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