Just one principal by-election this week. In Scotter ward of West Lindsey District Council, the Conservatives held on in a two way contest with the Liberal Democrats. Keith Panter more than doubled the Liberal Democrat vote achieving 34.3%. Surprisingly UKIP who came second in the County Council elections last May didn’t stand a candidate after coming fourth in a by-election for the ward last December. The Liberal Democrats have been making good progress in this part of rural Lincolnshire recently having won the county division in a by-election last December.
The Scotter team’s campaign focused on River Trent flood warnings, better information and consultation about local fracking sites and planning issues. Responding to these local concerns struck a chord with residents and helped sign up five new members and some new volunteers. Traditional Liberal Democrat campaigning is difficult in this rural ward which is as large as nearby Scunthorpe. The local Liberal Democrats overcame these troubles using Connect and by telephone canvassing and using social media for the first time. They also made use of polling station tellers for the first time in 30 years. Keith Panter is happy with the progress that is being made in the area and plans to re-stand in May 2015.
For all the detailed results see the ALDC elections page.
* ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners
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Lord Bonkers: "Something less terrible than the truth"
Two new Makerfield by-election polls gives Burnham 5 and 12 point leads
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One Comment
That’s really quite funny.
Yesterday I posted a spoof ALDC report on this by-election on last week’s thread. Naturally it was deleted. I wondered at the time whether I’d gone a bit over the top, but in the event it’s remarkably similar to the real thing.
What ALDC is careful not to mention is that the Tories also more than doubled their vote, and “held on” with a percentage of 65.7%. The reason is that at the last election in this ward an independent candidate took more than half the votes!
The last straight fight between the Tories and the Lib Dems was in 2008. Since then there has been an 8.4% swing from the Lib Dems to the Tories.