Two Lib Dem victories in South West by-elections yesterday.
Voters in Newquay South were electing a new town councillor – a straight fight between Sandy Carter for the Lib Dems and Rose Knowlson for the Tories.
The result was a decisive Lib Dem victory, with Sandy Carter securing 444 votes. Thirty short of the party’s tally in Glasgow North East, but enough to win 56% of the vote with an 8.7% swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems since June of this year.
St Austell and Newquay is a new parliamentary seat, notionally held by the Lib Dems based on 2005 figures and Conservative target number 13.
Meanwhile, over in Totnes Bridgetown ward of South Hams Council, Lib Dem Mike Hannaford was celebrating victory after securing 52% of the vote. The Greens were second with 27%, Conservatives on 16% and Labour 5%.
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The Green Party will be disappointed in Totnes, they won a town council seat in the same ward in July. The Green Party’s cosying up with Respect and increasing left wing stance is costing them support.
The GPEW’s Jacqi Hodgson got 27% this time, yet when she stood in July in the same ward for Totnes Town Council she got about 56% of the vote. Bad news for the Tories who were counting on a strong GPEW vote to split the vote in the GE.
The By-Election victory bode well for a greater Newquay and St Austell Lib. Dem support.
I was in Newquay last summer and this is a good weather gauge for Simon Wright the L/D PPC to take all residents concerns to Westminster in 2010.
Beating the GPEW was the only good thing about Glasgow NE, too!
How did you do in Glasgow?
It is certainly nice to see the Party getting good results again in its Wessex heartlands. The poor performances earlier this year, I believe, were attributable in large part to laccadaisical campaigning and poor organisation. Local byelections in key seats, by contrast, tend to be run by professionals sent in by regional offices. Hence the starkly different outcomes. Those still not acclimatised to modern campaigning techniques, please note.
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