We are starting the starting the year strong with a gain in North Devon DC, the only by-election held this week. In the Instow ward, Cllr Becky Coombs, who previously stood an independent, represented the Lib Dems this time around and came first comfortably over the Tories! Congratulations to Becky and the North Devon team for the win.
North Devon DC, Instow
Liberal Democrat (Becky Coombs): 197 (38.1%, new)
Conservative: 166 (32.1%, +1.8%)
Reform: 88 (17.0%, new)
Independent: 49 (9.5%, new)
Green Party: 17 (3.3%, -11.1%)
For a full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, please refer to the ALDC by-elections page here.
* Matthew Ma works in the Campaigns and Communications team at ALDC
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4 Comments
The Reform vote may well have let us in here. I have suspected that this could happen at the next General Election helping us to at least another 20 – 30 seats.
Just a quick note for people who have missed the news that a quarter of Reforms Councillors have resigned, Farage not Right-Wing enough apparently.
Though it looks like they may never have been Reform councillors and may be disqualified for standing fraudulently as such.
A theme across many local council seats is how the Green vote often falls away, when a Reform candidate stands.
Both those parties tap the None Of The Above vote.
It’s also noticeable how our vote stands up to the arrival of a Reform candidate.