Four principal council by-elections were held this week, with Labour defending three and SNP defending one. Most seats changed hands, with Labour losing all three seats they were defending and SNP holding the last. We stood in all four and our candidates have carried forth the momentum from past weeks to register gains in vote share on all seats. 

The stand-out result this week came from Dundee Council in Strathmartine ward. The first place SNP lost more than 10% of first preference votes while the Lib Dems gained 8%. Counting continued to the fifth round, where Jenny Blain finished close second: just 32 votes behind SNP! Well done and thank you to Jenny and Dundee Lib Dems for putting up such a great fight, setting us up for a Lib Dem victory next election.  

Dundee, Strathmartine (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 5)
SNP: 1188 (35%, -10.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Jenny Blain): 912 (26.9%, +8.2%)
Labour: 911 (26.9%, +4.0%)
Conservative: 143 (4.2%, -1.7%)
Green Party: 121 (3.6%, +0.2%)
TUSC: 116 (3.4%, +2.7%)

Another by-election in Dundee Council in Lochee sees an SNP gain from Labour after seven stages. Thank you to Outi Bourke for standing and growing our vote share here. 

Dundee, Lochee (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 7)
SNP: 1203 (37.3%, -5.9%)
Labour: 1148 (35.6%, -0.2%)
Conservative: 219 (6.8%, -1.6%)
Alba Party: 178 (5.5%, +2.4%)
Green Party: 176 (5.5%, +1.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Outi Bourke): 156 (4.8%, +1.7%)
Workers Party of Britain: 143 (4.4%, new)

Looking south to Lancaster City Council, Labour lost the seat to the Green Party. Thank you to Malcolm Martin for representing the Lib Dems in the Scotforth East ward. 

Lancaster City Council, Scotforth East
Green Party: 623 (57.8%, +22.7%)
Labour: 241 (22.4%, -18.2%)
Conservative: 148 (13.7%, -4.8%)
Liberal Democrats (Malcolm Martin): 66 (6.1%, +0.3%)

Finally, we saw a Reform gain from Labour in the Marton ward of Blackpool Council. Thank you Bill Greene for representing the Lib Dems where no-one stood in the previous.

Blackpool Council, Marton
Reform: 462 (38.8%, +29.3%)
Labour: 334 (28.0%, -23.0%)
Conservative: 254 (21.3%, -18.2%)
Independent: 84 (7.0%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Bill Greene): 33 (2.8%, new)
Green Party: 25 (2.1%, new)

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

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