While Layla was putting in a storming performance on Question Time, her Oxfordshire colleagues were finishing off polling day in Wheatley ward. We were seeking to defend the seat we won by a whisker last year. Could Tim Bearder hold on?
Well, yes. By quite a lot.
Wheatley (Oxfordshire) result:
LDEM: 61.0% (+15.8)
CON: 31.2% (-11.8)
LAB: 7.9% (-4.0)Liberal Democrat HOLD.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 29, 2018
It shows how well served the people in the ward have been by our Kirsten Johnson these past 18 months.
We also had a super hold in Aylesbury for Anders Christenson.
Aylesbury North West (Buckinghamshire) result:
LDEM: 39.3% (+9.5)
CON: 30.5% (+5.9)
LAB: 25.6% (+2.9)
GRN: 4.6% (+1.4)Liberal Democrat HOLD.
No UKIP (-19.7) as prev.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 29, 2018
We can definitely forgive his Mum her moment of pride:
May I be forgiven for being a proud mum? My son won the Wheatley by election last night with a 13.8% swing to LDs, now an Oxon County Councillor. Well done to him and the team who helped him. 😁
— Catherine Bearder (@catherinemep) November 30, 2018
Typically, the gain happened after I went to bed…congratulations, Dominic Skinner.
Great result in Stratford North, Warwickshire):
Dominic Skinner, Lib Dem: 40.7% (+12.2)
Con: 28.3% (+4.1)
SFI: 16.0% (-17.1)
Lab: 8.3% (-0.9)
Grn: 6.7% (+1.6)Liberal Democrat GAIN from Stratford First (SFI). pic.twitter.com/6Qxf4JSp0b
— ALDC (@ALDC) November 30, 2018
And Christina Raven didn’t win, but she made a huge leap forward in Welwyn Hatfield. The Tories will be worried now.
Welwyn West (Welwyn Hatfield) result:
CON: 58.7% (+19.0)
LDEM: 36.9% (+23.7)
LAB: 4.4% (-7.5)Conservative HOLD.
No Independent (-35.2) as prev.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 29, 2018
And thanks to Stephen Barrow for flying the flag in a much more challenging situation.
Failsworth East (Oldham) result:
LAB: 58.5% (-7.2)
CON: 29.0% (+5.3)
IND: 8.1% (+8.1)
UKIP: 2.8% (+2.8)
LDEM: 1.6% (-1.3)Labour HOLD.
No Grn (-7.7) as prev.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 29, 2018
There are three more results to come…one of them was a gain – above.
There was good progress for Julie Ireland in Bromley:
Kelsey & Eden Park (Bromley) result:
CON: 45.2% (+0.8)
LAB: 29.1% (+1.7)
LDEM: 17.6% (+2.7)
UKIP: 6.1% (+2.4)
GRN: 2.0% (-7.6)Conservative HOLD.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 30, 2018
And thanks to Michael Maher in Northamptonshire for flying the flag.
Delapre & Briar Hill (Northampton) result:
LAB: 43.4% (+15.6)
CON: 26.0% (+1.3)
IND: 19.8% (+19.8)
LDEM: 6.3% (-10.4)
GRN: 4.5% (+4.5)Labour HOLD.
No UKIP (-20.0), a local party (-6.8) and BNP (-3.9) as prev.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 30, 2018
* 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
When the GIs came to Swansea
What's he got?
What remains of the locations where Hue and Cry was filmed
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion polls
Peter Martin
Carl Pierce
Roland
Chris Cory
Robert Knight
9 Comments
LibDem gain from “Stratford First” in Warwickshire
Stratford North (Warwickshire) result:
LDEM: 40.7% (+12.2)
CON: 28.3% (+4.1)
SFI: 16.0% (-17.1)
LAB: 8.3% (-0.9)
GRN: 6.7% (+1.6)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Stratford First (SFI).
Well, I never thought I would beat Caron to the post in declaring good news! A gain in Stratford North! From a localist group (Stratford First). With a 12% or so majority over the Tories (Stratford First were relegated to 3rd place).
The result in Stratford North was actually better than Britain Elects reported it, as they have the % change figures incorrect; Dominic Skinner gained the seat from third place (+16.9%), the Conservative vote share having remained static.
Our rejoicing in Oxford will be tempered by the sad loss of our tireless former Oxford LibDem Councillor Jean Fooks, who only recently retired as Lord Mayor. She had only recently gone to live in Dulverton. Jean will be sadly missed.
Some very good results but also 2 very disappointing ones. There seems to be a pattern of doing well in certain parts of England, mainly the South and doing badly in other areas, mainly the North and parts of the Midlands. Maybe the remainers are waking up.
On the Northampton result Andrew Teale’s previews states that the independent candidate was the Lib Dem candidate last time so losing ground there was perhaps not surprising.
http://britainelects.com/2018/11/28/previews-29-nov-2018/
On the Welwyn Hatfield result, Britain Elects has, I think computed the change in the vote based on 2016 result but it was last fought in 2018 – so an even better comparative performance for us.
So compared to the 2018 result – it is Con +6.8%, Lib Dem + 36.9%, Lab – 5.0%, Ind – 38.7%
http://vote-2012.proboards.com/thread/11945/local-council-elections-29th-november?page=3
Another mistake on Britain Elects, the Failsworth result is compared with 2016 not this May. In fact the percentage is unchanged, unsurprisingly.
Election Maps Twitter predicted two Tory gains
One from Stratford First and one from the Lib Dems. Neither occurred and the only gain of the night was the Lib Dem picking up the Stratford First seat. So yes we appear to be doing better than a lot of the pundits predict.
The Northampton result is also probably still influenced by the bad reputation of the former Lib Dem administration rather than by general factors (regional or otherwise)