There were two principal council by-elections this week, both of which had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot.

Northumberland Council, Cramlington South West

The Conservatives have gained the seat of Cramlington South West from Reform UK, who only won it themselves in last year’s local elections. But the incumbent councillor had to step down owing to illness. The seat was newly created in 2025. Generally, the Conservatives tend to do quite well in Cramlington, though in this specific seat they finished third behind Reform and Labour last year, while the Liberal Democrats did not put forward a candidate.

This result, alongside Reform’s loss in Kent last week and their reduced majority in the second of this week’s by-elections, may point to a possible “retention problem” for the party. While they finish top of the leaderboard both in terms of gains in by-elections and overall by-election wins since the 2025 locals, they finish third on seats successfully defended, only being able to hold onto less than half at 47%. For context, the Liberal Democrat retention rate over the same period is 80%. It could point to a problem that voters generally seem less enthusiastic about letting Reform back in again once they’ve tried them.

A huge thanks to Nick Cott for ensuring there was a Liberal Democrat option on the ballot paper this time.

Conservatives: 278 – 34.2% (+9.0)

Reform UK: 212 – 26.0% (-13.6)

Labour: 187 – 23.0% (-5.8

Green: 116 – 14.3% (New)

Independent: 13 – 1.6% (New)

Liberal Democrat: 7 – 0.9% (New)

Conservative GAIN from Reform UK

Turnout: 26.88%

Leicestershire County Council, Narborough & Whetstone

In south-west Leicestershire, Reform UK successfully defended the Narborough & Whetstone seat despite a strong challenge from both the Conservatives and the Greens. The by-election was triggered due to the incumbent councillor stepping back owing to illness. The gap between Reform and the Conservatives, which stood at 17.3 percentage points in last year’s local elections, was reduced to just 3.4 points. This shift highlights again, as seen in the other result this week, a possible retention problem Reform may be facing. They would likely have hoped for a more solid result in a county where they became the largest party only last year.

Narborough & Whetstone is not a seat where the Liberal Democrats typically perform well, usually finishing near the bottom of the pack in a county that was historically a Conservative stronghold until 2025. A big thanks to Ande Savage, last year’s candidate, for running again and ensuring there was a Liberal Democrat choice on the ballot paper.
 
Reform UK: 1,033 – 32.9% (-9.4)

Conservatives: 927 – 29.5% (+5.0)

Green Party: 884 – 28.2% (+13.4)

Liberal Democrats: 134 – 4.3% (-3.6)

Labour: 124 – 4.0% (-4.8 )

Advance UK: 28 – 0.9% (new)

Reform HOLD

Turnout: 29.55%

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.

* Joe Nutt is a Campaigns and Communications Officer for ALDC