The public inquiry, which began on Monday, looked into why 742 postal vote envelopes were counted before election night, of which 26 were rejected, leaving 716, but only 715 were accounted for after the official count.

The petition was rejected by electoral commissioner Richard Mawrey, who said it had led to cumulative costs of six figures for both parties.

He said the “missing” vote could be explained by mistakes in the recording of information on the records.

“They seem to be no more than the result of the miscasting of figures which were themselves correct or the misrecording of a rejected postal voting statement which has been discovered and rectified.

“It seems to me that we have eliminated the discrepancies.

“If the discrepancies are eliminated, there is nothing from which a court could draw the inference that a vote might have gone astray.

You can read the full report here.

A PUBLIC inquiry has opened into whether a Stoke-on-Trent City Council election was held according to the law…

In October, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey counted the ballot papers behind closed doors and ruled a public hearing would have to take place in Stoke-on-Trent. The two-day inquiry began at Hanley Town Hall yesterday.

Ms Maley, of Eaton Street, Northwood, lost out to Liberal Democrat candidate Dave Sutton after several recounts – by just one vote…

It has previously been discovered that 742 postal vote envelopes were counted before election night, of which 26 were rejected, leaving 716. But only 715 were accounted for after the official count.

The one missing slip could have given Mrs Maley a tie, if it was in her favour.

You can read the full report here, but of potentially the greatest significance for other elections is the question of the accuracy of machines used to process postal ballots:

The hearing also heard that a machine which verified postal vote ballot papers only had a record of 712.

A range of different possible explanations for the difference between this figure of 712 and the totals of 715 or 716 has been offered. However, if the question of the machines’ accuracy stays disputed then this case might result in councils having to tighten up their procedures for checking that machinery is counting accurately.

Golders Green Tory Christopher Harris has been travelling Down Under since July on an “extended holiday” but has still managed to hang on to his job.

Despite being 10,000 miles away in a country with a 10-hour time difference, Cllr Harris is still claiming more than £800 a month in a council allowance to serve residents.

And then via Pits’n’Pots:

Mike Barnes’s future as Labour Group Leader [in Stoke-on-Trent] hangs in the balance as the party’s National Executive have placed him under ‘administrative suspension’ with immediate effect.

Yesterday, Mike Barnes admitted to impersonating someone from this website to try and find information about a rumoured news story in Cheshire West and Chester council.

A BBC investigation has concluded that Barnes told a member of the communications department at Cheshire West and Chester council that he was representing a news website in Stoke-on-Trent. He also admitted that he used a false name.

Barnes denies claiming that he was from BBC Radio Stoke but admitted to me yesterday that he had claimed to represent Pits’n’Pots and in doing so he used a false name.

The police will not be charging former Stoke Mayor, Mark Meredith, and two other men with corruption after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to make a case.

Mr Meredith, who no longer holds a role at the council following a change in its political system, had been arrested along with former portfolio holder for childrens services, Roger Ibbs and local business man Mo Chaudry.

After consulting lawyers, the council’s external legal advisors approached Staffordshire Police in November last year to investigate a number of allegations which specifically concerned the proposed closure of the council-run Splash Pool facility at Dimensions Leisure Centre, Burslem…

A council statement reads: ‘Given the seriousness of the issues raised by the internal inquiry into the proposed closure of Dimensions, the council believes it acted correctly in seeking external legal advice.

‘We are now considering whether any issues surrounding these inquiries need to be referred to the council’s standards committee.’

The Sentinel reports:

The 43-year-old has stepped down from all his major political roles as he fights to clear his name over what he calls “unfounded and politically motivated” allegations against him.

But he is still working on key housing, sport and leisure policies for Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr Meredith had been questioned by police on Friday after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and complicity in corruption in public office.

Mark Meredith’s resignation follows the arrest earlier this month of Roger Ibbs, the leader of the Conservative and Independent Alliance, on suspicion of corruption.