Tag Archives: aldc local government by-elections

It has been a quiet week for principal council by-elections with just two taking place. However there were positive results in both – including a great hold in Suffolk – and we also had a great town council gain too.

We held Woodbridge division on Suffolk County Council – winning over 50% of the vote. Congratulations to Councillor Ruth Leach and Suffolk Lib Dems on holding the seat in a more crowded election than when it was last fought with over half the vote.

Suffolk CC, Woodbridge
Liberal Democrats (Ruth Leach): 990 (51.2%, -12.3%)
Conservative: 642 (33.2%, -3.3%)
Labour: 301 (15.6%, new)

The other principal election this week was in Cheltenham Borough Council in Prestbury ward. Lib Dem candidate Ben Ingram moved the Lib Dem vote share forward by over 5% and jumped from 4^th to 3^rd place. A really good result. Thanks to Ben for standing. The ward was held by the People Against Bureaucracy Group.

Cheltenham BC, Prestbury
People Against Bureaucracy: 644 (32.7%, -8.5%)
Green Party: 484 (27.9%, +9.7%)
Liberal Democrats (Ben Ingram): 346 (20%, +5.4%)
Conservative: 258 (14.9%, -6.5%)

Finally we had a great gain reported to us on Great Aycliffe Parish Council in Shafto St Mary’s ward. Congratulations to Councillor Ben McAnaney and the team in Great Aycliffe for a great gain from Independent.

Great Aycliffe TC, Shafto St Mary’s
Liberal Democrats (Brian McAnaney): 260 (63.3%)
Independent: 151 (36.7%)

There were 4 principal council by-elections this week. Unusually there were 2 on Wednesday and then 2 on Thursday. But it was great to see Lib Dem candidates in most elections and some very positive results too.

Beginning with Wednesday night – there were two elections on Haringey London Borough Council.

Thank you to David Schmitz and David Vigoureax for standing in South Tottenham and White Hart Lane wards respectively and giving hundreds of Lib Dem supporters in the area a Lib Dem option on the ballot paper.

Labour held both wards. But in both elections the result was tight behind them. In White Hart Lane in particular we were just  a few dozen votes off second place.

Haringey LBC, South Tottenham
Labour: 1258 (68.2, +4.6)
Conservative: 286 (15.4%, +0.4%)
Green Party: 235 (12.6%, -3.3%)
Liberal Democrats (David Schmitz): 71 (3.8%, -1.8%)

Haringey LBC, White Hart Lane
Labour: 1081 (59%, +1.6%)
Conservative: 289 (15.8%, +3.7%)
Green Party: 247 (13.5%, new)
Liberal Democrats (David Vigoureux): 215 (11.7%, +1.4%)

On Thursday night there was another London by-election with Vauxhall ward being contested on Lambeth LBC. Here Lib Dem candidate Fareed Alderechi pulled off a fantastic performance – increasing our vote share by 17% and jumping from fourth to a very close second – just a couple of hundred off winning and setting the ward up for the future.

There were 5 principal council by-elections this Thursday. We stood candidates in all 5 and had some excellent results. Holding two wards in South Norfolk and coming very close in North Yorkshire and the Scottish Highlands.

Starting on South Norfolk District Council where two vacancies were being contested in South Wymondham ward and Mulbarton & Holy Cross ward. Both were Liberal Democrat defences and we held both in the face of strong challenges from parties and independent candidates who had not stood previously.

Congratulations to Cllr Carmina McConnell (South Wymondham) and Cllr Robert McClenning (Mulbarton & Holy Cross) and the team in South Norfolk on your hard-fought wins.

