Lib Dems score another Shropshire by-election win with huge swing from Conservatives

Six by-elections this week, two Parliamentary and four principal authority local by-elections.

But before we get to the Parliamentary contests, yet another Lib Dem win with a huge swing from the Conservatives in Shropshire:

Many congratulations to new councillor Colin Taylor and the team.

On winning, he said:

People are fed up of incompetent Conservative leadership at Shropshire Council. As well as this, the chaos and shift to the extreme at a national level is turning people off the Tories in traditional areas like Alveley and Claverley – they are looking for an alternative.

I’ve lived in Alveley for 48 years, and served this area on the parish and district before. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in again and giving my home division the decent representation it deserves.

It seems to me that bit by bit, Shropshire’s blue remembered hills are turning a liberal gold.

On the Parliamentary front:

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said of the result:

We nearly doubled our share of the vote which would see the Lib Dems win dozens of seats off the Conservatives in a general election.

The Liberal Democrats played a crucial role in defeating the Conservatives in Mid Bedfordshire, and we can play a crucial role in getting rid of this Conservative government at the next election.

I’m so proud of Emma Holland-Lindsay and her campaign which convinced thousands of lifelong Conservative voters in the villages of Mid Bedfordshire to switch to the Liberal Democrats.

And back to the council by-elections:

Sarah Murray was the Liberal Democrat candidate – thank you.

Thank you to Paul Jagger for being the Lib Dem candidate.

Commiserations to Paul Kennedy on just missing out winning despite that great swing.

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.

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