Political

87.5% good news for Lib Dems in this week’s council by-elections

Another busy week of by-elections with a Lib Dem defence, a Ukip defence, two Labour defences and four Conservative defences adding up to eight contests in total. Not quite a full slate of Liberal Democrat candidates, with seven standing leaving just the one ward uncontested by Vince Cable’s party. Not quite 100% good news then.

10/12 last week, 7/8 this time is the sort of pattern we need to be seeing more regularly – and at least that missing Lib Dem candidate isn’t in the Lib Dem held ward up for election, unlike Ukip who didn’t even stand in the one ward that party was defending.

First in, that Ukip defeat in a ward the Lib Dems used to win seats in up to and including 2010:

Next up, a ward in Salford which also used to be an area of Lib Dem strength, though in this case the defeats start in 2010 itself with Labour winning that year’s contest:

Then it’s over to Hertsmere with Labour adding another gain to their recent run although the vote share story is about Lib Dem progress. This was the first time the party has contested the ward since 2006:

As for the ward with no Lib Dem candidate:

Over in Warwick, a Lib Dem candidate this time round hooray:

In South Buckinghamshire:

A Lib Dem near-miss in the Midlands, almost returning to the party previous winning ways in the ward and especially notable as one of its other councillors is the Conservative council leader:

The final result? That Lib Dem held ward – and a Lib Dem win with a big increase in the majority. Congratulations to Deborah Dowson and the team:

These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections. See my post The danger in celebrating parish and town council wins for your own party for the reasons to avoid straying too often into covering town, parish or community council by-elections.

2 responses to “87.5% good news for Lib Dems in this week’s council by-elections”

    • That’s right (and hooray!) – didn’t get a chance to update with the final result until a bit later in the day.

      Reply

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