Rare Lib Dem council by-election loss to the Conservatives
Seven council by-elections this week, one of which is a Liberal Democrat defence but even with that there are only four Lib Dem candidates.
Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil
No Liberal Democrat candidate, continuing a pattern in this ward stretching all the way back to its creation in the early 1980s. I wonder how far up the tables that makes it in the list of longest runs without a Lib Dem / Alliance / Liberal Party candidate?
Gurnos (Merthyr Tydfil) result:
IND (Davies): 40.8% (+40.8)
LAB: 40.0% (+18.0)
IND (Singh): 15.7% (+15.7)
CON: 3.5% (+3.5)Independent GAIN from Labour.
No other Ind(s) (-70.8) as prev.
Turnout: 27%
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 27, 2018
Fawley, Blackfield and Langley, New Forest
Craig Fletcher was the Liberal Democrat candidate in a ward the party won in 2003 but lost in the three intervening elections since.
Fawley, Blackfield & Langley (New Forest) result:
CON: 58.4% (+15.8)
LDEM: 41.6% (+27.4)No UKIP (-30.7) and Lab (-12.4) as prev.
Conservative HOLD.
Turnout: 26.5%
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Freshney, North East Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire was for nearly a decade (2003-11) run by a joint Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration, and during that time the Lib Dems won elections in this ward. But the last Lib Dem candidate was in 2014 and the run of no-shows didn’t change with this by-election.
Freshney (North East Lincolnshire) result:
LAB: 41.3% (-0.5)
CON: 38.8% (+12.3)
IND: 13.8% (+13.8)
UKIP: 4.7% (-23.0)
GRN: 1.4% (-1.7)Labour HOLD.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Stoke, Plymouth
Connor Clarke was the Liberal Democrat candidate.
Stoke (Plymouth) result:
LAB: 52.8% (+16.7)
CON: 36.3% (+2.6)
LDEM: 6.4% (+1.8)
AFP: 4.5% (+4.5)Labour HOLD.
No UKIP (-14.6), Grn (-10.0) and TUSC (-1.0) as prev (2015).
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Birchington South, Thanet
Hannah Lloyd-Bowyer was the Liberal Democrat candidate in a ward the party fought for the first time last time out.
Conservative GAIN Birchington South (Thanet) from UKIP.
UKIP didn't stand a candidate.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Birchington South (Thanet) result:
CON: 63.0% (+40.4)
LAB: 25.7% (+14.9)
LDEM: 11.3% (+6.8)Con GAIN from UKIP.
No UKIP (-27.9) and Ind(s) (-34.2) as prev.
Turnout: 19.9%
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Hartland and Bradworthy, Torridge
The Liberal Democrat defence this week, featuring Martin Hill trying to hold the seat the party gained in a by-election as recently as June last year in a contest held on general election day itself. Not successfully, unfortunately:
Conservative GAIN Hartland & Bradworthy (Torridge) from Liberal Democrat.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Hartland & Bradworthy (Torridge) result:
CON: 58.5% (+58.5)
LDEM: 29.3% (-28.2)
GRN: 12.2% (-30.3)Con GAIN from LDem.
Turnout: 28.0%
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
Knowsley, West Lancashire
As with the by-election for this council last week, no Liberal Democrat candidate here either. That makes it now fourteen contests since the ward was created all without a Lib Dem.
Knowsley (West Lancashire) result:
LAB: 41.3% (-9.6)
OWL: 35.2% (+19.9)
CON: 23.5% (-10.3)Labour HOLD.
Turnout: 34.5%
OWL: Our West Lancashire.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 26, 2018
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.
I’m afraid Cable and Farron not turning up for a Brexit vote last week might have done a lot of damage at least in the short term. There is a lot of unhappiness about it on Lib Dem pages. The fact that they were played by the Labour party and their appearance would have made not difference to the result doesn’t seem to matter. They are back to be being ‘traitors’ and ‘useless’ again. Let’s hope that soon passes.