Lib Dems hold seat in Harrogate by-election

Two principal authority council by-elections this week, both Lib Dem defences and both tricky in their own way.

The contest in Harrogate, caused by the previous councillor having to be suspended by the party, saw a comfortable Liberal Democrat hold:

Congratulations to new councillor Andrew Timothy and the team.

In Scotland, a Liberal Democrat seat was also up. But this was one of the seats in a multi-member ward elected by STV, with the vacancy now filled by an alternative vote ballot for just the one post. As the Lib Dems had won one seat out of four in the ward under STV while finishing fourth on first preferences, holding that seat was always going to be tough.

The Lib Dem team did though pull off an impressive result in those circumstances:

So congratulations and commiserations to Jonathan Chartier and the team.

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, this by-election at the town/parish/community council level did catch my eye:

Well done to Ulysses Preston and the team in Eirias ward, Colwyn Bay, who went from no candidate last time to 40% of the vote this time, missing out be 196 votes to 296 for the Conservative.

What do the polls say?

The results above may tell us what voters are deciding on ballot papers, but not everywhere voted. So what’s the overall picture in the polls? Find out each week with my newsletter, The Week in Polls.

What’s happening in the Lib Dems?

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