While you are waiting for news from Tiverton & Honiton we can also offer you some encouragement from two other elections, on top of the excellent result in Highley in Shropshire.
First, from the London borough of Kingston upon Thames. Last month Lib Dems had a resounding victory by winning 41 of the 45 council seats. But the contest in one ward, New Malden Village, was deferred after the death of an independent candidate just a few days before polling day, leaving the three seats still vacant.
This created a rather odd campaigning environment – our squeeze message evaporated as there was no danger of another party taking control. Predictably, opposition literature emphasised the fact that people could now abandon tactical voting and vote with their hearts. The other parties also homed in on the very small opposition on the Council, which needed to be strengthened – a fact which had also worried the Lib Dems, as we have always seen Scrutiny as a function of the opposition.
This is traditionally a Conservative facing area, the small Labour representation having been wiped out completely in 2010.
So we are delighted to report that not only did we win all three seats convincingly, but the Conservatives were knocked into third and fourth places by a coalition of Greens and Independents.
Here are the full results:
Mark Durrant (LD): 1217
Dongsung (Robert) Kim (LD): 1184
Lesley Heap (LD): 1182
Green: 867
Kingston Indept Residents: 724
Kingston Indept Residents: 703
Tory: 467
Lab: 436
Lab: 429
Lab: 374
Tory: 372
Tory: 327
Congratulations to Mark Durrant, Lesley Heap and Robert Kim!!
Lib Dems now hold 44 out of 48 seats in Kingston – 92%. Is this the biggest percentage in the country?
Big Lib Dem win for @EdwardJDavey's team in Kingston 🔶💪 https://t.co/W0iSIPTdIT
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) June 24, 2022
New Malden Village (Kingston upon Thames) council election result:
LDEM: 32.8%
GRN: 23.4%
RES: 19.5%
CON: 12.6%
LAB: 11.7%Liberal Democrat WIN (X3)
New boundaries.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 24, 2022
More exciting news has come through from Waverley Borough Council where we gained Hindhead ward from the Conservatives.
Hindhead (Waverley) council by-election result:
LDEM: 54.6% (+7.9)
CON: 45.4% (-1.2)Votes cast: 983
No Lab (-6.8) as prev.
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 23, 2022
Congratulations to Conrad Alexis Waters!
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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3 Comments
I am rather puzzled at how Britain Elects comes up with the percentages in a ward with three vacancies (New Malden Village). It looks as though they have taken the top vote for each party, even though some parties did not put up a full slate. It is particularly odd given that the Greens and Kingston Independent Residents put up a joint slate.
You could say that a result like this, with five parties standing and the winners gaining only a third of the vote, makes the case for proportional representation. But somehow Conservatives AND Labour can’t see that.
@William Wallace. The percentages from Britain Elects are incorrect. They simply took the top vote for each party. In fact, the Greens and KIRG ran a joint slate, so the results are actually Lib Dem 43%, KIRG/Greens 27%, Lab 15%, Con 14%. It was particularly notable because the Tories have always held or come second here.