The Conservatives fought back after the disappointment of defeat in the Sutton by-election by winning the Soham South seat on Thursday night.
Magistrate Hamish Ross was given the nod by the electorate after polling more than a third of the vote – some 363 of the 1054 votes cast.
Mr Ross comfortably beat UKIP candidate Daniel Divine into second place, with the county councillor for Littleport scooping 201 votes.
But turnout for the election was a woefully low 20.5 per cent, far less than the 33 per cent turnout in Sutton. There were four spoiled ballot papers.
Liberal Democrat and Soham Town councillor Charles Warner was third, some 10 votes behind UKIP, with 191, with independent candidate Geoffrey Woollard taking 148 votes.
Former pub landlord and independent candidate Gerard Hobbs polled 80 votes to come fifth and Labour’s Fiona Ross polled 71 votes.
The East Cambridgeshire District Council by-election was triggered following the death of independent candidate John Palmer, back in April.
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