Fantastic news from Sheffield tonight.
The Liberal Democrats have gained a Council seat in Mosborough ward from Labour.
Mosborough (Sheffield) result:
LDEM: 45.6% (+31.8)
LAB: 34.1% (-9.2)
UKIP: 12.4% (-9.8)
CON: 6.1% (-7.9)
GRN: 1.8% (-1.3)— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 8, 2016
Another huge increase in the vote and all the more remarkable as it’s up from just 14% in May this year.
An outstanding result to the campaign team, which includes our own Joe Otten, and new Councillor Gail Smith.
And so another Friday gets off to a very good start for the Liberal Democrats. This is becoming a very good habit.
All four by-election results from tonight are in. This, sadly, is the only one in which we stood a candidate.
UPDATE to reflect that we actually stood a candidate in Maidstone (well done) and they came fifth in a ward where UKIP held their seat. Well done to them.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
High Fell leaflet watch (2)
No, Leave didn't win the Brexit referendum because of Northern working class voters
Two new Makerfield by-election polls gives Burnham 5 and 12 point leads
Reform under water
Richard Whelan
David Raw
Tom Reeve
paul barker
24 Comments
An absolutely superb result!
Its worth noting that the 14% we got here in May was the same as our National Equivalent Vote, making this ward pretty average for England.
According to Vote UK Forum, we stood a candidate in Maidstone BC, Shepway South ward, Milden Choongo. Mansfield was a Labour hold, results awaited in Maidstone and Barrow in Furness.
Update – unfortunately UKIP retained the seat in Maidstone. Derisory vote for the Lib Dem candidate, I’m afraid, coming in a poor 5th behind Tories, Labour and an Independent.
Amusing detail from Sheffield: Momentum were phone banking there tonight. For Corbyn in the leadership election: https://twitter.com/election_data/status/774012743812800512
@Tim13: That’s right – we did, and they finished 5th. http://www.markpack.org.uk/142859/mosborough-byelection/
Great news here in Sheffield
What is now needed is a serious analysis of what was done (or not done) in the wards we fought and an attempt at explaining the wide discrepancy in LD performance. If for example we just stood a candidate in Maidstone and didn’t have a campaign that would be one explanation, but we won’t start winning over a much wider area if we don’t sort out what we do right AND what we do wrong
Mick Taylor
I agree with you. For instance, here in the Southwest we have been doing pretty well recently in general (eg another byelection won in Cornwall last week), but the same day we did poorly in elections in East Dorset and Bournemouth (OK, a more Tory area, but 10 years or so ago we very nearly controlled Bournemouth Borough). Here in East Devon, where we are in the middle of a succession of byelections this year, I am able to explain fairly cogently why we have done better in some and not so well in others.
One thing, your phrase “what we did right” and “what we did wrong” is a bit too judgmental – often it is what we have available candidates to do, what person power on the ground to do and what resources we have. Over the last 10 years our resource base in many places has been smashed, fewer good candidates are prepared to stand etc, so the rebuilding process often cannot be quick and easy. But there is no doubt, if we make contacts out there, via the doorstep or any other medium, there is a lot of sympathy – and support – for us as a party.
I am in the process of agenting a byelection which has the highest social media content we have ever attempted. It is a learning process for me along with most others! We hope that on the evening of October 6th we can declare it a success!
You’re right to praise candidates who stood, but only got a few votes.
If a local party shifts from not standing a candidate in a by-election to putting one up, it may only be a small step forward, but it is a step forward.
If someone stands as a by-election candidate, knowing it is difficult territory and that they’ll do poorly, we should be encouraging them, not criticising them. Rebuilding in local parties where the infrastructure is very weak will be a long process. It’ll be even longer if local parties don’t even make those first steps.
Paper candidates are a waste of time (and money ?). If it produces a derisory vote of 2 or 3% (sometimes worse) it leads to disillusionment from prospective supporters and illustrate weakness. It also shows little respect for the electorate.
There is no alternative to a candidate getting out and about on the door knocker and fighting a proper campaign.
Excellent result – well done to all involved. Things like this are so important to the rest of us out around the country. For Morale, credibility…. So a Big THANKYOU for all your hard work. 8=)
One question: which constituency is the ward in? I’m guessing Hallam? (Not that it matters – I’m just curious).
Sheffield shows we CAN move from winning in largely rural areas to urban hubs. Next week there is a by election in Newcastle, in a ward we previously had, following the departure of a Labour Councillor for ahem legal reasons.
