Oxford West & Abingdon Lib Dems are celebrating their third local by-election victory in a row since the General Election.
Helen Pighills held Northcourt Ward on Abingdon Town Council with an increased majority over the Conservatives.
This means that the Lib Dems retain all 21 seats on the Council.
Helen Pighills said:
I look forward to joining the hard-working and effective team of Lib Dems who are doing such a good job running Abingdon Town Council.
Constituency Organiser Neil Fawcett said:
After the disapointment of the General Election the local team have picked themselves up and worked very hard in the three local by-elections we have faced since May. Congratulations to Helen and our hard-working team.
The result:
LD Helen Pighills: 494 (55.3%) [May 2007: 768 (52.4%)]
Conservative: 294 (32.9%) [May 2007: 532 (36.3%)]
Labour: 105 (11.8%) [May 2007: 167 (11.4%)]
This represents a 3.1% swing from Con to Lib Dem.
Overall turnout was 24% and the turnout of Postal Voters was 71%
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14 Comments
Well… will it ever make up for the general election result in Oxford West?
Don’t you think it’s pathetic that most of the LD by-election victories you celebrate are on fairly powerless, unimportant authorities?
So Joe, as a Labour member you think parish and town councils are unimportant authorities?
@Joe I can imagine that the improvements the Lib Dem run Town Council has made to Abingdon over the last few years are not very important to you, but they have had a material effect on the quality of life of people in the town. Personally it doesn’t bother me whether that makes them ‘powerful’ or ‘important’ or not, but it does bring me a warm sense of satisfaction that their efforts have been recognised by the people they serve.
It’s a bit desperate to be giving such prominence to a town council by-election win.
@SmallState
We have always given such prominence. There is nothing desperate in LDV demonstrating an appreciation for hard work and contributions at all levels.
@Henry
Indeed. Local volunteers worked very hard for four weeks to secure this win, and haven’t stopped since the General as this was the third of three by-elections since May. They are chuffed to have been featured so prominently on LDV.
For what it’s worth, we also won in Earl’s Court ward in Kensington and Chelsea last night on a huge swing.
I guess there are people in OXWAB who are happy to vote Lib Dem, but not for Evan Harris.
@Sesensco There are. There are also people who voted for Evan but who wouldn’t vote for us in local elections. And there appear to be quite a few who liked having Evan as their MP but voted Conservative to ‘get Gordon Brown out’ (regardless of the logic!). And there were a whole host of other factors that caused different groups of voters to turn out at different levels.
Liberal Neil,
Evan Harris has an enthusiastic fan club in the party on account of his uncompromising views about science and medical controversies. Conversely, a lot of people out there dislike him for the very same reason. Having witnessed Dr Harris on “Newsnight” treat people who disagree with him in a patronising and contemptuous manner, I am not surprised that he generates a bit of an anti-vote. Which goes to show that in politics one avoids alienating people unnecessarily (unless you’re an anonymous bystander like me, of course).
@Liberal Neil It’s not to say they don’t play a role, but their powers are extremely limited. It is just desperate that LDs are celebrating wins on what are minor authorities so much!
@Liberal Neil In my area, most parish council elections go unopposed. They’re not that significant when compared to a district or country.
The Liberal Democrats on the Abingdon Town Council have done a lot to improve life in Abingdon for the people that live there.
Evan Harris was a fantastic MP and was brave, bold and sensible in challenging kneejerk responses to scientific investigation, in my opinion parliament is poorer for not having him there.
Well done to the Liberal Democrats in Abingdon