Five principal authority by-elections took place across England and Wales on Thursday 6th August.

The Conservatives were defending three seats (two in West Norfolk and one in Surrey), while Reform UK were defending one seat in South Tyneside and Plaid Cymru were defending one seat in South Wales. 

The Conservatives had a disastrous night, losing all three of their seats. The headlining story of the week for the Liberal Democrats came from West Norfolk, where we delivered stellar first-time performances in two coastal wards, shooting straight into second place in both, pushing the Conservatives into third, and coming within just 18 votes of winning in Snettisham. Elsewhere, the Green Party completed a clean sweep in Surrey, while Reform UK and Plaid Cymru logged uneventful holds in South Tyneside and Caerphilly, respectively.

England

King’s Lynn & West Norfolk – Double Coastal Contest

Two by-elections took place in adjacent coastal wards on the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Heacham and Snettisham. Both seats were previously held by the Conservatives on a council currently under no overall control.

In both races, the Liberal Democrats fielded new candidates and achieved outstanding results, leapfrogging both the incumbent Conservatives and Labour into second place.

King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Heacham

In Heacham, Reform UK picked up the seat from the Conservatives. However, the standout story was the impressive performance from Liberal Democrat candidate Rachel Windsor. Standing for the first time, Rachel secured 28.7% of the vote, pushing the Conservatives into third place and Labour down into fourth.

Thank you to Rachel Windsor for putting up a strong Liberal Democrat choice on the ballot paper and establishing a formidable baseline for future contests in the ward.

Reform UK: 289 (37.8%, new)
Lib Dem (Rachel Windsor): 219 (28.7%, new)
Conservative: 163 (21.3%, -3.8%)
Labour: 93 (12.2%, -11.4%)

Reform UK GAIN from Conservative

King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Snettisham

In neighbouring Snettisham, the Conservative vote share completely collapsed by 25.8 percentage points. Lee Henson ran an extraordinary campaign for the Liberal Democrats, coming within a razor-thin 18 votes of winning the ward outright. Lee took 32.3% of the vote share from a standing start, comfortably leaving the Conservatives trailing in third place as Reform UK narrowly edged the win.

Huge thanks and congratulations to Lee Henson and the local campaign team for a fantastic result that firmly establishes the Liberal Democrats as the primary challenger here moving forward.

Reform UK: 229 (35.1%, new)
Lib Dem (Lee Henson): 211 (32.3%, new)
Conservatives: 169 (25.9%, -25.8%)
Labour: 44 (6.7%, -11.4%)

Reform UK GAIN from Conservative

Reigate and Banstead BC, Hooley, Merstham & Netherne

Over in Surrey, the Green Party gained a seat from the Conservatives in the Hooley, Merstham & Netherne ward of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.

This result completes a multi-year trend in this three-member ward elected by thirds. While the Conservatives won here in 2022, subsequent elections in 2023 and 2024 saw successive Green Party gains. Last week’s victory completes a full set of three Green councillors for the division, reflecting a gradual electoral shift built up over recent cycles rather than an overnight surprise. Reform UK finished second, while the Conservative vote share fell by nearly 15 points.

Thank you to Tina Cohen for standing and flying the Liberal Democrat flag in a fast-changing local contest.

Green Party: 934 (41.8%, +16.4%)
Reform UK: 545 (24.4%, +24.4%)
Conservative: 454 (20.3%, -14.8%)
Lib Dem (Tina Cohen): 166 (7.4%, -5.2%)
Labour: 138 (6.2%, -20.7%)

Turnout: 27%

Green Party GAIN from Conservative

South Tyneside MBC, Harton

Up in the North East, Reform UK were defending a seat in the Harton ward of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council following a councillor resignation. Reform UK took majority control of the council earlier this year in May, and successfully held the ward despite a 6.7 percentage point drop in vote share.

Labour finished second, with two Independents and the Greens taking significant slices of the vote in a crowded field of seven candidates.

Thank you to Mark Robson for making sure a Liberal Democrat choice was available on the ballot paper in a tough industrial ward.

Reform UK: 628 (35.3%, -6.7%)
Labour: 354 (19.9%, +5.1%)
Green Party: 312 (17.5%, -1.5%)
Independent 1: 285 (16.0%, -8.2%)
Independent 2: 119 (5.7%, new)
Conservative: 57 (3.2%, new)
Lib Dem (Mark Robson): 24 (1.3%, new)

Turnout: 28.3%

Reform UK HOLD

Wales

Caerphilly CBC, Hengoed

Across the Welsh border, Plaid Cymru were defending a seat in the Hengoed ward of Labour-controlled Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Plaid Cymru comfortably held the seat with nearly half the total vote share. The headline dynamic of the race was the collapse of the Labour vote, which fell by over 35 percentage points from the 2022 baseline, allowing Reform UK to take second place.

Thank you to David Scullin for representing the Liberal Democrats and ensuring an orange option on the ballot.

Plaid Cymru: 509 (49.9%, -4.9%)
Reform UK: 371 (36.3%, new)
Labour: 103 (10.1%, -35.1%)
Conservative: 21 (2.1%, new)
Lib Dem (David Scullin): 16 (1.6%, new)

Turnout: 24%

Plaid Cymru HOLD

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