Lib Dems gain by-election seat off Conservatives with 23% swing

Only one principal authority council by-election this week, in East Yorkshire. The East Riding Council has already seen not one but two Lib Dem by-election gains in recent months, as well as a Conservative councillor joining the Liberal Democrats.

And now…

Diana Stewart is the new Liberal Democrat councillor, thanks to the Lib Dem vote share more than doubling from 23% last time to 59% – congratulations!

It was great to see how much help there was for the campaign from Liberal Democrats in other local parties:

For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see my council by-elections scorecard here.

These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections as it’s only those for which comprehensive results are available.

Understanding the opinion polls

For understanding what is happening in politics, by-elections have the advantage of being real votes in real ballot boxes. But the opinion polls have the advantage of trying to be a representative sample of voters, not just those in the places that happen to have by-elections. To understand the polls properly – and what they do and don’t really tell us – see my book, Polling UnPacked: The History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls.

Get by-election results by email

If you sign up for my daily email with the latest pieces from this site, you’ll also get included as a little bonus the full set of council by-election results each week: