Lib Dems win what was one of the safest Conservative seats in Shropshire

A doubly unusual contest to kick off this week’s principal authority council by-elections: a Wednesday contest, and one that produced a Conservative gain from the Greens:

The last time there was a Liberal Democrat candidate in this ward was in 2007.

Six more contests were held on Thursday. One with for the City of London but the other five all had Liberal Democrat candidates, which is one up on when the wards were last up.

First up, we have a Liberal Democrat gain from the Conservatives, winning what was one of their safest seats in Shropshire for the first time ever:

Congratulations to new councillor Andrew Sherrington and the team.

As the BBC reported:

It is the first time the Worfield ward has not been represented by a Conservative and the first time there have been fewer than 40 Conservatives on Shropshire Council.

While Andrew Sherrington won by only eight votes, it amounted to a swing of more than 30% to his party.

Thank you to Aidan Jenkins for getting the Lib Dems on the ballot paper for the first time in the four times this ward has been up.

Thank you to Euan Stewart for being the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Andrew Wemyss was the Liberal Democrat candidate – thank you.

Thank you to Victor Morgan for being the Liberal Democrat 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:

In addition, the Warrington Guardian reports:

It was a good night for the Liberal Democrats on Thursday – winning two by-elections for spots on Appleton Parish Council.

Helen Speed and Laura Booth will now take up seats until the all out elections in May.

The thumping win in the Cobbs and Hillcliffe ward over the Conservatives will be a major boost.

Plus from an unusual Monday polling day:

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.

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