Six principal council by-elections were contested on Thursday, with one gain and one loss for the Liberal Democrats.

The party made an impressive gain from the Conservatives on Wealden district council last night. David White polled 69.9% of the vote to clinch victory with a 653 majority. The party also recorded a 32.7% swing from the Tories. David becomes the sole Lib Dem representative on the Conservative dominated council, having lost his seat this May.

In Brentwood (BC), there was less good news for the Liberal Democrats as the Conservatives made a gain in Shenfield ward with 57.4%, despite Alison Fulcher increasing the party’s vote share by 5.1% from  this May. Whilst we ran a good campaign once the election was called, we were competing with the Tories from a standing start. Early indications suggest that more work could have been done preparing the ward prior to the campaign eg. by recruiting Postal Voters etc given that this was a Lib Dem resignation.

Yesterday, the party recorded its best result in Congleton East ward in Cheshire East (UA) since 1999, as Lib Dem candidate Denis Murphy fell just 158 votes short of the Conservatives to finish second, with the party increasing it’s vote share by 18.5% from earlier this year.

Elsewhere, the Conservatives comfortably held a seat in West ward in Peterborough (UA), with Malcolm Pollack polling 4.1% for the Lib Dems in fourth place. In addition, no Liberal Democrat candidates were fielded as Labour defended seats in Barrow-in-Furness (BC) and Chorley (BC) with absolute majorities.

In addition to yesterday’s principal council results, the party successfully held two seats on Barnoldswick Town Council.

As usual, ALDC’s Thursday night by-election phone bank focused on two of this week’s key by-elections.

Liberal Democrat candidates were fielded in 21 of October’s 31 principal council by-elections (67.7%). The party gained two seats this month (one each from the Conservatives and the SNP), whilst losing two seats, both to the Tories. The party averaged 20.4% of the vote in the by-elections where we stood, up from 15% from September.

Next week, the Lib Dems will be defending two principal council seats. In Torbay (UA) the party will be hoping to successfully hold our seat in Clifton with Maidenway, with former Torbay MP Adrian Sanders standing. In addition, Daniel Millican will be the Liberal Democrat candidate in a double vacancy in Huntly, Strathbogie and Alford ward in Aberdeenshire (UA), with one seat vacated following a Lib Dem resignation.

For a detailed list of yesterday’s results please click here. If you would like more information on all the forthcoming by-elections and details on who to contact for help, click here.

* ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners