Lib Dems gain seat from Greens in by-election

Four principal authority council by-elections this week with a “full slate” of Lib Dem candidates. (The quote marks reflecting that one contest doesn’t have a Lib Dem, but it’s for the City of London Corporation.) The three Lib Dem candidates is two up on the last time these seats were up.

First up, what may be only the second Lib Dem by-election gain from the Greens:

Congratulations to new councillor Dan Sladden and his team, and all the more so as we didn’t even stand last time around.

Next, a Green hold:

Thank you to Farrell Monk for being the Lib Dem candidate.

Roger Vila was the Liberal Democrat candidate here after no candidate on all four previous occasions this ward was up. Thank you Roger! (Here’s why that’s such a useful thing to do.)

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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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: