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A candidate in Britain's local elections has literally drawn the short straw when voting officials resorted to the traditional sudden-death method of breaking a deadlock.
After recounts failed to result in a winner in a northern English council, the returning officer grasped a long and a short straw in his hand, with equal lengths visible, and asked the two candidates to choose one.
The unlucky short straw was drawn by Daniel Carr of the national ruling Conservative Party, signifying the party's defeat.
Winner Lesley Rickerby of the opposition Liberal Democrats jumped up and down with joy exclaiming "I did it!"
But Ms Rickerby also described her defeat of Mr Carr as "very traumatic".
"It's unbelievable that, when you consider we have a democratic service, that we end up having to draw straws," she was quoted by the BBC as saying.
"I certainly would have preferred it to be a majority, but the way our system works, after a couple of recounts, we had no choice."
Under British electoral law, the official responsible for overseeing elections is allowed to choose any random method to decide the winner if the result after recounts is a dead heat.
The Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees elections, calls it "drawing lots".
Other possible methods include choosing names out of a hat or randomly selecting names from sealed envelopes.
The Conservative party won 33 seats on the council, Labour won 24, the Lib Dems three and independents seven.
The result means the Conservatives have lost the chance to gain control of Northumberland county council, leaving the county council with no party in overall control.
Elsewhere in Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives made strong gains, strengthening her already good prospects of a big win in parliamentary elections next month.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, offbeat, united-kingdom