Gains for Lib Dems in this week’s by-elections
Five principle authority council by-elections this week, with a full slate of Liberal Democrat candidates.
Before we get to the results, congratulations to two Liberal Democrat councillors:
Now to the results, and starting with a great gain by Richard Morris in Mole Valley constituency:
Two other seats fell to the Liberal Democrats in by-elections this week too, both in Beaconsfield and in an area that will move into Sarah Green’s Chesham & Amersham constituency under boundary changes. See details in the parish and town council section below.
But there was also:
Commiserations to Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett on that wafer thin loss.
Elsewhere:
Congratulations to David Kent on such a huge swing, taking the Lib Dems up into second place – and such a close second place too.
Thank you to Nick Ramsay for being the Lib Dem candidate.
Thank you to Brian Howe for being the Lib Dem candidate.
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. But this week, these by-elections at the town/parish/community council level did catch my eye, especially as I’d been out canvassing in Beaconsfield earlier in the week for our candidates Christine Adali and Susanne Hardvendel:
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:
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really pleased that at last we get a full slate of candidates.. if we claim to be a national party that should always be the case, unless we have an oppositon agrement in place in order to oust the Tory.
We are a party of principLE, but principLE alone doesn’t necessarily get you elected.. however, these are all principAL councils
Great result from my home town of Beaconsfield. My grandfather and great grandfather were stalwarts of the Beaconsfield Liberals from the time of Gladstone and would have cheered the result in 1906 when the seat went Liberal.