After a post-Local Election lull, we are back on the campaign trail and our weekly insight into all things by-election are back on the agenda.

This week’s by-elections present a very mixed picture. We stood a candidate in all four principal elections, which is a great accolade to the Lib Dem ethos of standing candidates universally, but on the night, there were no victories to speak off. Nevertheless, good campaigns were fought, and progress was made across the board.

Over at Leamington Clarendon in Warwick, we returned our best result of a lacklustre evening. A commendable second-place finish, with an impressive 11.5% vote share increase, on a congested ticket is a fantastic return for Justine Ragany and the local team.

Labour: 1064 [49.0%, +6.5%]
Liberal Democrat (Justine Ragany): 612 [28.2%, +11.5%]
Conservative: 365 [16.8%, -6.8%]
Green: 95 [4.8%, – -8.5%]
UKIP: 24 [1.1%, – from nowhere]

Labour HOLD

A straight shootout between the Lib Dem and the Tories on Rother DC had a whiff of the blue wall being smashed again by the Liberal Democrats. Unfortunately, the Conservatives held the seat on this occasion but a valiant effort from Martin Griffiths and the team nonetheless. I’m sure the team will be motivated to give it another go next time around. A huge thank you to everyone who helped on the campaign trail.

Conservative: 424 [61.4%, +21.5%]
Liberal Democrats (Martin Griffiths): 343 [38.6%, +30.8%]

Conservative HOLD

Elsewhere then, we also stood in Franche & Habberley ward on Wyre Forest DC and Copt Hill on Sunderland City Council, where the local constituents were duly given a Liberal Democrat to vote for by Oliver Walker and Mary Boddy respectively.

* Paul Heilbron is a Campaigns and Communications Intern at ALDC