Author Archives: Matthew Ma

ALDC By-Election Report, 31st October

It’s an England exclusive week for by-elections as 7 are held on Halloween, with the Conservatives being the biggest losers on the spooky day. The Lib Dems gained 2 seats and lost 1 from and to the Tories, a net double of seats. A variety of parties also gained or held their seats this week: both the Green Party, Labour, and independents held onto 1, while Reform gained a seat from Labour.

The headline win for the Lib Dems this week was once again in Westmorland & Furness Council. In the Kirkby & Tebay ward, Cllr Adrian Waite gained the seat from the Conservatives with over 82.7% of the votes, more than double what the Lib Dems had last time around. Well done and congrats to Adrian and the team for getting a second overwhelming win in the council in two weeks!

Westmorland & Furness Council, Krikby Stephen & Tebay
Liberal Democrat (Adrian Waite): 887 (82.7%, +48.7%)
Conservative: 186 (17.3%, -24.6%)

The other gain of the Lib Dems, also from the Conservatives, belongs to Hampshire CC, Bishops Waltham ward. Similarly, Cllr Jonathan Williams also more than doubled the Lib Dem vote share to 52.2%, while the Conservative vote collapsed from over 50% to under 35%. Congratulations to Jonathan and the local team for the work put into flipping this ward yellow.

Hampshire CC, Bishops Waltham
Liberal Democrat (Jonathan Williams): 2210 (52.2%, +28.6%)
Conservative: 1431 (33.8%, -23.1%)
Green Party: 477 (11.3% -2.0%)
Labour: 115 (2.7%, -2.6%)

The final battleground ward between the two parties this week sees a Tories gain from the Lib Dems, the only Conservative representation in Stockport MBC as of present. In the Bramhall South & Woodford ward, Sandeep Kashyap kept the Lib Dem vote steady, falling short of first place by less than 200 votes. Thank you and well done to Sandeep and the team for fighting the good fight, it won’t be long until we’re back.

Stockport MBC, Bramhall South & Woodford
Conservative: 1909 (47.9%, +4.6%)
Liberal Democrat (Sandeep Kashyap): 1733 (43.5%, -1.4%)
Reform: 133 (3.3%, new)
Labour: 115 (2.9%, -4.2%)
Green Party: 95 (2.4%, -2.4%)

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ALDC By-Election Report, 24th October

The by-elections just won’t stop coming as 13 were held in England and Wales this week. The Conservatives and Lib Dems are the only parties that had made gains (4 and 1 respectively), while all others had lost seats. Labour’s recent poor performances continue, holding only 3 out of their 6 seats while losing the other 3 to the Tories; the final blue gain comes from an independent seat. In Wales, Plaid Cymru lost their only seat this week to an independent.

The Lib Dems were the only party to have gained seats from the Tories. In the Old Dean ward in Surrey Heath BC, where no Lib Dem candidate stood in the last election, Cllr Dave Hough managed to snatch the seat with an impressive margin of victory. In stark contrast, both the Labour and Conservative vote plummeted. Huge well done and congrats to Dave and the local team for treading new ground and fighting hard for this win!

Surrey Heath BC, Old Dean
Liberal Democrat (Dave Hough): 394 (44.7%, new)
Conservative: 278 (31.6%, -27.3%)
Reform: 109 (12.4%, new)
Labour: 96 (10.9%, -30.2%)
Independent: 4 (0.5%, new)

The Lib Dems were also the only party to have held all seats that they have defended. In Gateshead MBC, Cllr Susan Craig achieved a dominating victory by further growing the Lib Dem vote share to 64.6%, being the only candidate do have gained a significant amount of votes. Congratulations and thank you to Susan and the team for putting the hard work in Whickham North.

Gateshead MBC, Whickham North
Liberal Democrat (Susan Craig): 902 (64.6%, +6.7%)
Labour: 285 (20.4%, -6.3%)
Conservative: 137 (9.8%, +0.9%)
Green Party: 72 (5.2%, -1.3%)

The other hold by the Lib Dems comes from the Histon and Impington ward in South Cambridgeshire DC, where Cllr James Rixon maintained healthy 320 vote lead from the second place independent. The only constant between all seems to be that Labour’s vote share has collapsed. Congrats to James and the local team for putting in the work to retain this Lib Dem seat!

South Cambridgeshire DC, Histon & Impington
Liberal Democrat (James Rixon): 942 (38.7%, -2.3%)
Independent: 617 (25.3%, +4.1%)
Green: 420 (17.3%, +5.8%)
Conservative: 283 (11.6%, -0.1%)
Labour: 172 (7.1%, -7.4%)

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ALDC By-Election Report, 17th October

It’s back-to-back by-election gargantuan week for by-elections as we see 16 held this Thursday. It was another disaster week for Labour: they only held half of the 8 seats they were defending, losing 3 seats to the Tories and 1 to the Greens. The Tories and Plaid Cymru both held onto all their seats (2 and 1 respectively). The Lib Dems were the only party to be contesting all 16, holding 4 out of 5 seats.

The most dominant result of the Lib Dems no doubt belongs to Cllr Tim Bloomer in the Grange & Cartmel ward of Westmorland & Furness BC. The Lib Dem vote share grew to a staggering 84.8%. Congratulations and a huge well done to Tim and the local team for the triumphant win.

