With a string of poor by-election results, and their polling figures dropping as low as 13%, the Liberal Democrats must have been apprehensive about defending five seats last night. But the party did very well, holding all their seats and taking another off the Conservatives in Torbay. The Tories were the big losers of the night losing half of the six seats they were defending. In Torbay they also failed to defend a Town Council seat against an Independent, and Labour took a seat off them on the Babergh District Council (Suffolk).
We'll start in Torbay where the death of Conservative Cllr. Stuart John had left vacancies on the Torbay Unitary Authority and Brixham Town Council. The Lib Dems needed a swing of 5.8% to win the seat but given their recent results it seemed like a difficult task. Not for newly elected Cllr. Andrew Baldrey though, who produced a brilliant result for his party by winning the seat on a 20.2% swing. And as mentioned, an Independent gained John's Town Council seat to round off a poor night for the Conservatives in South Devon.
In West Berkshire, where the roles were reversed, the Lib Dems held Thatcham South & Crookham in a straight fight against the Conservatives. Needing a swing of just 2.7% the Tories actually lost ground to the Lib Dems as Cllr. Robert Morgan increased his party's vote by 1.6%. The Lib Dems also held the same ward on the Thatcham Town Council.
In London, there were two more contests between the Tories and the Lib Dems which the former won with ease. The Liberal Democrats are usually less competitive in the capital and last night was no exception. In Camden, Cllr. Gio Spinella easily defended a big majority in the Frognal and Fitzjohns ward, increasing his party's vote by almost 10%. In Kensington & Chelsea, the Conservatives did even better against their national coalition partners. Cllr. Rock Feilding-Mellen secured 75% of the vote, an increase of almost 20%, in spite of a recent scandal in involving two Conservative Councillors.
In Wales, Labour continued their string of good results by holding the Cymmer ward on the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council. Plaid Cymru needed only a 1.9% to take the seat off Labour but the Welsh nationalists lost votes to the three new candidates who did not stand in 2008. Cllr. Chris Williams held his Labour's vote at just over 50% as Plaid Cymru's vote dropped by almost 15%. Labour also easily held a seat on the Pontypridd Town Council, in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
In other results, Labour gained Great Cornard North on the Babergh District Council from the Conservatives. Only the Conservatives and Labour stood in 2007 and it was the Tories who lost votes to the Liberal Democrat and UKIP candidates standing this time. As well as their top-tier results, the Lib Dems held Nethermayne on the Basildon District Council (Essex), Kidlington North on the Cherwell District Council (Oxfordshire) and Bridge on the Lewes Town Council (East Sussex). Finally, the Conservatives held Warwick South on the Warwick District Council and an Independent beat an Independent in a by-election for the St Germans Parish Council (Cornwall).
Torbay Borough Council | West Berkshire District Council | ||||||||||||||||
CON | LD | IG | IND | Conservatives | Lib Dems | ||||||||||||
23 | -1 | 10 | +1 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 36 | - | 16 | - | ||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | ||||||||||
Andrew Baldrey (E) | 801 | 52.7% | +16.4 | Robert Morgan (E) | 936 | 54.3% | +1.6 | ||||||||||
Nicholas Henderson | 365 | 24% | -23.9 | Dominic Boeck | 787 | 45.7% | -1.6 | ||||||||||
Rosemary Clarke | 195 | 12.8% | +12.8 | ||||||||||||||
Jen Walsh | 159 | 10.5% | +10.5 | ||||||||||||||
N/C (BNP) | - | - | -15.8 | ||||||||||||||
Camden Borough Council | Kensington & Chelsea Borough Council | |||||||||||||||||||||
LAB | LD | CON | GRN | CON | LAB | LD | VAC | |||||||||||||||
30 | - | 13 | - | 10 | - | 1 | - | 41 | - | 9 | - | 2 | - | 2 | - | |||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | |||||||||||||||
Gio Spinella (E) | 1061 | 62.6% | +9.5 | Rock Feilding-Mellen (E) | 649 | 75% | +19.3 | |||||||||||||||
David Bouchier | 329 | 19.4% | -2.3 | Martin Wilson | 146 | 16.9% | -3.1 | |||||||||||||||
Jack Smith | 235 | 13.9% | -3.9 | Jack Bovill | 70 | 8.1% | +8.1 | |||||||||||||||
Charles Harris | 71 | 4.2% | -3.2 | N/C (LAB) | - | - | -13.8 | |||||||||||||||
N/C (GRN) | - | - | -10.5 | |||||||||||||||||||
Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council | |||||||||
LAB | PC | IND | LD | CON | |||||
45 | - | 20 | - | 6 | - | 3 | - | 1 | - |
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | ||||||
Chris Williams (E) | 740 | 52.3% | +0.4 | ||||||
Nicole Griffiths | 470 | 33.2% | -14.9 | ||||||
Paul Wasley | 142 | 10% | +10 | ||||||
Steven Rogers | 41 | 2.9% | +2.9 | ||||||
Kevin Jakeway | 23 | 1.6% | +1.6 | ||||||
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