I don’t think it is in hallam. If it was the majority would have been even more. Fantastic result. Loved the story of Sheffield momentum using phone bank on the day of the election to press gang corbyn supporters. They just don’t get it do they?
Mosborough in Sheffield South East.
What a morale boosting result! I wasn’t expecting anything like this so its a terrific surprise. I totally disagree with David Raw on paper candidates because it keeps us visible and also can build up the vote until that ward can become winnable in a constituency which we might be able to win eventually.
Our vote has always been strong in some areas and virtually non existent in others but it is encouraging to build up the vote in areas where we already have a presence.
Although it’s amusing about Momentum I think they have bigger fish to fry. For them, Corbyn winning the leadership election is essential so they’re being quite ruthless about it. Labour still have a lot of in fighting to do before a clear picture emerges.
Great to hear of new election strategies being tried out Tim13. I hope they are successful!
Tim13: “I am in the process of agenting a byelection which has the highest social media content we have ever attempted. It is a learning process for me along with most others! We hope that on the evening of October 6th we can declare it a success!”
East Devon, electorates of 5,000 or 6,000 for a council ward but spread out? How will your campaign work, Tim?
I worked in market research in the 1980s, in the background, processing data. Occasionally, very occasionally, I had to phone people up in an age when people didn’t expect random questions from a stranger about consumer products; people were generally rude about the intrusion*. At the time, I could carry off indirect doorstep conversations to determine voting intention; I’d canvassed across England. Or that’s what I thought.
But asking a stranger to provide an email address? It seems awkward. Friends exchange email addresses. Is the question a test? (Don’t give away your secrets to me.)
* Apart from when I asked a woman at the British Tea Council about coffee consumption; good manners, good humour and knowledge.
Thanks to Caron and the team at LDV towers for covering for me when I was supposed to be editing the site so I could go to Mosborough.
david said “Loved the story of Sheffield momentum using phone bank on the day of the election to press gang corbyn supporters. They just don’t get it do they?”
Hi David,
I think they do get it. It’s just they don’t care about Labour winning council elections. All they care about at the moment is Corbyn winning, and the hard left taking over the Labour party.
Phil Beesley
No, we haven’t started asking people for emails – more about contributing to local Facebook discussions on issues relevant to the election. Also tweeting various pieces of relevant info. Publicising things on the local website. It’s early days and I am sure we will get things wrong… but!
Size of the electorate as you describe, Phil, but in town – it is one of the 5 wards that make up Exmouth (“the biggest town in Devon”)
Interesting article on the the four by elections on http://election-data.co.uk/by-election-previews-8-9-16
A few brief snippets
For the four by-elections on 8th September 2016 we travel to four areas which look, at first sight, like they should be safe Labour. In reality they are anything but, and in many cases the threat to them comes not from the Conservatives but from the new forces which are assailing Labour in their strongholds: UKIP and independents.
and
For our first proper Labour vs UKIP contest of the week we travel south-east from Barrow to south-east Sheffield. Incorporated into Sheffield only in 1967, before which it was part of Derbyshire, Mosborough ward covers a series of housing estates on the edge of Sheffield most of which have been developed from the 1970s onwards.
and finally
Defending for Labour is Julie Grocutt who gives an address in Stocksbridge, over fifteen miles away on the far side of the city, where she is a town councillor. UKIP have reselected Joanne Parkin, the runner-up in May’s election. The Tory candidate is Andrew Taylor, who fought Beauchief and Greenhill ward in May. Also standing are Gail Smith, Lib Dem councillor for Mosborough from 2008 to 2012, and Green Party candidate Julie White.
I think the obsession with UKIP eating Labours lunch may be a touch overstated.
Interesting that there are 350 comments on the story which announces this on Labour List.
Not a member but good to see another LibDem on the council. We need a stronger opposition & eventually a new party in power. Whether chopping down healthy trees, driving away investment, ruining the city centre or desecrating our once proud library service by turning over over half of it to volunteers, absolutely fed up of Labour. Yes, Julie, we know you’ve had huge budget cuts, but that does not excuse the years of mis management. My question to the LibDems is, as I understand it you supported Sevenstone and the current structure of the library service. Surely low turnout (28%) due to perceived lack of political choice? You’ve done a good job highlighting the Trees issue, but we need an alternative to Labours awful library policy. So PLEASE make a noise about the library service. We need to act now before its too late (we are at risk of losing the 16 branch libraries run by volunteers as they are already not being counted as part of the Statutory library provision as reported to govt). We need alternative to volunteer libraries and we need it now.
In Maidstone the constituency and the council area are different,