There were six principal authority council by-elections yesterday, and there were Liberal Democrat candidates in all those contests.
After winning 39 of the 54 seats in Richmond-upon-Thames in 2014, the Tories yesterday lost their last seat on the council!:
Hampton North (Richmond upon Thames) council by-election result:
LDEM: 53.2% (+19.9)
CON: 34.8% (+11.2)
LAB: 7.2% (-1.1)
GRN: 4.8% (-16.2)Votes cast: 2,213
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
*Defending Con seat was third placed of three-member ward in 2022. Top three…
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) January 19, 2024
We also held a second seat up for grabs in the borough last night:
The results of the #Teddington by-election are in. Richard Baker of the Liberal Democrat Party has been duly elected as Councillor for the Teddington Ward.#LBRuTElects pic.twitter.com/1pIiSMJ9vL
— Richmond Council (@LBRUT) January 19, 2024
Huge congratulations to Carey Bishop, our new @TRLibDems councillor in Hampton North and Richard Baker, who returns as a councillor in Teddington. Looking forward to working with you both for our area! 🔶️🔶️🔶️ 🙌🏽🥳 pic.twitter.com/VWKuBS7Uex
— Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 (@munirawilson) January 19, 2024
This is part one of our by-election coverage this week – you can find part two here.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
One Comment
Quite a milestone. We used to think 49-3 in 1986 and 48-4 in 1990 (when I was elected) were peak LibDem (and Alliance) but this surpasses them both. Geoffrey Samuel, the last Tory, who was 92 I think, was a veteran of the Council who was on with me in 1994-98 (and not especially pleasant then – don’t know if he mellowed). He only got elected in 2022 because something went wrong for the Greens in that ward who should have won it under the electoral pact that had two LD and one Green stand in some wards. In Teddington the vacancy was caused by the death of another veteran, but this time ours. Cllr Martin Elengorn was continuous Liberal then Lib Dem Councillor for Teddington since 1982. I believe they both died in the same week.