South Norfolk DC, South Wymondham
Liberal Democrats (Carmina McConnell): 286 (35%, -12.4%)
Conservative: 268 (32.8, +4.9%)
Labour: 173 (21.2%, -3.5%)
Green Party: 89 (10.9%, new)

South Norfolk DC, Mulbarton & Holy Cross
Liberal Democrats (Robert McClenning): 667 (37.1%, -11.4%)
Conservatives: 434 (24.2%, -10.8%)
No Description: 404 (22.5%, new)
Labour: 164 (9.1%, -7.4%)
Green Party: 128 (7.1%, new)

On Highlands Council in Scotland we sadly just missed out on retaining Tain & Easter Ross ward. Thank you to Charles Stephen for standing and for increasing the Lib Dem share of the vote (while the SNP share of the vote plummeted). Despite the Lib Dems moving forwards in the seat a new independent candidate won in the 6^th round of the STV count.

Highlands Council, Tain & Easter Ross (first preferences)
Independent: 1022 (41.5%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Charles Stephen): 603 (24.5%, +3%)
SNP: 464 (18.8%, -11.8%)
Conservative: 207 (8.4%, -2.2%)
Labour: 88 (3.6%, new)
Green Party: 56 (2.3%, new)
Scottish Libertarian Party: 23 (0.9%, new)

It has been an eventful week for by-elections with principal elections on both Wednesday and Thursday – and even a good town council gain for us on Monday night too!

The only place to start however is on Shropshire Council with our amazing gain on Thursday night in Worfield ward – taking the seat from the Conservatives with a 33.5% increase in the Lib Dem share of the vote. The Conservative share of the vote fell by 27.9%.

Congratulations to Cllr Andrew Sherrington and the Lib Dem team on winning in such spectacular fashion.

Shropshire Council, Worfield
Liberal Democrat (Andrew Sherrington): 400 (48.1%, 33.5%)
Conservative: 392 (47.1%, -27.9%)
Labour: 40 (4.8%, new)

Elsewhere on Thursday we put in some solid performances and made sure there were Lib Dems on the ballot paper in all of them.

There were two by-elections on Newcastle-Under-Lyme BC. In Audley ward Andrew Wymess increased the Lib Dem vote share by 8.7% to finish a very strong third with 355 votes. In Knutton ward Aidan Jenkins stood for the Lib Dems (we had not stood a candidate in the previous election) and got just shy of 20% of the vote. Labour held both wards.

Well done and thank you to Andrew, Aidan and the team in Newcastle-Under-Lyme.

Newcastle Under Lyme BC, Audley
Labour: 732 (46.1%, -6.7%)
Conservative: 438 (27.6%, -14%)
Liberal Democrat (Andrew Wymess): 355 (22.4%, +8.7%)
Independent: 63 (4%, new)

Newcastle Under Lyme BC, Knutton
Labour: 153 (49%, +1.1%)
Conservative: 99 (31.7%, -2.8%)
Liberal Democrat (Aidan Jenkins): 60 (19.2%, new)

There were 3 principal council by-elections this week. It was great to see a Lib Dem candidate standing in all of them. We also had an excellent gain to celebrate in Somerset which is where we start.

Congratulations to Cllr Kevin Messenger who gained Castle Cary ward on Somerset Council from the Conservatives – with over 50% of the vote, a very healthy majority of over 600 and a 10.4% increase in vote share!

Well done to Kevin and everyone in Somerset and thank you for keeping the Lib Dem momentum going. That’s 4 by-election gains in the space of a week now!

Somerset Council, Castle Cary ward
Liberal Democrats (Kevin Messenger): 1,247 (54.8%, +10.4%)
Conservative: 614 (27%, -15.7%)
Green Party: 415 (18.2%, +5.3%)

In Havering London Borough Council, Thomas Clarke flew the flag for the Lib Dems in the Upminster ward by-election. Thank you to Thomas for ensuring there was a Lib Dem for people to vote for. The ward was held by the Upminster & Cranham Residents Association.

