There were three principal council by-elections this week, and all three had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot.
Tuesday saw the poll for a new councillor in Fishguard North East ward on Pembrokeshire County Council. This had a big increase in candidate numbers, after the straight Labour-Conservative contest last time. Caleb Churchill and the team achieved a good second place here, as Plaid Cymru gained the seat. A great effort, and a solid base from which to win next time.
Pembrokeshire County Council, Fishguard North East
Plaid Cymru: 253 (33.8%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Caleb Churchill): 135 (18.0%, new)
Reform UK: 95 (12.7%, new)
Labour: 83 (11.1%, -47.9)
Independent (Tannahill): 79 (10.5%, new)
Conservative: 69 (9.2%, -31.9)
Independent (Tyrrell): 35 (4.7%, new)
Plaid Cymru GAIN from Labour
Turnout: 48%
Thursday saw another Labour loss, as Reform UK made a gain in Peterborough. Thanks to Neil Walton for flying the Liberal Democrat flag and for using the opportunity to test out some new ideas.
Peterborough City Council, Fletton and Woodston
Reform UK: 565 (29.4%, new)
Green Party: 529 (27.6%, +16.2)
Conservative: 419 (21.8%, –11.8)
Labour: 323 (16.8%, –31.2)
Liberal Democrats (Neil Walton): 84 (4.4%, –0.7)
Reform UK GAIN from Labour
Turnout: 25.22%
Finally, there was a Conservative hold in Bradford. Thanks go to Kay Kirkham for standing.
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Worth Valley
Conservative: 1,815 (51.7%, –4.7)
Reform UK: 917 (26.1%, new)
Labour: 425 (12.1%, –19.6)
Green Party: 245 (7.0%, –0.9)
Liberal Democrats (Kay Kirkham): 83 (2.4%, –1.6)
Independent: 29 (0.8%, new)
Conservative HOLD
Turnout: 32.2%
Thank you to all of our candidates, agents, and campaign teams. A full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.
* Chris Ward is the Campaigns and Communications Intern for ALDC
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4 Comments
Surprised that the Conservatives managed to do so well in Worth Valley, losing just under 5% while taking over half the vote. Any local circumstance to explain this?
I left Bradford two years ago but I know that the Conservative group leader is a councillor in the ward. She will have no truck with Reform and will have pulled in the troops from outside as well as working hard herself.
To add to Geoff Reid’s comment.
The by-election in Worth Valley has cost the local taxpayer a small fortune and was entirely unnecessary, as all the Bradford seats are up in May. The Tories campaigned relentlessly on this and we all know how Tory/Reform voters dislike “waste” at the town hall.
Robbie Moore is amongst the best campaigning MPs on the Tory benches. He is more akin to a Lib Dem in that respect – young, good looking, energetic, likeable. The result in Keighley & Ilkley – traditionally something of a bellwether, albeit Labour-leaning – was probably the Tories’ best result at the general election. The only comparisons are seats in Harrow, Brent and Leicester where there is a large Hindu vote.
Yes, but it’s fair to say that Robbie Moore retained his seat in Keighley in 2024 in large part because a Gaza Independent pulled away a chunk of the former Labour vote, and a Green candidate took off another 5%. Just as we need to remember that some of our gains were helped by Reform siphoning votes off the Tories…