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The first council by-elections of 2024 were held this week. We began the new year in much the same way that we finished last year – by winning and moving forwards!

The first result declared in 2024 was a brilliant hold for the Lib Dems on Salford MBC. This was one of 4 principal by-elections contested and there were some very interesting results across the board.

The only place to start though is in Salford MBC where Councillor Paul Heilbron won Quays ward for the Liberal Democrats. We first won the ward in 2022 and just missed out in the 2023 local elections. We won on Thursday night with a 17.4% increase in our share of the vote from the 2023 result while Labour were down 12.6% from last May.

Congratulations to Paul and the Lib Dem team in Salford. This result is particularly special for ALDC as Paul is a former member of ALDC staff. His win restores our Lib Dem presence on Salford MBC too.

Salford MBC, Quays
Liberal Democrats (Paul Heilbron): 540 (54.8%, +17.4%)
Labour: 321 (32.6%, -12.6%)
Green Party: 124 (12.6%, +3.4%)

Very unusually the next by-election resulted in the winning Conservative candidate being unable to take up their seat – meaning another election will have to be run in the seat.

On Dorset Council the Conservatives won Littlemoor and Preston ward – holding onto it despite a brilliant performance by Lib Dem candidate Simon Clifford who increased the Lib Dem vote share by 19% and jumped from fourth to a very strong second. However as the winning Conservative candidate is employed by the council he is disqualified from taking up his seat and the seat will now remain vacant until the Dorset council elections in May. Congratulations to Simon and the team in Dorset for moving the Lib Dems forward so much in the seat with local elections just round the corner. The result was:

Dorset Council, Littlemoor and Preston
Conservative: 1,237 (54%, +25%)
Liberal Democrats (Simon Clifford): 833 (36%, +19%)
Labour: 232 (10%, -9.5%)

The final council by-election results of 2023 have been declared. We can look back on a brilliant, and historic year, of Liberal Democrat performances!

In total there were 197 principal council by-elections contested in 2023. The Liberal Democrats won 51 of these elections. Of these 26 were Lib Dem gains from other parties or independents.

That means, of all principal council by-elections in 2023, over a quarter resulted in a Lib Dem win – and one in eight resulted in a Lib Dem gain!

In total we made a net gain of 26 council seats in by-elections and countermanded elections over the course of the year. This is our joint third best performance since the merger in 1988 and comfortably the best of any party this year.

By contrast the Green Party had a net gain of 8, Labour had a net gain of 7, the SNP and Plaid were down a combined 6 seats and the Conservatives were down a net 31 councillors!

We finished an outstanding year for Council by-elections on a high this week. We won 2 of the 3 contests and put in a great showing in the third – moving forwards in our vote share everywhere.

There were 2 by-elections in Leicestershire. Firstly on Leicestershire CC we held Blaby and Glen Parva ward (which had previously been won by a Liberal Democrat who became an independent before resigning). Congratulations to Councillor Sue Jordan and the team on holding the seat, and doing so by increasing our vote by 12.5% and increasing our majority to over 650!

Leicestershire CC, Blaby and Glen Parva
Liberal Democrats (Sue Jorden): 989 (61.2%, +12.5%)
Conservative: 320 (19.8%, -13.7%)
Labour: 190 (11.8%, +1.8%)
Green Party: 116 (7.2%, -0.5%)

In the corresponding vacancy on Blaby DC we also held the seat of Glen Parva ward with an increased vote share. Congratulations to Councillor Andrew Savage and the team on winning over 60% of the vote and increasing the Lib Dem vote by 5.4%.

Blaby DC, Glan Parva
Liberal Democrats (Andrew Savage): 438 (60.6%, +5.4%)
Conservative: 140 (19.4%, -3.7%)
Labour: 102 (14.1%, new)
Green Party: 43 (6.0%, new)

We continued our incredible end of the year with one of the best weeks for local council by-election results that we have ever celebrated.

