Author Archives: ALDC

In Guildford, Colin Cross swept to victory with 63.4% of the vote for the Liberal Democrats (an increase of 49.1%) to gain a seat from the Conservatives. The Tory vote tumbled to come second with 25.7% (-45.3%), UKIP came third with 7.2% and Labour were last with 3.7%.

This week saw six council by-elections in Carlisle, Cumbria, two in Newark and Sherwood, Newham and Vale of White Horse. All the incumbent parties held their seats.

Just one Council by-election this week in North Jesmond (Newcastle CC). The by-election saw a 13.6% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats who comfortably held the seat. Gerard Keating, who has previously served as a Newcastle Liberal Democrat City Councillor, won 52.5% of the vote (an increase of 19.9% on May’s results). Labour were just 32 votes from gaining a Liberal Democrat seat in May’s local elections. This time their vote share fell by 7.3% to come second with 23.6%. The Conservatives came third with 8.6% (-5.9%), UKIP were fourth on 8.3% (+0.7%) and the Greens slipped from third in May to last place on Thursday with 6.9% of the vote (-7.6%).

This was a quiet week for by-elections. There was just one Council by-election in Wroxham (Broadland DC). The Liberal Democrats were piped to the post by just fourteen votes in the ‘Capital of the Norfolk Broads’. The Conservative candidate emerged victorious with 400 votes (45%) to take the seat from the Liberal Democrats. Malcolm Springall, the Liberal Democrat candidate, received 386 votes (43.4%) and Labour came third with 11.6%. This result is especially disappointing for the Liberal Democrats as they managed to win a by-election in the …

There were eight principal by-elections this week in Blackpool, Doncaster, Maidstone, Northumberland, Reading, Rhondda, Walsall and Windsor. The Liberal Democrats made two gains, Labour held four seats, UKIP gained one seat and an Independent held one seat.

The Berwick Liberal Democrats stormed to victory in the rural ward of Longhoughton (Northumberland CC). Kate Cairns won just shy of 50% of the vote to gain the seat for the Liberal Democrats after the death of a long standing and popular Independent councillor. The division which had not seen such a competitive election in a long time saw the Conservatives come second with 23.5%, an Independent came third (13.9%), UKIP were fourth with 9.8% and Labour trailed in last with 3.2%. Campaigning is not easy in the division which is nearly the size of Luxembourg so the local Liberal Democrats made good use of Virtual Phone Banks and had help with telephoning from across the country. They also made use of ALDC best practice resources to run a strong traditional literature campaign. Julie Pörksen, the local PPC who is hoping to succeed Sir Alan Beith, helped lead the by-election effort and ran a popular local campaign about Labour cutting post-16 subsidised transport. Cllr Cairns is a parish councillor and well-known road safety champion and so the campaign also focused on speeding, cycle safety, potholes and parking along the coastal road.

This week saw nine by-elections in principal authorities – Argyll & Bute, Cornwall, East Dorset, Harrogate, two in Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Oxford and Redditch.

In Harrogate Clare Skardon held Hookstone ward for the Liberal Democrats with 51.7% of the vote; an increase of 9.1%. Cllr Skardon successfully managed to squeeze all her opponents’ share of the vote: the Conservatives acquired 32.1% of the votes (-1.8%), UKIP were third with 12% (-4.3%) and Labour came last with 4.1% (-3%). Cllr Skardon puts her …

This week saw eight principal authority by-elections and two deferred elections in Cheltenham and Tower Hamlets.

In Old Laund Booth ward (Pendle BC), Brian Newman successfully held the seat for the Liberal Democrats. Brian received 58.3% of the vote; increasing the Liberal Democrat vote share by 9.7%. The Conservatives vote dropped 10.9% to come second on 36.3%. UKIP failed to gain any traction coming a poor third with just 27 votes and the Blue Party (a breakaway of the BNP) came last with only 13 votes. Lord Greaves …

Last Thursday saw four principal by-elections.

In Wantage Charlton (Vale of White Horse district council) the Liberal Democrats missed out on taking the seat by just 49 votes. The by-election, caused by the conviction of the previous Conservative councillor, saw the Tories hold the seat with 41.9% (-5.3%). Jim Sabbald, the Liberal Democrat candidate, took 38.4% (+2.5%). Labour came third with 11% and the Greens last with 8.8%.

However the by-election on Wantage Town Council caused by the disqualification of the same former councillor saw Jim Sabbald …

Six principal by-elections took place yesterday. In Gedling ward (Gedling BC), which is five miles north east of Nottingham, the Liberal Democrats were unlucky not to hold on to the seat they’ve held since 2003. Maggie Dunkin, who represented the ward until three years ago, missed out by just 54 votes. She came second with 28.9% but was pipped to the post by the Labour candidate who won with 32.6%. UKIP who haven’t stood in the ward for seven years came third on 22.8%. Conservatives saw a …

Four principal by-elections took place yesterday. In Wroxham ward of Broadland Council, the local Liberal Democrats continued their by-election winning streak having first taken a council seat in the ward five years ago. Ben McGilvray came from fourth place in 2009 to become one of the country’s youngest councillors but after moving out of the area a by-election was called. Alex Cassam increased the Liberal Democrat vote to take 48.3% and retain the seat for the party. The Conservatives came second on 34.2%, UKIP (who did not stand last time) took third with 11.2% and Labour finished fourth with 6.3%. The winning team put their victory down to running a high momentum campaign where they put out at least two leaflets for every one of their competitors’. Voters reacted badly to a negative Conservative campaign.

Just one principal by-election this week. In Scotter ward of West Lindsey District Council, the Conservatives held on in a two way contest with the Liberal Democrats. Keith Panter more than doubled the Liberal Democrat vote achieving 34.3%. Surprisingly UKIP who came second in the County Council elections last May didn’t stand a candidate after coming fourth in a by-election for the ward last December. The Liberal Democrats have been making good progress in this part of rural Lincolnshire recently having won the county division in a by-election last December.

The Scotter team’s campaign focused on River Trent flood warnings, better information …