Tag Archives: by-election results

There was a brilliant gain for the Lib Dems in Powys (CC) on Thursday night with candidate James Gibson-Watt polling 44.4% of the vote to secure victory in Glasbury division, with the defending Tories vote share dropping by 10.9% from three years ago. The seat had been vacated by new Conservative Brecon & Radnorshire MP Christopher Davies and the result is even more impressive when considering the party had failed to even stand a candidate in the ward’s two previous elections. The win makes the Lib Dems the second largest party on Powys County Council behind the independents, bringing their representation up to 10 and reducing the Tories to 9 Councillors. Glasbury was also the priority for ALDC’s by-election phonebank, which operates every Thursday night from our Manchester HQ.

This week once again saw two principal council by-elections.

On Wednesday, the Conservatives held one of their two seats in Purley-on-Thames ward in West Berkshire (UA), with their candidate polling 68.1% to take victory with a comfortable majority of 764 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Steve Brown finished fourth with 7.6% of the vote.

Two seats were available in yesterday’s by-election in the St Albans (DC) ward of Marshalwick South. The Conservatives held on to both seats with their two candidates collectively averaging 33.5% of the vote. Lib Dem candidates …

Just two principal council by-elections were contested yesterday. The Conservatives held their seat in St James ward in Kingston upon Thames LB, winning 42.9% of the vote. Liberal Democrat candidate Annette Wookey polled 33% to increase the party’s vote share by 11% from the ward’s last election this May.

There were twelve principal council by-elections contested last Thursday. In the Melton DC ward of Asfordby, the Conservatives polled 53.4% in gaining a seat from Labour with a majority of 136 votes.

There was also a gain for UKIP from the SDP after winning in Bridlington Central and Old Town on East Yorkshire UA with a narrow majority of 49 ahead of the Conservatives.

In addition, the SNP made a gain in the Aberdeenshire ward of Troup from the Conservatives after winning 1158 first preference votes.

Three principal council by-elections were fought yesterday alongside the Parliamentary contest in Rochester & Strood.

In Stockport, the Conservatives held on to their seat in Bramhall South & Woodford despite a hard-fought campaign by the Liberal Democrat team. Polling day saw many volunteers from across the Greater Manchester area descend on the Stockport MB ward in an attempt to clinch victory from the Conservatives. However the Conservative candidate polled 53.2% to secure victory by 578 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Jeremy Meal managed to increase the party’s …

Thursday saw eight principal by-elections take place in England and Scotland. The Conservatives secured a gain on Gloucestershire County Council in the Mitcheldean by-election, a ward which previously had an Independent councillor.

In Durham, Labour gained a seat in Burnopfield and Dipton, defeating the Derwentside Independents by just a single vote.

In Shepway, the Conservatives successfully retained their seat in Folkstone North West. However UKIP made considerable inroads into the Conservative majority in the ward, with the party registering 27.7% of the vote having not fielded a …

In Guildford, Colin Cross swept to victory with 63.4% of the vote for the Liberal Democrats (an increase of 49.1%) to gain a seat from the Conservatives. The Tory vote tumbled to come second with 25.7% (-45.3%), UKIP came third with 7.2% and Labour were last with 3.7%.

This week saw six council by-elections in Carlisle, Cumbria, two in Newark and Sherwood, Newham and Vale of White Horse. All the incumbent parties held their seats.

Just one Council by-election this week in North Jesmond (Newcastle CC). The by-election saw a 13.6% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats who comfortably held the seat. Gerard Keating, who has previously served as a Newcastle Liberal Democrat City Councillor, won 52.5% of the vote (an increase of 19.9% on May’s results). Labour were just 32 votes from gaining a Liberal Democrat seat in May’s local elections. This time their vote share fell by 7.3% to come second with 23.6%. The Conservatives came third with 8.6% (-5.9%), UKIP were fourth on 8.3% (+0.7%) and the Greens slipped from third in May to last place on Thursday with 6.9% of the vote (-7.6%).

This was a quiet week for by-elections. There was just one Council by-election in Wroxham (Broadland DC). The Liberal Democrats were piped to the post by just fourteen votes in the ‘Capital of the Norfolk Broads’. The Conservative candidate emerged victorious with 400 votes (45%) to take the seat from the Liberal Democrats. Malcolm Springall, the Liberal Democrat candidate, received 386 votes (43.4%) and Labour came third with 11.6%. This result is especially disappointing for the Liberal Democrats as they managed to win a by-election in the …

There were eight principal by-elections this week in Blackpool, Doncaster, Maidstone, Northumberland, Reading, Rhondda, Walsall and Windsor. The Liberal Democrats made two gains, Labour held four seats, UKIP gained one seat and an Independent held one seat.

