What on earth is going on with the world? Last week we gained back a Council seat in Sheffield. This week, we gain a seat in North East Derbyshire which is not, shall we say, an area of strength. It’s been a while since we ran a campaign or even stood a candidate there.
Look at the, though:
Tupton (North East Derbyshire) result:
LDEM: 38.3% (+38.3)
LAB: 34.7% (-32.4)
CON: 17.5% (-15.4)
UKIP: 8.9% (+8.9)
BPP: 0.7% (+0.7)— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 15, 2016
I’m not going to lie. I did say a lot of very sweary words when I read this. In a good way, of course.
This just shows what the power of the Lib Dem Newbies can do. Ross Shipman, who joined last year, was key in the campaign to elect David Hancock.
I have had a lot of very happy Thursday nights recently as we’ve gained seat after seat. This one makes me happier than ever, though, because of the implications. This is a seat in an area where we didn’t stand last time and hadn’t really campaigned until recently. We went in there with a determined team and good messages and we smashed it. This should give every party member confidence that we can do it. Yes, it’s going to take a bit of time, but we are on the way up.
For the second week running, I’m having all sorts of nostalgic thoughts about all those by-elections we won in Chesterfield, Sheffield and the surrounding areas. The crack Chesterfield team, led by Paul Holmes (who was the one who told me about our victory tonight) was very generous in going out across the region and helping with by-elections. In 1994, we had a particularly memorable win in Clowne and Barlborough in the heart of Dennis Skinner’s Bolsover constituency.
A massive well done to Ross and his team. No doubt he’ll be well feted at the Brighton LibDemPint tomorrow night.
Not for the first time, I wish I hadn’t been quite so anxious to save money by travelling to Conference at stupid o’clock on Saturday morning.
Another good result in Newcastle upon Tyne – up 19%.
Blakelaw (Newcastle upon Tyne) result:
LAB: 43.2% (-20.0)
LDEM: 28.1% (+19.0)
UKIP: 19.1% (+3.0)
CON: 5.1% (-2.4)
GRN: 4.5% (+0.5)— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 15, 2016
Delight at a huge advance in East Hertfordshire is tempered by the realisation that UKIP gained even more. But look at the collapse in the Lobour and Tory vote…
Puckeridge (East Hertfordshire) result:
CON: 42.9% (-24.6)
UKIP: 18.9% (+18.9)
LDEM: 18.0% (+18.0)
LAB: 11.0% (-8.9)
GRN: 9.1% (-3.5)— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 15, 2016
And we held our own in Carlisle.
Castle (Carlisle) result:
LAB: 46.5% (+9.2)
CON: 26.7% (+7.7)
UKIP: 12.5% (-10.4)
LDEM: 10.3% (-0.6)
GRN: 4.0% (-3.5)— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 15, 2016
UPDATE: 8:30 am: And the good news keeps on coming.
At the other end of the Ezst Midlands, in Kettering, Lib Dem Jenny Davies topped the poll in a by-election for two town council seats in Burton Latimer, which makes another rLib Dem GAIN from Independent. Here’s the result and a picture of a very happy team:
Full result (for two seats)
Lib Dem Jenny Davies 597
Ind 564
Ind 328
Lab 289
And in Shropshire, we had a solid hold when Jonny Keeley held the Bishop’s Castle ward. Andy Boddington has the details:
A couple months ago, Charlotte Barnes unfortunately had to stand down as Shropshire Councillor for the Bishop’s Castle division triggering a by-election. Yesterday, a substantial majority of voters supported Jonny as her replacement.
48.83% turnout. 1,414 votes cast.
Jonny Keeley, Lib Dem 862 Georgie Ellis, Conservative 420 Judith Payne, Labour 95 Steve Hale, Green 37 Congratulations to Jonny and the great Lib Dem team that backed his candidacy. He steps into the role held by two excellent predecessors, Peter Phillips and Charlotte Barnes.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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10 Comments
Ross was agent – David Hancock is the new cllr. Also have gained our first seat in Kettering since 1999 on Button Latimer Town Council tonight too
NE Derbyshire is a brilliant result.
I hope that our newbie, Dr Catherine Nakielny will be successful NEXT Thursday at the Cilycwm by election on Carmarthenshire County Council.
We have not had a candidate there for decades, from what we have learnt.
7 candidates standing.
Please wish Catherine well. We have Sam Bennett, as Agent. He got Kirsty Williams re-elected to the Welsh Assembly in May, as he agent.
Fingers cross for 22nd September.
NE Derbyshire is a brilliant result.
I hope that our newbie, Dr Catherine Nakielny will be successful NEXT Thursday at the Cilycwm by election on Carmarthenshire County Council.
We have not had a candidate there for decades, from what we have learnt.
7 candidates standing.
Please wish Catherine well. We have Sam Bennett, as Agent. He got Kirsty Williams re-elected to the Welsh Assembly in May, as he agent.
Fingers crossed for 22nd September.
The Newcastle and Carlisle seats were held by Lib Dems until 2010 – often both with more than 50% of the vote.
Ross was the Election Agent and did a fantastic job -the first time he has ever run an election. David Hancock (another ‘new’ member although he had been a member back in the 1990’s) was the candidate and a brilliant one too.
Both, having never fought an election before, didn’t let anything phase them and took up every bit of advice about how to extend what they were initially planning to do. It’s been a very busy 4 weeks but well worth it.
There’s reportedly quite a peculiar story behind how that by-election came about involving a Labour councillor biting a teenager’s nose.
http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/councillor-admits-he-saw-red-and-assaulted-teenager-1-8038375
But can they retain it? They will remember what happened in the nearby Holmewood and Heath ward not so long ago.
Congratulations , as a Londoner who has lived some years in Nottingham, the East Midlands parties seem very mainstream ,and in touch with what is going on in the hearts and minds of people , because they share it .
We need to continue with an open hearted, and open minded approach in our party , and not treat people as enemies or opponents , either in our party or the wider electorate.
We can sense there are a lot of Labour voters and beyond , in need of a common sense party !
Dan, your caveat is wise and correct. However the results last night more than confirm the general trend of the Lib Dem local election result continuing to significantly improve. You could argue they could not have got any worse but it is going in the right direction at a pace I never expected. Next May may be interesting.
Question how can we get the media to recognise this?
Gather we also WON the Burton Latimer Town Council seat in Northamptonshire against Labour and 2 x Independents..
Of the 5 Principle Authority byelections yesterday (not counting Hackney) we stood in all 5, up from 3 last time they were contested; that is real cause for optimism. Even if they are paper candidates, standing is the first step.
We can look forward to next May with real hope as our performance in byelections continues to improve.