Only one Lib Dem candidate in the four council by-elections this week

Four council by-elections this week with, unusually, the same party defending all four seats: Labour.

Denton Holme, Cumbria County Council and Carlisle Council

A double vacancy, both without a Liberal Democrat candidate, although there is a little consolation that neither seat has a Lib Dem candidate last time it was fought either.

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, Fife

Council by-elections in Scotland are always a slightly different beast as the usual elections are done by STV in multi-member wards, with the by-elections using AV (as there is only the one vacancy to fill in a by-election). Callum Hawthorne was the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Ashton Waterloo, Tameside

Another Lib Dem no-show, making it a decade now since the past last contested the seat. Worth noting that the cessation of Lib Dem candidates here started with the May 2010 general election, i.e. before the 2015-15 coalition. It’s an important point to remember that the decline in the party’s local government base started pre-2010 – as that indicates just how fundamental the changes are the party needs to undergo in order to properly rebuild it. The problems were much deeper than simply being in coalition in Westminster for five years.

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.