Saturday 1 November 2014

Local Council By-election Results ahead of #GE2015

Some fantastic work done by MiddleEnglander to provide the information below.

There were 34 by-elections during October, one for two seats, with 11 (31%) seats changing hands. The results can be summarised by:

Party  Candidates      Defended         Retained            Gained              Lost                Won         retention rate
Conservative             35          15           12            2          3           14          80%
Labour          29            8             7            2          1             9          88%
Liberal Democrats             19            2             2            2
             4        100%
SNP            2            1             1            1
             2        100%
UKIP          27            2             1            2          1             3          50%
Green          14





Resident Groups *               3            2

          2
            0%
Independent **          16            5             1            2          4             3          20%
BNP            1





English Democrat               1





Justice            1          




OMRLP            1





TUSAC            1





Total        150          35              24          11        11           35          69%

* Canvey Island Independent, Derwentside Independent & Llandaff North Independent
** 16 Independents contested 13 wards

Although there were 11 seats that changed hands, just 2 were between the 3 traditional main parties:
- Labour gained a seat from a Conservative in Crawley whilst a Liberal Democrat gained a seat from Labour in York.

Conservatives gained 2 seats for County Councils last contested in May 2013
- regaining Essex, Brightlingsea from UKIP following a resignation on a 4½% swing in a division that had elected a Conservative in 2005 & 2009
- gaining Gloucestershire, Mitcheldean following the death of the Independent councillor who won a new 2013 division in a fairly traditional Conservative area
but lost 3 seats to varying opponents
- Crawley, Southgate to Labour in a 1½% swing since May 2014 in a split ward where the former councillor was a Conservative sitting as UKIP
- Swale, Sheppey Central to UKIP on a 32% swing since 2011 when 3 Conservatives were elected although Sheppey First won in both 2007 & 2008
- Telford & Wrekin, Newport West to an Independent where retiring Conservative won the single member ward in 2007 & 2011 but an Independent in 2003

Labour gained the Crawley, Southgate seat along with
- Durham, Burnopfield & Dipton from Derwentside Independent by 1 vote in a split two member ward where the Labour candidates polled most votes in 2013
but lost York, Westfield to a Liberal Democrat on a swing of 25% in ward where Labour gained all 3 seats in 2011 but late councillor was sitting as a Lib Dem

Liberal Democrats gained the York Westfield seat
- along with Rutland, Whissendime from an Independent elected in a 2008 by-election for the single member ward but now straight fight with a Conservative

SNP regained Argyll & Bute, Oban North & Lorn from an Independent who won the seat in July 2014 but died just 10 days later

UKIP apart from gaining Swale, Sheppy Central but losing Essex, Brightlingsea
- gained South Tyneside, Westoe from a late Independent in a ward Labour won in 2010, 2012 & 2014 but Independents won in other years since 2002

An Independent won in Castle Point, Canvey Island East gaining a seat from a disqualified Canvey Island Independent who had won each year since 2004

There were 98 by-elections for 99 seats during the 5 months June to October 2014 with 36 (36%) changing hand or 34 (34%) excluding 2 Lincolnshire Independent (classed as a Resident Group) gains from Independent.   The results can be summarised by:

Party  Candidates      Defended       Retained        Gained           Lost             Won       retention rate
Conservatives            99         33        22         7       11        29       67%
Labour          87         29        27         8         2        35       93%
Liberal Democrats             59         12          7         7         5        14       58%
SNP            4           3          1         1         2          2       33%
Plaid Cymru               1





UKIP          81           5          1         5         4          6       20%
Green          44           2          1         1         1          2       50%
Resident Groups *             6           2
         3         2          3         0%
Independents **          43         13          4         4         9          8       31%
No Description            3





Blue            1





BNP            2





Christian People's Alliance              1





English Democrats               3





Liberal            1





Mebyon Kernow            2





TUSAC            6





Others ***            4

         


Total        447         99        63       36       36        99       64%

*   Lincolnshire Independents, Its Our County in Herefordshire, Canvey Island Independent, Derwentside Independent and Llandaff North Independent
** 43 Independents contested 33 seats
*** 1 each for British Democrats, Justice, OMRLP and Patriotic Socialist

The Conservatives contested all the by-elections, Labour 88% and the Liberal Democrats 60% with UKIP contesting 82% and Greens 44%.

Although 36 seats changed hands during the five months, just 10 were between Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats
- Conservatives gained Broadland: Wroxham and Somerset: North Frome from Liberal Democrats
- Labour gained Charnwood: Thurmaston and Crawley: Southgate from the Conservatives and Craven: Skipton West from the Liberal Democrats
- Liberal Democrats gained Cornwall: Illogan, Epping Forest: Hemnall, Guildford: Lovelace and Maidstone: Staplehurst from the Conservatives
   together with York: Westfield from Labour

Conservatives gained 3 County Council divisions from a Liberal Democrat (Somerst), UKIP (Essex) and an Independent (Gloucestershire)
along seats from a Liberal Democrat in Broadland, an Independent in East Cambridgeshire, Green in Kings Lynn & West Norfolk and UKIP in Cornwall
- whilst losing 4 seats to the Liberal Democrats in Cornwall, Epping Forest, Guildford and Maidstone and 2 to Labour in Charnwood and Crawley
   together with 2 to UKIP in Shepway and Swale along with 1 each to Green and Its Our County in Herefordshire and 1 to an Independent in Telford & Wrekin

Labour gain from Conservatives in Charnwood and Crawley, Liberal Democrat in Craven, SNP in South Lanarkshire and UKIP in Merthyr Tydfil and Redditch
together with 1 each from Derwentside Independent and an Independent in Durham
- whilst losing a seat to a Liberal Democrat in York and another to UKIP in Doncaster

Liberal Democrats gain 4 seats from Conservatives in Cornwall, Epping Forest, Guildford and Maidstone and 1 from Labour in York
together with 1 from an Independent in both Northumberland and Rutland
- whilst losing a seat to a Conservative in Broadland and Somerset, Labour in Craven, UKIP in Worthing and another to Independent in North Yorkshire

Independents gained a seat from a Conservative in Telford & Wrekin, a Liberal Democrat in North Yorkshire and Canvey Island Independent in Castle Point
together with a seat from SNP In Argyll & Bute but was then lost at a subsequent by-election when the newly elected councillor died after just 10 days
- whilst losing a seat to a Conservative in both East Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire, to a Liberal Democrat in both Northumberland and Rutland
  along with 1 to Labour in Durham, 1 to UKIP in South Tyneside, 2 seats to Lincolnshire Independents in North Kesteven and the seat to SNP in Argyll & Bute

UKIP gained a seat from Conservatives in both Shepway and Swale, one from Labour in Doncaster and another from Liberal Democrats in Worthing
as well as a seat from an Independent in South Tyneside
- but lost a seat to a Conservative in both Cornwall and Essex along with another to Labour in both Merthyr Tydfil and Redditch

Greens gained a seat from the Conservatives in Herefordshire but lost another to the Conservatives in Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
SNP lost a seat to Labour in South Lanarkshire and another to Independent in Argyll & Bute which they have subsequently regained
Its Our County gained a seat in Herefordshire from Conservatives along with Lincolnshire Independents 2 seat gain from Independents in North Kesteven
- whilst Derwentside Independent lost a seat to Labour in Durham and Canvey Island Independent to an Independent in Castle Point

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