - turn of events, an election was decided by the toss of a coin this week. Watch below:

People across the UK came out to vote in their local elections on Thursday (5 May).

However, while some councils saw candidates take clear majorities, a vote for Monmouthshire County Council saw came down to the narrowest of margins.

And the vote for Llanfoist Fawr and Govilon was decided on the toss of a coin, as seen in footage filmed by South Wales Argus reporter Dan Barnes.

Incredibly rare, the coin toss is only used when two candidates receive exactly the same number of votes, which is exactly what happened for Labour's Bryony Nicholson and the Conservative's Tomos Davies, who both received 679 votes.

Sadly for Ms Nicholson, though, she guessed the wrong way and Mr Davies was elected to the council.

Speaking about the strange result, Ms Nicholson told the South Wales Argus: "What can I say?

South Wales Argus

"People who told me, 'I can't make a difference' - if you had voted it wouldn't have gone to a coin toss.

"Just one person who couldn't be bothered."

It wasn't all bad news for Labour, though.

But while they didn't reach their goal in Monmouthshire, Labour did manage to take control of a key London area for the first time in history.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced backlash from local Tory leaders as their party suffered setbacks across England in the council elections – including a number of major London authorities. 

Labour celebrated a historic win in Westminster City, gaining control for the first time since the party's creation in 1964.

Adam Hug, the new Labour leader of Westminster City Council, vowed to help as many people as possible.

Alamy

Speaking at the Westminster City Council count, Hug told the Press Association: "We are delighted that people in Westminster put their trust in us. It’s a huge privilege.

"We are going to work really hard to put their interests first over the next four years. 

"We have got a lot of big challenges ahead, we are going to get to work and we are going to help as many people as we can."

This came just hours after the Tories lost its ‘crown jewel’ of Wandsworth, which hasn’t been held by Labour since 1978, with Labour having also won back Barnet overnight. 

In the wake of the Labour wins, many Tory councillors have expressed their frustration with their party's leadership.

John Mallinson, leader of Carlisle City Council hit out after Labour took control of the new Cumberland authority, which will replace it. 

He told the BBC: "I think it is not just partygate, there is the integrity issue.

"Basically I just don’t feel people any longer have the confidence that the prime minister can be relied upon to tell the truth."