As we get nearer to the local elections on 2 May the number of by-elections is naturally reducing a bit. However there is still a steady stream of by-elections each week between now and May that we will continue to report on. There were 3 principal council by-elections this week – including yet another Lib Dem victory.
Our win came on Cornwall Council where we held Looe West, Pelynt, Lansallos & Lanteglos ward. Congratulations to our new Councillor Jim Candy and Cornwall Lib Dems for holding the seat.
Cornwall Council, Looe West, Pelynt, Lansallos & Lanteglos
Liberal Democrats (Jim Candy): 604 (45%, -16%)
Conservative: 414 (31%, +1%)
Labour: 254 (19%, +11%)
Green Party: 75 (6%, new)
We also stood in the vacancy in Desborough ward on North Northamptonshire DC. Thank you to Lib Dem candidate Alan Window for flying the flag here and making sure there was a Lib Dem option on the ballot. With 234 votes there were clearly lots of people wishing to vote Lib Dem here so well done to Alan to making sure they were represented.
North Northamptonshire DC, Desborough
Conservative: 1485 (47%, +7%)
Labour: 1054 (33.5%, +6%)
Green Party: 368 (12%, +3%)
Liberal Democrats (Alan Window): 234 (7.5%, -2.5%)
The third and final by-election taking place this week was on Wealden DC in Uckfield New Town ward. There was no Lib Dem candidate here. In the end the result could not have been much closer as a new Independent councillor beat the Labour candidate by just 4 votes!
Wealden DC, Uckfield New Town
Independent: 582 (37%, new)
Labour: 578 (36.7%, -9.8%)
Conservative: 413 (26.3 %, -0.7%)
A full summary of all results can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.
* Charles Quinn is Campaigns Organiser for ALDC and a local councillor in Hull.
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9 Comments
Labour did well in two of the three. They doubled their third place vote in Cornwall and just missed gaining the Uckfield seat. In Northamptonshire the Tories proved remarkably resilient and Labour came nowhere near what might have been a gain.
How the hell did we not have a candidate in uckfield? We’re running that council and the corresponding parliamentary seat of east grinstead and uckfield ought to be perfectly winnable for us.
We didn’t have a candidate in the Uckfield ward last time it was fought, in 2023. Two Conservatives and two Labour candidates, with one Independent. Labour and the Independent each won one seat.
@David LG
“We’re running that council”
There is a LibDem/Green coalition with a narrow overall majority – which you could have verified for yourself.
Could be that the LibDem team is far too busy running the council to worry about by-elections which they might be very unlikely to win.
Edwina Hannaford was apparently very popular in the Looe area, so it’s not a surprise that our vote should fall. You only have to google her name to find numerous articles regretting her passing. Far more than you would normally get.
In Uckfield, we share power with the Greens who also didn’t stand. I think independant beating Labour is a good result for us (and probably Uckfield)
The Opinion Polls continue much the same, the slow decline in The Tory vote being too slow to register from week to week. The only real shift is that Reform have definitely moved up a bit to between 12% & 13%.
Of course in The upcoming Locals Reform will do nothing but I doubt their Voters will notice.
@Nonconformistradical
So you don’t think that the conservatives were running the country between 2010 and 2015? Most people wouldn’t take that view.
What is so unique about Wealden district that makes it too difficult for the governing party to field candidates? Usually it’s the opposite way around.
Last couple of weeks appears to show a hardening of the Tory vote in elections between 2021 and now. They may do better on May 2nd than many predict.