There were 3 principal council by-elections this week. We stood candidates in all of them and achieved some really positive results. We also had success in a number of Town and Parish council by-elections too.  

First of all congratulations to our candidate Howard Evans and the Lib Dem team in Swansea who finished second in the Penllergaer by-election. Despite not fielding a candidate when this seat was last contested, we finished second out of seven candidates beating Labour, the Conservatives, Reform and the Green Party. The seat was held by Swansea Independents. But it is a brilliant achievement by Howard and the team to go straight into second place beating all the major parties. 

Swansea Council, Penllergaer
Independent: 646 (63.9%, -23.9%)
Liberal Democrats (Howard Evans): 138 (13.6%, new)
ReformUK: 108 (10.7%, new)
Labour: 67 (6.6%, -5.6%)
Conservative: 31 (3.1%, new)
Green Party: 18 (1.8%, new)
Gwlad: 3 (0.3%, new)

Next up we go to Maldon DC and the by-election in Maldon North. Here we achieved another second place, missing out from gaining the ward from the Conservatives by just 53 votes. Well done and thank you to our candidate Robert Jones on a fantastic performance in a difficult election with Reform and the Green Party standing when they previously did not. Well done to Robert and the team on a brilliant second place and we’re sure you’ll get them next time. 

Maldon DC, Maldon North
Conservative: 462 (41.1%, +18.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Robert Jones): 409 (36.4%, -5.4%)
ReformUK: 187 (16.7%, new)
Green Party: 65 (5.8%, new)

The final principal by election this week was in Redbridge LBC in Mayfield ward. Thank you to Neil Hepworth for standing for us here and giving people the chance to vote Lib Dem. The seat was held by Labour, and won by an Independent candidate in this election. The Labour vote share fell by 45%. 

Redbridge LBC, Mayfield
Independent: 1080 (42.5%, new)
Labour: 663 (26.1%, -44.6%)
Conservative: 494 (19.4%, +3.6%)
Reform UK: 121 (4.8%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Neil Hepworth): 100 (3.9%, -3%)
Green Party: 85 (3.3%, new)

We also had some excellent Town and Parish Council by election performances this week. For instance in Cumbria we won by-elections on both Kendal (Lib Dem hold) and Penrith Town Councils (Lib Dem gain from Labour). Congratulations to Councillors Sharon Falshaw and Robert Kelley on your excellent wins.

A full summary of these results, all other principal council by-elections and selected Town and Parish results, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here. 

* Charles Quinn is Campaigns Organiser for ALDC and a local councillor in Hull.