So we know that we are generally doing well where we are fighting the Tories in council by-elections. In terms of gains, with 25 in the last 6 months, we are way ahead of the opposition.
But how are we doing where we are already at our strongest? Eastleigh is one of those council areas where we are the ones to beat. The buck stops with us. We run the local services. Well, in Hedge End Wildern last night, this happened:
Ian Corben wins Hedge End Wildern for the Lib Dems with 64.5% of the vote @britainelects @aldc @LibDemPress pic.twitter.com/CFKndRkb9d
— Keith House (@CllrKeithHouse) December 22, 2016
And the full result:
Hedge End Wildern (Eastleigh) result:
LDEM: 64.5% (+22.5)
CON: 25.2% (-2.4)
LAB: 10.3% (-1.7)
UKIP and Ind didn’t stand this time round.— Britain Elects (@britainelects) December 22, 2016
In an unusual Wednesday by-election in Surrey, in a solid Tory area, Cransleigh ward in Waverley, both Tories and UKIP gained and we just about held our own:
Cranleigh West (Waverley) result:
CON: 58.7% (+2.9)
LDEM: 29.1% (-1.0)
UKIP: 12.1% (+12.1)
Con HOLD.— Britain Elects (@britainelects) December 22, 2016
And in the Aylesham ward of Dover Council, Labour held on to their seat with their only challenger being a Tory.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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In Eastleigh there was also a by-election for the Wildern ward of Hedge End Town Council. The result was: Keith Day (Liberal Democrat) 380 (61.2%), Conservative 161 (25.9%), Labour 80 (12.9%). Turnout 26.5%. Keith was an Independent candidate at the last elections in the ward in 2015, when the result was Liberal Democrat 669 (elected), 585 (elected), 521, Conservative 656 (elected), Labour 296, Independent 286. The composition of the Council is Liberal Democrat 17, Conservative 4.
Great news for those defending seats.
So in Cranleigh, despite all the previous Labour votes being up for grabs we made no progress, Waverley, a Council we used to run, which now has no Lib Dems.
LibDems are on the right track. It is all about representing local voters, uber poor or uber rich or most likely centrist families. We need to be firm on protecting ancient civil liberties and protect liberty and small businesses.
We need to learn from other campaigns: LibDems will make Britain great again. We will be the strongest defender of ancient civil liberties. Both conservatives and progressives will be 100% happy with LibDem policy. We need to end division and promote better opportunities for all. Less but smart government is the answer.
Eastleigh Liberal Democrats web site needs updating. New local member on Facebook and I couldn’t share the web site 🙁