Westmorland & Furness BC, Grange & Cartmel
Liberal Democrat (Tim Bloomer): 2180 (84.8%, +7.6%)
Conservative: 392 (15.2%, -3.5%)

Two by-elections in Stockport MBC were also comfortable Lib Dem holds. Cllr Rachel Bresnahan in the Bredbury Green & Romiley ward further grew the already high Lib Dem vote to 65.8%, close to tripling the vote of second place conservatives. Big congrats to Rachel and the team for making this win a reality.

Stockport LBC, Bredbury Green & Romiley
Liberal Democrat (Rachel Bresnahan): 1506 (65.8%, +7.1%)
Conservative: 552 (24.1%, +5.5%)
Labour: 127 (5.5%, -11.4%)
Green Party: 104 (4.5%, -1.2%)

The other hold in Stockport MBC sees Cllr Huma Khan winning the seat in the Cheadle West & Gatley ward with over 45% of the vote.

Stockport MBC, Cheadle West & Gatley
Liberal Democrat (Huma Khan): 1159 (45.1%, -12.0%)
Conservative: 553 (21.5%, +7.3%)
Labour: 517 (20.1%, +0.5%)
Green Party: 341 (13.3%, +4.2%)

The final hold of the week sees the Lib Dems in Tirymynach of Ceredigion CC successfully defending previously uncontested seat. The Lib Dems were to only ones out of all the major parties in England to have a significant amount of votes in this seat. Congratulations to Cllr Gareth Lewis and the team for winning the Welsh seat.

Ceredigion CC, Tirymynach
Liberal Democrat (Gareth Lewis): 285 (48.9%)
Plaid Cymru: 242 (41.5%)
Reform: 25 (4.3%)
Conservative: 17 (2.9%)
Labour: 8 (1.4%)
Green Party: 6 (1.0%)

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ALDC By-Election Report, 10th October

This was a mammoth week with of by-elections: 21 were held across the country, with 1 in Wales on Wednesday and the rest on Thursday across the country. Overall, the week saw Labour and independent losses while other parties have made gains. The Lib Dems, in particular, have doubled the seat count from 1 to 2, both victories being gains from the two major parties.

The first belongs to the Lib Dems in Southampton City Council, where Cllr George Percivall doubled  the Lib Dem vote share in the Shirley ward and triumph over the second place Conservatives. Labour, who had previously held the seat, came third this time round. Well done and congrats to George and the Southampton team for making this win possible!

Southampton City Council, Shirley
Liberal Democrat (George Percivall): 1249 (39.2%, +19.3%)
Conservative: 770 (24.2%, -1.1%)
Labour: 764 (24.0%, -15.5%)
Green Party: 241 (7.6%, +0.5%)
Independent: 117 (3.7%, new)
TUSC: 44 (1.4%, -0.1%)

Another good showing of the Lib Dems see Cllr Jonathan Oxley in the Hanger Hill ward of Ealing LBC winning an impressive 52.3% of the vote. Congratulations to Jonathan and the Ealing Lib Dems for achieving this remarkable win over the Conservatives, who had previously held the seat.

Ealing LBC, Hanger Hill
Liberal Democrat (Jonathan Oxley): 1655 (52.3%, +19.4%)
Conservative: 814 (25.7%, -5.3%)
Labour: 315 (10.0%, -13.2%)
Green Party: 245 (7.7%, -5.1%)
Reform: 98 (3.1%, new)
Workers Party of Britain: 35 (1.1%, new)

It is a busy day in Ealing LBC, as two other by-elections were held in the Council. Labour held both wards (Northolt Mandeville and South Acton). Thank you to Pedro Da Conceicao and Timothy Hughes respectively for putting their names on the ballot for the Lib Dems. Let’s hope the success in Hanger Hill can carry through to other wards in the Council in the coming elections.

On the other side of the country was the Bamber Bridge West ward in South Ribble DC, where there was a close three-way race between the Conservatives, Labour, and the Lib Dems for the seat. Thank you to Paul Valentine and the local team for the hard work, getting a 22.3% vote share in an area we did not contest previously must not have been easy.

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ALDC’s by-election report 3 October 2024

Four principal council by-elections were held this week, with Labour defending three and SNP defending one. Most seats changed hands, with Labour losing all three seats they were defending and SNP holding the last. We stood in all four and our candidates have carried forth the momentum from past weeks to register gains in vote share on all seats. 

The stand-out result this week came from Dundee Council in Strathmartine ward. The first place SNP lost more than 10% of first preference votes while the Lib Dems gained 8%. Counting continued to the fifth round, where Jenny Blain finished close second: just 32 votes behind SNP! Well done and thank you to Jenny and Dundee Lib Dems for putting up such a great fight, setting us up for a Lib Dem victory next election.  

Dundee, Strathmartine (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 5)
SNP: 1188 (35%, -10.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Jenny Blain): 912 (26.9%, +8.2%)
Labour: 911 (26.9%, +4.0%)
Conservative: 143 (4.2%, -1.7%)
Green Party: 121 (3.6%, +0.2%)
TUSC: 116 (3.4%, +2.7%)

Another by-election in Dundee Council in Lochee sees an SNP gain from Labour after seven stages. Thank you to Outi Bourke for standing and growing our vote share here. 

Dundee, Lochee (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 7)
SNP: 1203 (37.3%, -5.9%)
Labour: 1148 (35.6%, -0.2%)
Conservative: 219 (6.8%, -1.6%)
Alba Party: 178 (5.5%, +2.4%)
Green Party: 176 (5.5%, +1.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Outi Bourke): 156 (4.8%, +1.7%)
Workers Party of Britain: 143 (4.4%, new)

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