There were 12 principal council by-elections this week (2 on Tuesday and 10 on Thursday) and it has been another very successful week for Lib Dem candidates. We registered yet another gain (this time from the Conservatives) as well as several holds and some very impressive second places.

For the second week in a row the results were tumultuous with many seats changing hands. But the 4 Lib Dem victories put us joint first with the Conservatives overall.

Our gain came on Perth and Kinross Council in Strathallan ward where Councillor Alan Watt took the Lib Dems from third place last time to gaining from the Conservatives on the fifth round of counting. Congratulations to Alan and the team in Perth on a great gain.

Perth and Kinross, Strathallan (first preference results, Lib Dems elected at stage 5)
Conservative: 1045 (32.1%, -14.5%)
Liberal Democrats (Alan Watt): 978 (30%, +18.6%)
SNP: 568 (17.4%, -17.6%)
Labour: 366 (11.2%, new)
Reform UK: 194 (6%, new)
Green Party: 107 (3.3%, -3.7%)

There was another by-election on Perth and Kinross council, this time in Perth City North ward. Thank you to Tina Ng-A-Mann for standing here for us and increasing the Lib Dem vote share. The SNP gained the seat from Labour.

Perth and Kinross, Perth City North (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 6)
SNP: 917 (44.7%, -10.5%)
Labour: 313 (15.3%, -0.1%)
Conservative: 296 (14.4%, -5.1%)
Reform: 209 (10.2%, new)
ALBA: 133 (6.5%, +4.3)
Liberal Democrats (Tina Ng-A-Mann): 95 (4.6%, +0.4)
Green Party: 87 (4.2%, +0.8)

There were two by-elections on Luton BC on Thursday, in Wigmore and Barnfield ward. Both were Lib Dem defences, and we successfully held both seats.

Congratulations to Councillor Andrees Latif in Wigmore ward for holding the seat with over 50% of the vote, and to Councillor Anwar Malik in Barnfield ward for winning with 63.5% of the vote (an 11% increase on last time) and a majority of over 800! Well done to Andrees, Anwar and Luton Lib Dems on a great week of result.

Luton BC, Wigmore
Liberal Democrats (Andrees Latif): 749 (54.6%, -28.2%)
Independent: 209 (15.2%, new)
Conservatives: 151 (11%, new)
Labour: 137 (10%, -7.1%)
Green Party: 125 (9.1%, new)

Luton BC, Barnfield
Liberal Democrats (Anwar Malik): 1,169 (63.5%, +11.4%)
Labour: 321 (17.4%, -18.8%)
Conservative: 209 (11.4%, -0.3%)
Green Party: 110 (6%, new)
Independent: 32 (1.7%, new)

We had yet another win in Scotland on Thursday, this time on Highland Council in Cromarty Firth ward. There was a double vacancy in the ward following the resignation of a Liberal Democrat and an Independent councillor. Congratulation to Councillor John Edmondson on topping the first preference votes and retaining the Lib Dem seat.

Highland Council, Cromarty Firth (first preference votes, Lib Dem and Independent elected)
Liberal Democrat (John Edmondson): 481 (20.3%, -7.6%)
SNP: 403  (17%, -12.1%)
Independent: 326  (13.7%, new)
Independent: 323  (13.6%, new)
Independent: 285  (12.0%, new)
Independent: 162  (6.8%, new)
Independent: 97  (4.1%, new)
Green Party: 89  (3.7%, +0.8%)
Labour: 77  (3.2%, -1.0%)
Conservative: 57  (2.4%, -4.3%)
Reform: 52  (2.3%, new)
Reform: 23 (0.9%, new)

There was a third election on Highland Council, in Inverness Central ward. Here Lib Dem candidate Chris Lewcock achieved an excellent result jumping from fifth last time to a very good third place, increasing our vote share by over 10% on first preference votes. Labour held the ward, despite finishing behind the SNP on first preferences.

Highland Council, Inverness Central
SNP: 551 (32.1%, -9.2%)
Labour: 479 (27.9%, +3.8%)
Liberal Democrats (Chris Lewcock): 286 (16.7%, +10.3%)
Green Party: 158 (9.2%, +1.7%)
Conservative: 150 (8.7%, -4.1%)
Reform: 93 (5.4%, new)

Moving to Tuesday now, we had a superb result on Waverley BC in Godalming, Binscombe and Charterhouse ward. Here our candidate James Barratt and the local Lib Dem team fought an amazing campaign and increased our vote share by over 10% to finish on 714 votes, just 11 votes fewer than the winning Conservative candidate. Well done to James on a stunning second place. It was so close, but the ward is there for the taking next time. Labour, who were defending the ward, fell all the way to fourth.

Waverley BC, Godalming, Binscombe and Charterhouse
Conservative: 725 (40.6%, +20.7%)
Liberal Democrats (James Barratt): 714 (40%, +10.7%)
Green Party: 195 (10.9%, -16.3%)
Labour: 151 (8.5%, -14.1%)

Back to Thursday night and to Herefordshire CC, where Debbie Hobbs stood for the Lib Dems in Credenhill ward. Thank you to Debbie for flying the flag for us here. The ward was won by an Independent candidate.

Herefordshire CC, Credenhill
Independent: 201 (33.8%, +20.7%)
Independent: 150 (25.3%, new)
Conservative: 108 (18.2%, -15.4%)
Reform: 89 (15.0%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Debbie Hobbs): 27 (4.5%, -10.5%)
Labour: 19 (3.2%, new)

In Wales, there was a by-election in Denbighshire Council in Rhyl Trellewelyn ward. Thank you to Lib Dem candidate Andrew Morris for representing us here, especially as we did not contest this seat in the previous local election. Standing a candidate is the first step so massive thank you to Andrew. The Conservatives gained the ward from Labour in the overall result.

Denbighshire CC, Rhyl Trellewlyn
Conservative: 188 (50.8%, +33.2%)
Labour: 127 (34.3%, -5.9%)
Plaid Cymru: 36 (9.7%, -2.9%)
Liberal Democrats (Andrew Morris): 19 (5.1%, new)

There were 2 further elections this week in which there was no Lib Dem candidate. On East Staffordshire DC the Conservatives held Stretton ward, and in Mid Suffolk DC where the Conservatives gained Thurston ward from the Green Party.

A full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

* Charles Quinn is Campaigns Organiser for ALDC and a local councillor in Hull.