A new Lib Dem councillor elected… without a polling day

News from Eden District Council:

Penrith North welcomed a new Town Councillor this month, following an uncontested by-election.

During the nominations period, which closed on Friday 21 October, one valid nomination paper was submitted, by Gwyn Clark, Liberal Democrats. Therefore Cllr Clark was duly elected as Parish Councillor for Penrith North Ward without contest. Polling day on Thursday 17 November 2022 will therefore not go ahead.

A good reminder of one of the benefits that can come from increasing the number of council candidates the Liberal Democrats stand.

UPDATE:

Congratulations to Geoff Harris, also elected without contest for Whalesmead ward of Bishopstoke Parish Council in Eastleigh. That counts as a Lib Dem gains from independents.

And also:

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: