There were four principal council by-elections this week, of which all but one had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot. One council seat was being defended by us.
North Devon Council, Fremington
In North Devon, the Liberal Democrats gained a seat from the Independents in Fremington. It should be noted that in 2023, both seats were won by Independents, before Councillor Frank Biederman joined the Liberal Democrats. The by-election was triggered by the sad passing of his ward colleague, who remained as an independent.
Without any independents standing this time, it would seem there was a lot of unknowns in where the vote would go for this time. In this context, not only did the Liberal Democrats manage to fend off Reform and prevent the Greens from establishing themselves as the progressive alternative, but they also increased their vote share by more than any other party. This is particularly impressive when we’re used to seeing these big swings to Reform in other by-elections from a standing start.
A huge congratulations to Cllr Jayne Mackie and the team on running such a successful campaign.
Liberal Democrats: 752 – 49.9% (+42.4)
Reform UK: 496 – 32.9% (new)
Green Party: 131 – 8.7% (New)
Conservatives: 116 – 7.7% (-4.4)
Labour: 12 – 0.8% (-7.8)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Independents
Turnout: 34.7%
Luton Borough Council, Wigmore
In Luton, we lost the Wigmore seat to Reform, though we still have another Liberal Democrat councillor representing the ward. This is particularly disappointing as no other party has represented Wigmore since the ward’s creation in 2003. We won both seats in Wigmore on a landslide in 2023, but we were only up against Labour. The proliferation of parties standing this time would inevitably hurt both parties’ vote shares. The result was close, with only 34 votes in it. Frustratingly, there was a progressive majority, but the Greens’ decision to campaign split that vote and allowed Reform in. Commiserations to George Neculaiu and the team who were so close to winning here.
Reform UK: 576 – 32.9% (new)
Liberal Democrats: 533 – 30.4% (-24.2)
Green Party: 344 – 19.6% (+10.5)
Labour: 170 – 9.7% (-0.3)
Conservatives: 116 – 6.6% (-4.4)
Independent: 13 – 0.7% (-14.5)
Reform GAIN from Liberal Democrats
Turnout: 25.7%
Bury Council, Tottington
In Greater Manchester, Reform won this seat from the Conservatives. The last set of elections in Bury – which elect in thirds – took place in 2024, where only Labour, the Conservatives and Independents contested the Tottington seat. The Liberal Democrats have no real presence in Bury, having lost our last seat there in 2023, and unfortunately could not find a candidate to contest this by-election.
Reform UK: 929 – 39.5% (new)
Conservatives: 627 – 26.7% (-19.1)
Labour: 346 – 14.7% (-14.5)
Green Party: 257 – 10.9% (new)
Independent: 193 – 8.2% (new)
No Liberal Democrat candidate stood
Reform GAIN from Conservatives
Turnout: 31%
Rossendale Borough Council, Hareholme and Waterfoot
In East Lancashire, the Greens won this Hareholme and Waterfoot seat off Labour. The Greens were already in a decent second place from the last set of local elections, so it’s no surprise that Labour’s collapse in popularity opened up a clear avenue for the Greens to win.
It should be noted that the Liberal Democrats have no real presence in Rossendale. In the 2024 local election here (which were all-ups due to boundary changes), the Liberal Democrats didn’t stand a single candidate, and each ward was contested by only Labour, the Greens and Conservatives (aside from a couple of independents). From this perspective, it was fantastic to see a Liberal Democrat on the ballot paper, so a big thank you to Keith Bardsley for standing and offering a choice to vote Lib Dem.
Green Party: 636 – 37.7% (+9.2)
Reform UK: 582 – 34.5% (new)
Labour: 324 – 19.2% (-27.9)
Conservatives: 115 – 6.8% (-17.6)
Liberal Democrats: 31 – 1.8% (new)
Green Party GAIN from Labour
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
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10 Comments
Hang on. The Greens shouldn’t put up against the Lib Dems (Luton) but the Lib Dems can put up candidates against the Greens (Rossendale). Make it make sense!
@Craig, it’s not about putting up candidates. It’s about those candidates then actively campaigning in an area where they’ll split the vote and let Reform in. Lib Dem candidate in Rossendale didn’t campaign, it was just about giving people the choice to vote for a Lib Dem.
The Greens in Wigmore clearly did campaign if you look at their Facebook group, despite basically knowing it would let Reform in.
Also, there’s a mistake on this article in the Wigmore section. Should be 44 votes from winning, not 34.
A few weeks ago it was Aigburth in Liverpool ,now Wigmore in Luton ( held by the Lib dems for nearly 40 years ) We are losing the skilled workers and lower middle class in these areas as we retreat to become the Party of the Shires and middle class suburbs. In these areas I fear the seats held previously by relentless campaigning…and I mean relentless will gradually fad away
So, Vote Green get Reform, certainly in Luton!
@Craig – I don’t think that is what is being said. In Luton “there was a progressive majority, but the Greens’ decision to campaign split that vote and allowed Reform in” The crucial word is campaign. There’s a difference between offering the opportunity to cast a Green/Lib Dem vote if that is the only party you can tolerate voting for, and campaigning actively.
Of course it doesn’t make sense. Nothing really makes sense under this filthy apology for an electoral system which Starmer and his chums would die in a ditch to defend.
@David Sparrow
Luton – Green vote was 19.6% but the Liberal Democrat lost 24.2%. So even without a Green candidate the Liberal Democrat would have fallen by 4.6%. We lost to ReformUK by 2.5% so even without a the Green standing we should have won if we hadn’t also lost that 4.6%
There was a green candidate at the last by election which didn’t stop us winning ….its the fact a large chunk of working class lib dem voters switched to Reform as they no longer see he Lib dems as for them……after the seat and it’s predecessors being held for 40 years !! In urban areas something is happening the Party does not want to face up to….at one time this was one of the safest seats in the country and the Lib dems got over 70% in a three way contest
The Luton by-election followed dismissal of the LD councillor for non-attendance during six months.
In such circumstances, it’s typical for voters to severly punish the councillor’s party in the subsequent by-election.
I believe the very pessimistic wider conclusions several of you are drawing are not correct in view of that fsct.
Indeed, given the circumstances, this was a decent result and we can hope to regain next time.
As noted by Andrew Teale and Mark Pack, the messy circumstances that triggered the Luton Wigmore by-election made it a tough one to defend. The result could have been worse!