Havering LBC, Upminster ward
Residents Association: 1,642 (63.2%, +0.1%)
Conservatives: 421 (16.2%, -3.7%)
Labour: 234 9%, -0.5%)
Independent: 150 (5.8%, +5.8%)
Green Party: 115 (4.4%, -3.1%)
Liberal Democrats (Thomas Clarke): 35 (1.4%, +1.4%)

Thursday was one of the best nights for Lib Dem by-election results in recent years!

Out of 4 principal council by-elections we made gains in 3 – winning seats from both Labour and the Conservatives. In the other we moved forwards from fourth place to second place!

There is so much to celebrate this week!

In Dudley, Cllr Ryan Priest and the local Lib Dems gained Cradley & Wollescote ward from Labour by winning over 50% of the vote and a 14% increase in Lib Dem vote share.

Congratulations to Ryan and the team. Ryan just missed out on the ward by 21 votes in May’s local elections. Persistence has paid off and with the fantastic win he has become the first Lib Dem councillor on Dudley MBC.

The campaign also received support from an ALDC Fighting Fund Grant.

Dudley MBC, Cradley & Wollescote ward
Liberal Democrat (Ryan Priest): 1321 (52.2%, +14.3%)
Labour: 771 (30.5%, -8.2%)
Conservative: 353 (14%, -4.8%)
Green Party: 79 (3.1%, -0.2%)
TUSC: 5 (0.2%, -0.7%)

Lib Dem GAIN from Labour

Our next gain comes from Norfolk County Council where Cllr John Crofts gained Freebridge Lynn division from the Conservatives. This was another stunning victory made all the more impressive by the fact that we did not stand in the division the last time it was contested in 2021!

Congratulations to John and the Lib Dem team in Norfolk. Coming from nowhere to winning – leapfrogging both the Green Party and Labour – shows that people want a Lib Dem option on the ballot paper and we can achieve amazing things with hard work.

Norfolk CC, Freebridge Lynn division
Liberal Democrats (John Crofts): 669 (38.4, +38.4%)
Conservative: 539 (31%, -33.7%)
Green Party: 418 (24%, +4.3%)
Labour: 115 (6.6%, -9%)

Lib Dem GAIN from Conservative

Three was the magic number this week as we made yet another gain on East Sussex Country Council as Cllr Brett Wright beat the Conservatives in Meads division. With this loss the Conservatives also lost overall control of the council!

Congratulations to Brett and the local Lib Dem team. Yet another fantastic result which saw the Lib Dem vote share increase by 10%! A superb result.

East Sussex CC, Meads division
Liberal Democrats (Brett Wright): 1649 (50.1%, +10.1%)
Conservative: 1361 (41.3%, -4.3%)
Labour: 157 (4.8%, -1.1%)
Green Party: 127 (3.9%, -2.2%)

Lib Dem GAIN from Conservative

It has been a busy week for by-elections with a number of principal and town council elections and some great Lib Dem victories and performances.

We start with a couple of excellent town council Lib Dem wins.

On Sevenoaks Town Council, Lionel O’Hara gained Northern ward for the Lib Dems from the Conservatives. Impressively this gain now means that the Lib Dems hold every single town councillor and district councillor in Sevenoaks! Congratulations to Cllr O’Hara and the team in Sevenoaks for truly turning the town GOLD!

Sevenoaks TC, Northern
Liberal Democrat (Lionel O’Hara): 351 (73%)
Labour: 131 (27%)

We also held Summerlands ward on Yeovil Town Council with a fantastic 58% of the vote. Congratulations to Cllr Kayleigh Fieldsend and the local team in Yeovil.

Yeovil TC, Summerlands
Liberal Democrats (Kayleigh Fieldsend): 329 (58%)
Independent: 128 (22.6%)
Green Party: 71 (12.5%)
Unaligned: 33 (5.8%)

We have excellent town, parish and community council by-election wins every week up and down the country. Let us know if you have a town or parish election coming up that you are contesting, or a good win, by emailing [email protected] and we will make sure we report it.

We stood in 4 principal by-elections on Thursday – improving our vote share in all of them.

