Author Archives: Chris Twells

ALDC by-election report, 10th November 2022

By Chris Twells | Fri 11th November 2022 - 3:10 pm

November is always a busy time for by-elections and Thursday was no exception, with nine principal council seats up for grabs – all in England.

Sadly, only four of these contests had Liberal Democrat candidates. As soon as you find out there is a by-election coming up in your area, don’t assume somebody else will organise it – please get in touch with ALDC straightaway, apply for a grant if you need one and always stand a candidate!

Starting in the North West of England, in Burnley, we came heartbreakingly close to gaining a seat from the Conservatives. Commiserations to Russell Neal for missing out by just nine votes in Rosehill with Burnley Wood ward – we pushed the Conservatives into third place but a surge in the Labour vote saw their candidate take the seat.

Burnley BC, Rosehill with Burnley Wood
Labour: 372 (39.4%)
Liberal Democrat (Russell Neal): 363 (38.4%)
Conservative: 123 (13.0%)
Green: 87 (9.2%)

In Kingston upon Thames, we sadly lost a seat in the Green Lane & St James ward to the Kingston Independent Residents Group, a localist party. Well done to our candidate, Mahmood Rafiq, and the local team in New Malden for conducting a positive campaign.

Kingston upon Thames LBC, Green Lane & St James
KIRG: 855 (46.3%)
Liberal Democrat (Mahmood Rafiq): 647 (35.1%)
Labour: 265 (14.4%)
Conservative: 78 (4.2%)

In Greasley (Broxtowe BC) the Liberal Democrat share of the vote was 10.7%, which is encouraging given we did not stand in the ward last time. Similarly in Bourne East (South Kesteven DC) we won 11% of the vote – having not fielded a candidate here in 2019. These are encouraging results and will hopefully lead to success in future district and county elections in these areas.

Posted in Council by-elections | 13 Comments

With 100 days until polling day, ALDC are here to support your campaign

By Chris Twells | Tue 26th January 2021 - 9:30 am

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Many councillors and campaigners will be familiar with ALDC’s Local Election Appeal, which supports Liberal Democrat candidates in seats we’re aiming to gain from the other parties.

It’s vital that our party makes gains in the major series of local and national elections scheduled for Thursday 6 May. Here at ALDC, we’re aiming to raise £40,000 for the 2021 Local Election Appeal – 100% of this fund will be spent on additional direct mail to key groups of voters in our battleground wards, especially postal voters.

We need to raise this money so that we can help 200 Lib Dem candidates over the line in our target wards/divisions. Can you make a donation today to help us reach our target?

At the last local elections in 2019, 75% of the candidates who received funding from ALDC were from groups underrepresented in local government – women, BAME, LGBT+, young people (under 26) and people with disabilities. ALDC are committed to making our councillors more representative of the communities we represent and we will be supporting a similar proportion in 2021.