Political

Lib Dems gain another council seat from Conservatives with huge swing

Following an unusual Tuesday council by-election (a big Lib Dem win, woop), Thursday brought another five council by-elections, along with a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) by-election.

Across all these contests there was a full slate of Liberal Democrat candidates – excellent news for the party’s continued rebuilding.

You can help that rebuilding stretch further into some of our weakest areas with my special appeal in conjunction with ALDC.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

Triggered by Vera Baird’s appointment as Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, this contest saw Jonathan Wallace stand for the Liberal Democrats.

Turnout is low:

Final round result:

Downs North, Ashford

Adrian Gee-Turner was the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Llanbadarn Fawr Sulien, Ceredigion

Michael Chappell stood for the Liberal Democrats and scored a good vote increase:

Brixworth, Daventry

Jonathan Harris and Liberal Democrats in Daventry
Jonathan Harris was the Liberal Democrat candidate. And wow, what a result:

Westbury North, Wiltshire

Carole King was the Liberal Democrat hoping to hold this Lib Dem seat in a by-election caused by the resignation of Cllr David Jenkins. And she did:

East Sheen, Richmond upon Thames

The death of Mona Adams triggered this by-election for a Lib Dem held seat, fought by Julia Cambridge:

As Lewis Baston writes:

East Sheen is part of the Richmond Park parliamentary constituency, often the scene of a battle royal between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. A Lib Dem council seat win on this scale is worrying for the incumbent Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, who lost the seat in a famous 2016 by-election and regained it in the 2017 general election by a margin of only 45 votes. In the next general election he will face a third contest against Lib Dem Sarah Olney, who defeated him in 2016.

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.

One response to “Lib Dems gain another council seat from Conservatives with huge swing”

  1. Downs North, would that be next to/near to Brighton? Perhaps that is one place where we should have shown goodwill and stepped back in favour of the Greens. – As clear an example as any of where FPTP enabled an unjustified Tory win.
    East Sheen and Westbury North are both real wins with over 50% of the vote.. How many Councillors or MPs have 50% +.?

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