Three principal authority by-elections took place this week in Cheshire West and Chester, Dacroum and Slough. 

Cheshire West and Chester Council – Christleton and Huntington

Our first by-election was triggered by the sad passing of the sitting Conservative councillor. At the last election in 2023, Christleton and Huntington was closely contested, with all nine candidates in the two-member ward finishing within 12.5% of each other and extensive split voting across the ward. The two Conservatives edged out the third-placed Green candidate by just 24 votes. The Lib Dem candidates finished last and third from last, respectively.

That set up another two-way contest between the Conservatives and Greens, with the Conservatives holding on by just 92 votes. Both parties increased their vote share by the same amount, while Reform UK stood for the first time and Labour and the Lib Dems were squeezed out. Turnout was virtually unchanged from 2023, remaining a relatively high 44.6%. A big thank you to Chris Ward, a former ALDC intern, for standing for the Liberal Democrats.

Conservative – 1214, 32.9% (+8.5%)

Green Party – 1122, 30.4% (+8.5%)

Reform UK – 635, 17.2% (new) 

Labour – 389, 10.5% (-9.4%)

Liberal Democrats 331 9.0% (-7.7%)

Conservative HOLD
Turnout: 44.6%

Dacorum Borough Council  – Apsley and Corner Hall

While this was technically a Liberal Democrat defence, as we won the seat in 2023, the by-election was triggered by the resignation of an Independent councillor who had left the Liberal Democrats, along with seven others in the Dacorum group, in 2024.

In 2023, the Lib Dems won all three seats in Apsley and Corner Hall, moving from last place in 2019 to first. In the four elections before 2023, the ward had been a Conservative stronghold. That mirrors the wider picture in Dacorum: a solid blue-wall council in Hertfordshire for decades until the Liberal Democrats took control in a single cycle, winning a slim majority in 2023.

The result saw the Liberal Democrats hold the seat, albeit with a reduced vote share, as both Reform UK and the Greens fielded candidates this time. All three by-elections this week were contested by all five major parties, underlining the higher stakes and growing competitiveness of local by-election races.

Congratulations to Cllr Hugo Hardy and the Lib Dem team in Dacorum on an excellent result.

Liberal Democrats  – 742 32.9% (-15.6)

Reform UK – 552, 24.5% (new)

Conservative – 404, 17.9% (-14.9)

⚪️ Independent – 213, 9.5% (new)

Green Party – 181, 8.0% (new) 

Labour – 161, 7.1% (-11.5) 

Liberal Democrats HOLD
Turnout: 30.8%

Slough Borough Council – Cippenham Green

We round off this week’s by-elections with another extremely close Conservative-Green contest, this time won by the Green Party by an astonishing five votes in the Slough ward of Cippenham Green.

The ward’s boundaries changed in 2023, when Slough moved to all-up elections every four years. In Cippenham Green, the Conservatives unseated two sitting Labour councillors. The Lib Dems finished second from last, ahead of the Heritage Party but behind an Independent.

Across the wider council area, the Lib Dems were wiped out in Slough in 2014, but made a comeback at the last election in 2023 with the election of three councillors.

Thank you to Jen Simpson for flying the flag for the Liberal Democrats in Cippenham Green.

Green Party – 409, 24.5% (new)
Conservative – 404, 24.2% (-19.9)
Labour – 355, 21.3% (-6.9)
Reform UK – 326, 19.5% (new)
Liberal Democrats – Jen Simpson 176, 10.5% (+1.0) 

Green Party GAIN from Conservative

Turnout 32.13%

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