Newcastle: Labour lose seat to Lib Dems; Conservatives 4th

The Liberal Democrats have taken a seat off Labour in a by-election in Newcastle, Lemington ward.

The result was:

• Lib Dem: 1180 (47%)
• Labour: 815 (32%)
• BNP: 383 (15%)
• Cons: 147 (6%)

The Labour councillor whose death resulted in the by-election had been elected in 2004, when the result was:

• Labour: 1,595, 1,526, 1,421 (53%)
• Lib Dem: 661, 656, 639 (22%)
• Cons: 429, 420, 384 (14%)
• National Front: 350 (12%)

Swing to the Lib Dems from Labour since 2004: 23%
Swing to the Lib Dems from the Tories since 2004: 17%

(Note: the ward has been fought once since 2004, but that was a straight Labour – Lib Dem contest, which the Lib Dems won. So the best vote comparison is with 2004 when there was a full set of candidates.)