Last night saw three by-elections taking place, in Eden, Conwy and Suffolk Councils, with the Liberal Democrats putting up candidates on two of the ballots; Penelope Appleton stood in the Mostyn ward in Conwy, and Jon Neal for the Carlford ward in Suffolk. All of the seats were held by their previous party, but in both of the wards where we stood we enjoyed a vote increase, of 4.1% in Conwy and 4.2% in Suffolk.

In Eden just two candidates stood for the Appleby ward, making it the first contested election in this ward for 13 years, following the death of the Independent councillor Keith Morgan. The Conservatives were represented by Philip Guest, who ran against the Independent candidate Karen Greenwood, with the area remaining an Independent hold, by 187 votes to 67.

The Conwy by-election was prompted by the resignation of Labour Councillor Jobi Hold, and was successfully defended by Labour, despite a decrease in their voting share of 8.7%. Between all the parties which stood in the previous election in 2012, the Liberal Democrats experienced the largest increase in their voting share at 4.1%, totalling 126 votes for Appleton. 

In Suffolk the by-election was contested between the Conservatives, Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives holding the seat with over 60% of the vote. Given that UKIP, which gained 19% of the vote in the last election, did not stand this time around, all of the parties enjoyed an increase in their voter share, with Neal increasing our votes in the area by 4.2% to get 228 votes, or 12.1% of the total vote. Neal lead a strong campaign in an area where he has spent most of his life, and has previously served as both a councillor and Parliamentary Candidate, focusing his campaign on improving sustainability in the local villages; “sustainable rural communities are vital to not only the UK economy, environment and ecology but to our way of life”.

Next week will be a ‘Super Thursday’ with 10 by-elections taking place across the country; two in Cornwall, two in Gwynedd, and further elections in Islington, Bradford, Newham, North Norfolk, Selby and Wiltshire. With fantastic Liberal Democrat candidates standing across these wards, there will be plenty to keep ALDC busy at our phonebank next week.

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

A big thank you as always to those who come every week to 23 New Mount Street in Manchester to make calls at ALDC’s By-election HQ, funded through fighting fund donations. If you can help us fight in even more wards, please donate here.

* ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners