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FORMER Tory council leader Anna Waite is making a comeback after winning a hotly contested seat in a Labour stronghold.
Mrs Waite was kicked out as Tory councillor for Prittlewell last May.
Now she has ousted former Labour group leader Kevin Robinson to take the St Luke's seat for the Conservatives with an 17-vote majority.
Party activists cheered as the vote was declared.
Mrs Waite refused to be drawn on whether she had aspirations to return as council leader following the defeat of Murray Foster. She added: "I have been elected as a ward councillor. "I am here to represent the people who elected me."
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