While attention may well have been on this week’s three Parliamentary by-elections, there have also been Council by-elections across Britain with some great holds for the Lib Dems and some very tight and dramatic results.

Firstly we would like to say a huge congratulations to Cllr Raymond ‘Truck’ Evans and Ceredigion Lib Dems for holding Llanfarian ward on the Ceredigion County Council.

We know the local team worked extremely hard for the win, beating Plaid Cymru by 8 votes. Such a narrow victory shows that every single leaflet and every single door knocked on really does count!

Congratulations once again to Councillor Evans and the local team.

Ceredigion CC, Llanfarian
Liberal Democrat (Raymond Evans): 298 (48.2%, -19.8)
Plaid Cymru: 290 (46.9%, +15.0)
Conservative: 30 (4.9%, +4.9)

Our second win of the evening came on Dorchester Town Council as Cllr Kate Reid held the seat of Dorchester East for the Lib Dems.

It was a competitive election with all 4 main parties standing plus an independent. But well done to Kate and the local team for polling exactly double the number of votes as the Green Party in second place.

Congratulations Cllr Reid on a great win!

Dorchester TC, Dorchester East
Liberal Democrat (Kate Reid): 480 (39.6%)
Green Party: 240 (19.8%)
Independent:181 (14.9%)
Conservative: 168 (13.9%)
Labour: 142 (11.7%)

This week saw 4 principal council by-elections. There were Lib Dem candidates in all 4 which is a really good benchmark to hit. In all elections the Lib Dem share of the vote moved forwards.

We also celebrated some very impressive gains in Town Council by-elections in Melksham and Chippenham. Congratulations to the local teams there.

Two by-elections took place in Newham LBC. Thank you to David Terrar (Boleyn ward) and Claire Pattie (Well End ward) for making sure there was a Lib Dem choice on the ballot paper. The Lib Dems had not contested the last election in both wards – so this is great progress. In Well End we jumped immediately to 3^rd place leapfrogging both the Green Party and Reform UK.

Newham LBC, Boleyn ward
Independent: 1153 (42.5%, +42.5%)
Labour: 871 (32.1%, -27%)
Green Party: 572 (21.1%, +3.5%)
Conservative: 69 (2.5%, -15.6%)
Reform: 23 (0.8%, +0.8%)
Liberal Democrat (David Terrar): 22 (0.8%, +0.8%)

Independent GAIN from Labour

Newham LBC, Well End ward
Labour: 1659 (61.1%, +12.5)
Conservative: 739 (27.2%, +12.3)
Liberal Democrat (Claire Pattie): 138 (5.1%, +5.1%)
Green Party: 123 (4.5%, -4.5)
Reform: 58 (2.1%, -0.2)

Labour HOLD

On Norfolk County Council we had a great result in West Depwade ward – gaining an extra 7.4% of the vote and finishing just 250 votes away from topping the poll. Thank you and congratulations to Ian Spratt on a great result. The Green Party gained the ward from the Conservatives.

Norfolk CC, West Depwade
Green Party: 663 (29%, +19.7%)
Conservative: 582 (25.4%, -18.2%)
Liberal Democrat (Ian Spratt): 409 (17.9%, +7.4%)
Independent: 405 (17.7%, -6%)
Labour: 228 (10%, -2.8%)

There is just one by-election result to report this week – but what a result!

East Riding Lib Dems scored yet another stunning by-election victory – their 3^rd by-election gain in 5 months – as Diana Stewart took the Conservative seat of Beverley Rural with 59.4% of the vote. That’s a 36% increase in vote-share and a thumping majority of 832!

Congratulations to newly elected Cllr Diana Stewart and the Lib Dem team in the East Riding on another amazing win – a hattrick of by-election gains after winning Bridlington North in June, and South Hunsley in April.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Beverley Rural ward
Liberal Democrat (Diana Stewart): 1948
Conservative: 1116
Labour: 213

The full result can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.