Six principal council by-elections were held across the UK this week with Labour losing two of their three seats, one to the SNP and one to the Conservative, successfully defending only one. The Tories additionally gained a seat from an independent, while the Liberal Democrats held comfortably held their seat.

In South Oxfordshire DC, Cllr Crispin Topping won the seat in the Cholsey ward, increasing the already impressive vote share further to 62.2% this time around! Congratulations to Crispin and the team in South Oxfordshire on the stellar win.

South Oxfordshire DC, Cholsey
Liberal Democrat (Crispin Topping): 949 (62.2%, +16.1%)
Conservative: 362 (23.7%, +0.9%)
Social Democratic Party: 116 (7.6%, +2.3%)
Labour: 71 (4.7%, new)
Independent: 28 (1.8%, new)

Staying in the South, Chris Johnson stood in the Shinfield ward in Wokingham BC, where the Labour vote plummeted, losing ground to all three parties and in turn handing the Conservatives a win. Thank you Chris and the team for growing our vote and nearly beating Labour to second in the ward.

Wokingham BC, Shinfield
Conservative: 765 (49.0%, +10.4%)
Labour: 387 (24.8%, -18.9%)
Liberal Democrat (Chris Johnson): 336 (21.5%, +3.8%)
Green Party: 73 (4.7%, new)

The Labour vote fell comparatively even further in the Splott ward in Cardiff Council, but managed to cling on. Thank you to Cadan Ap Tomos and the team for the effort put into the campaign to over doubling our vote.

Cardiff Council, Splott
Labour: 711 (34.0%, -31.1%)
Green Party: 362 (17.3%, new)
Propel: 305 (14.6%, +10.3%)
Liberal Democrat (Cadan Ap Tomos): 292 (14.0%, +8.6%)
Reform: 271 (13.0%, new)
Plaid Cymru: 88 (4.2%, new)
Conservative: 60 (2.9%, -5.9%)

Looking North, the Conservatives gained a seat in the Kilgrimol ward in Fylde BC. Thank you Chrstine for standing and giving the local residents a Lib Dem option where there isn’t previously.

Fylde BC, Kilgrimol
Conservative: 340 (46.1%, +9.4%)
Reform: 204 (27.6%, new)
Liberal Democrat (Christine Marshall): 108 (14.6%, new)
Labour: 86 (11.7%, -11.6%)

Up in Scotland, the SNP was elected at stage 7 of counting and gained a seat from Labour despite losing some ground in the first preference votes in the Stirling East ward in Stirling Council. Thank you to Christopher Spreadborough for putting his name on the ballot and representing the Lib Dems.

Stirling Council, Stirling East
SNP: 650 (34.6%, -4.1%)
Labour: 480 (25.5%, +3.9%)
Reform: 265 (14.1%, new)
Conservative: 230 (12.2%, -11.1%)
Independent: 106 (5.6%, -2.3%)
Green Party: 95 (5.1%, +0.3%)
Liberal Democrat (Christopher Spreadborough): 55 (2.9%, +0.6%)

Finally, the Labour breathes a sigh of relief as they secure their only win of the night in the Partick East/Kelvindale ward in Glasgow City Council after stage 4 of counting. Nicholas Allan flew the Lib Dem flag here and almost doubled our first preference vote. Thank you Nicholas!

Glasgow City Council, Partick East/Kelvindale
Labour: 1723 (37.5%, +5.3%)
SNP: 1062 (23.1%, -5.2%)
Green Party: 837 (18.2%, -2.7%)
Conservative: 632 (13.8%, +0.4%)
Liberal Democrat (Nicholas Allan): 339 (7.4%, +3.6%)

For a full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, please refer to the ALDC by-elections page here.

* Matthew Ma works in the Campaigns and Communications team at ALDC