The Berwick Liberal Democrats stormed to victory in the rural ward of Longhoughton (Northumberland CC). Kate Cairns won just shy of 50% of the vote to gain the seat for the Liberal Democrats after the death of a long standing and popular Independent councillor. The division which had not seen such a competitive election in a long time saw the Conservatives come second with 23.5%, an Independent came third (13.9%), UKIP were fourth with 9.8% and Labour trailed in last with 3.2%. Campaigning is not easy in the division which is nearly the size of Luxembourg so the local Liberal Democrats made good use of Virtual Phone Banks and had help with telephoning from across the country. They also made use of ALDC best practice resources to run a strong traditional literature campaign. Julie Pörksen, the local PPC who is hoping to succeed Sir Alan Beith, helped lead the by-election effort and ran a popular local campaign about Labour cutting post-16 subsidised transport. Cllr Cairns is a parish councillor and well-known road safety champion and so the campaign also focused on speeding, cycle safety, potholes and parking along the coastal road.

This week saw nine by-elections in principal authorities – Argyll & Bute, Cornwall, East Dorset, Harrogate, two in Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Oxford and Redditch.

In Harrogate Clare Skardon held Hookstone ward for the Liberal Democrats with 51.7% of the vote; an increase of 9.1%. Cllr Skardon successfully managed to squeeze all her opponents’ share of the vote: the Conservatives acquired 32.1% of the votes (-1.8%), UKIP were third with 12% (-4.3%) and Labour came last with 4.1% (-3%). Cllr Skardon puts her …

This week saw eight principal authority by-elections and two deferred elections in Cheltenham and Tower Hamlets.

In Old Laund Booth ward (Pendle BC), Brian Newman successfully held the seat for the Liberal Democrats. Brian received 58.3% of the vote; increasing the Liberal Democrat vote share by 9.7%. The Conservatives vote dropped 10.9% to come second on 36.3%. UKIP failed to gain any traction coming a poor third with just 27 votes and the Blue Party (a breakaway of the BNP) came last with only 13 votes. Lord Greaves …

Last Thursday saw four principal by-elections.

In Wantage Charlton (Vale of White Horse district council) the Liberal Democrats missed out on taking the seat by just 49 votes. The by-election, caused by the conviction of the previous Conservative councillor, saw the Tories hold the seat with 41.9% (-5.3%). Jim Sabbald, the Liberal Democrat candidate, took 38.4% (+2.5%). Labour came third with 11% and the Greens last with 8.8%.

However the by-election on Wantage Town Council caused by the disqualification of the same former councillor saw Jim Sabbald …

Six principal by-elections took place yesterday. In Gedling ward (Gedling BC), which is five miles north east of Nottingham, the Liberal Democrats were unlucky not to hold on to the seat they’ve held since 2003. Maggie Dunkin, who represented the ward until three years ago, missed out by just 54 votes. She came second with 28.9% but was pipped to the post by the Labour candidate who won with 32.6%. UKIP who haven’t stood in the ward for seven years came third on 22.8%. Conservatives saw a …

Four principal by-elections took place yesterday. In Wroxham ward of Broadland Council, the local Liberal Democrats continued their by-election winning streak having first taken a council seat in the ward five years ago. Ben McGilvray came from fourth place in 2009 to become one of the country’s youngest councillors but after moving out of the area a by-election was called. Alex Cassam increased the Liberal Democrat vote to take 48.3% and retain the seat for the party. The Conservatives came second on 34.2%, UKIP (who did not stand last time) took third with 11.2% and Labour finished fourth with 6.3%. The winning team put their victory down to running a high momentum campaign where they put out at least two leaflets for every one of their competitors’. Voters reacted badly to a negative Conservative campaign.

Just one principal by-election this week. In Scotter ward of West Lindsey District Council, the Conservatives held on in a two way contest with the Liberal Democrats. Keith Panter more than doubled the Liberal Democrat vote achieving 34.3%. Surprisingly UKIP who came second in the County Council elections last May didn’t stand a candidate after coming fourth in a by-election for the ward last December. The Liberal Democrats have been making good progress in this part of rural Lincolnshire recently having won the county division in a by-election last December.

The Scotter team’s campaign focused on River Trent flood warnings, better information …