7 principal council seats were being contested across 6 wards this weeks – and we won 5 of them! This included 3 Lib Dem holds and 2 Lib Dem gains. Even the two seats that we didn’t win saw us miss out only very narrowly with a great improvement in our result from last time. There are so many fantastic results to delve into it is difficult to know where to start!

The first of our gains came on North Kesteven DC in Billinghay Rural ward, where newly elected Councillor Adrian Whittle beat the Conservatives by securing over 41% of the vote. This is a great achievement as we did not stand a candidate in the most recent election in this ward. Indeed nobody did as the Conservatives were uncontested here in 2023. This time round with a Lib Dem on the ballot paper we have pulled off a fantastic gain and elected our first Lib Dem councillor to North Kesteven District. Congratulations once again to Cllr Whittle and North Kesteven Lib Dems.

North Kesteven DC, Billinghay Rural
Liberal Democrats (Adrian Whittle): 354 (41.1%, new)
Conservative: 254 (29.5%)
Lincolnshire Independents: 225 (26.1%, new)
Independent: 29 (3.4%, new)

Our other gain came on Rugby BC in Dunsmore ward. There was a double vacancy in this ward caused by two Conservative resignations. Congratulations to Councillor Jonathan Bennett for gaining the top seat from the Conservatives as the Lib Dems topped the poll with 38% of the vote. The second seat was retained by the Conservatives – but well done to our candidate Trisha Trimble who finished so close with 548 votes (just 41 votes off taking the second seat). A brilliant performance all round. Congratulations to the team in Rugby.

Rugby BC, Dunsmore
Liberal Democrats (Jonathan Bennett): 613 (38%, +17.7% LD total)
Conservative: 588 (36.4%, -8.4% Con total)
Conservative: 557 (36.4%, -8.4% Con total)
Liberal Democrats (Trisha Trimble): 548 (38%, +17.7% LD total)
Labour: 299 (18.5%, -7.7% Lab total)
Labour: 256 (18.5%, -7.7% Lab total)
Green Party: 145 (9%, -7.7% Green total)
Green Party: 89 (9%, -7.7% Green total)

The Lib Dems continued our fantastic end to the year with 3 more principal council by-election wins this week. A total of 5 principal by-elections were contested.

All 3 wins came in the East of England. We start on Hertfordshire County Council and a stunning result in Harpenden Rural ward which newly elected Lib Dem councillor Allison Wren gained from the Conservatives with a 33% increase in share of the vote (and over 58% of the vote overall). This gain puts the Lib Dems on 24 net gains in council by-elections this year. Triple that of the Green Party in second place!

Congratulations to Cllr Wren and Hertfordshire Lib Dems on a brilliant win.

Hertfordshire CC, Harpenden Rural
Liberal Democrats (Allison Wren): 1474 (58.3%, +33%)
Conservative: 766 (30.3%, -26.8%)
Labour: 168 (6.6%, -4.1%)
Green Party: 119 (4.7%, -2.2%)

On St Albans DC we also held Sandridge and Wheathampstead ward with over 55% of the vote and 7% vote-share increase on last time. Congratulations to Cllr Simon Johns and the team in St Albans on a great win.

St Albans DC, Sandridge and Wheathampstead
Liberal Democrats (Simon Johns): 793 (55.9%,+7.1%)
Conservative: 480 (33.8%, -4.8%)
Green Party: 78 (5.5%, -1.2%)
Labour: 68 (4.8%, -1.2%)

Our other win of the night came on North Norfolk DC in Briston ward. Congratulations to Cllr Andrew Fletcher and the local team who held the ward for the Lib Dems with just shy of 50% of the total vote.

North Norfolk DC, Briston
Liberal Democrats (Andrew Fletcher): 342 (49%, -2.5%)
Conservative: 274 (39%, -1.5%)
Green Party: 64 (9%, new)
Labour: 15 (2%, -5.9%)