Author Archives: Joe Nutt

One principal authority by-election took place this week in Westmorland & Furness – a Conservatives defence in Hawcoat and Newbarns.

Westmorland & Furness Council, Hawcoat & Newbarns

This week’s by-election was triggered by the resignation of the former Conservative councillor. In 2022, at the inaugural election of the new Westmorland and Furness Council, the Liberal Democrats took control of the unitary thanks to sweeping gains wins several wards in Tim Farron’s constituency. However, this ward is in the industrial seaport town of Barrow-in-Furness – an electorally challenging area for us. At the last election, all three of our candidates finished last behind the Conservatives, Labour and Independents.

This is crucial context for understanding our last placed finish in the by-election last night. Reform easily beat the Conservatives, who dropped over 20 points into third place. It should be noted that the winning Reform candidate, Hazel Edwards, was formerly a Conservative councillor and mayor.

Turnout was very low, falling by around 14 points to 27%.

A big thank you to Stephen Pickthall for making sure a Liberal Democrat was on the ballot!

Reform: 1139, 48.4% (NEW)
Labour: 576, 24.5% (-9.8%)
Conservative: 447, 19.0% (-21.5%)
Green: 121, 5.1% (NEW)
Liberal Democrats: 69, 2.9% (-2.7%)

Reform GAIN from Conservative

Turnout: 27%

Thank you to all of our candidates, agents, and campaign teams. A full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

There were two principal council by-elections this week, both of which had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot.

Salford City Council, Barton & Winton

The first by-election of the week took place on Wednesday in Salford. It was triggered by the sad passing of former Labour councillor David Lancaster MBE, who was widely regarded as England’s longest-serving councillor after six decades of service. There was significant controversy surrounding the timing of the contest, with Reform UK forcing the by-election despite local elections being scheduled for Salford in just two weeks’ time.

Turnout is generally low in Barton & Winton, and across Salford, but it was particularly poor on Wednesday at just 17.82%. Reform narrowly beat Labour by 33 votes in this long-term “Red Wall” ward. Labour also found themselves outflanked on the left by the Greens, part of a pincer movement that is becoming an increasingly common feature of the current political landscape.

This has never been a strong area for the Liberal Democrats, but a massive thanks to Antony Duke for standing and ensuring local residents had the choice to vote Lib Dem.

Reform UK 676 – 34.9% (new)
Labour 643 – 33.2% (-29.1)
Green Party 363 – 18.7% (+4.0)
Conservatives 118 – 6.1% (-8.2)
Liberal Democrats 94 – 4.9% (-3.8 )
Independent 44 – 2.3% (new)

Reform UK GAIN from Labour

Turnout: 17.82%

There were two principal council by-elections this week, both of which had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot.

Northumberland Council, Cramlington South West

The Conservatives have gained the seat of Cramlington South West from Reform UK, who only won it themselves in last year’s local elections. But the incumbent councillor had to step down owing to illness. The seat was newly created in 2025. Generally, the Conservatives tend to do quite well in Cramlington, though in this specific seat they finished third behind Reform and Labour last year, while the Liberal Democrats did not put forward a candidate.

This result, alongside Reform’s loss in Kent last week and their reduced majority in the second of this week’s by-elections, may point to a possible “retention problem” for the party. While they finish top of the leaderboard both in terms of gains in by-elections and overall by-election wins since the 2025 locals, they finish third on seats successfully defended, only being able to hold onto less than half at 47%. For context, the Liberal Democrat retention rate over the same period is 80%. It could point to a problem that voters generally seem less enthusiastic about letting Reform back in again once they’ve tried them.

A huge thanks to Nick Cott for ensuring there was a Liberal Democrat option on the ballot paper this time.

Conservatives: 278 – 34.2% (+9.0)

Reform UK: 212 – 26.0% (-13.6)

Labour: 187 – 23.0% (-5.8

Green: 116 – 14.3% (New)

Independent: 13 – 1.6% (New)

Liberal Democrat: 7 – 0.9% (New)

Conservative GAIN from Reform UK

Turnout: 26.88%

There was only one principal council by-election this week. The count took place on Friday morning, so the result didn’t filter through until later on Friday afternoon.

Kent County Council, Cliftonville

The Green Party has taken the seat of Cliftonville in Kent from Reform UK. This result was perhaps inevitable given the turmoil surrounding the previous holder; having only won the seat last year amidst a wave of Reform gains from the Conservatives, the incumbent councillor was suspended by Reform following a guilty plea in February regarding a domestic incident, which ultimately triggered this by-election.

Beyond the individual conduct of the former councillor, the wider Reform administration in Kent is increasingly defined by instability. The local leadership has been plagued by internal infighting with leaked footage online showing disputes between backbenchers and the leadership. This was followed by a series of defections to Rupert Lowe’s splinter group, Restore UK. They’ve also had to U-turn on their flagship pledge to cut council tax earlier this year.

Local commentators framed this contest as a referendum on Reform’s chaotic performance. In this instance, the Green Party successfully consolidated the anti-Reform vote to deliver that message, with the Liberal Democrats starting from an extremely low base in this particular ward.

A big thank you to Mo Shafaei and the team for their hard work in ensuring there was a Liberal Democrat choice on the ballot.

Green Party: 2,068, 38.8% (+26.7)
Reform UK: 1,767, 33.1% (-7.0)
Conservatives: 811, 15.2% (-4.5)
Labour: 557, 10.4% (-11.6)
Independents: 68, 1.3% (New)
Liberal Democrats: 63, 1.2%(-1.9)

Green Party GAIN from Reform

Turnout:  32%

A full summary of the results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

There were four principal council by-elections this week, of which all but one had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot. One council seat was being defended by us.

North Devon Council, Fremington

In North Devon, the Liberal Democrats gained a seat from the Independents in Fremington. It should be noted that in 2023, both seats were won by Independents, before Councillor Frank Biederman joined the Liberal Democrats. The by-election was triggered by the sad passing of his ward colleague, who remained as an independent.

Without any independents standing this time, it would seem there was a lot of unknowns in where the vote would go for this time. In this context, not only did the Liberal Democrats manage to fend off Reform and prevent the Greens from establishing themselves as the progressive alternative, but they also increased their vote share by more than any other party. This is particularly impressive when we’re used to seeing these big swings to Reform in other by-elections from a standing start.

A huge congratulations to Cllr Jayne Mackie and the team on running such a successful campaign.

Liberal Democrats: 752 – 49.9% (+42.4)
Reform UK: 496 – 32.9% (new)
Green Party: 131 – 8.7% (New)
Conservatives: 116 – 7.7% (-4.4)
Labour: 12 – 0.8% (-7.8)

Liberal Democrat GAIN from Independents

Turnout:  34.7%

There were four principal council by-elections this week, of which all had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot. One council seat was being defended by us.

Disappointingly, we lost this Oxfordshire seat to the Conservatives. It appeared to be down to a collapse in our own share of the vote, rather than any substantial uplift in the Conservative vote. The silver lining is that we managed to hold back Reform, who finished in third place, setting the Liberal Democrats up as the main challenger next time. Commiserations to Alan Bettridge and the local Liberal Democrat team.

Vale of White Horse District Council, Stanford
Conservative: 666 (45.9%, +2.5)
Liberal Democrats (Adrian Bettridge): 395 (27.2%, -17)
Reform UK: 261 (18%, new)
Green Party: 115 (7.9%, -4.5)
Labour: 14 (1%, new)

Conservative GAIN from Liberal Democrats

Turnout: 43.4%