By-Election Watch (30/08/10)

Here's our current list of forthcoming by-elections. No top-tier polls this week but I'll have a little look at the two vacancies for West Lancashire DC on Wednesday. There are also four Town Council by-elections taking place on Thursday.

Council	Type	Ward	Party	Reason	Date
Cumbria	County	Aspatria & Wharrels	Conservative	Death	9th Sep
Edinburgh	Scotland	Liberton/Gilmerton	Labour	MP	9th Sep
Exeter	District	All Wards		Ineligible	9th Sep
Middlesbrough	Unitary	Ayresome	Labour	Personal	9th Sep
Norwich	District	All Wards		Ineligible	9th Sep
Poole	Unitary	Newtown	Lib Dem	Work	9th Sep
Cambridgeshire	County	Cambridge East Chesterton	Lib Dem	Resigned	16th Sep
Hackney	London	New River	Conservative	Death	16th Sep
Kensington & Chelsea	London	Cremone	Conservative	Misconduct	16th Sep
Kensington & Chelsea	London	Earls Court	Conservative	Misconduct	16th Sep
Nottinghamshire	County	Worksop West	Conservative	Death	16th Sep
Gateshead	Metro.	Lobley Hill & Benshaw	Labour	Death	23rd Sep
Gateshead	Metro.	Saltwell	Labour	Resigned	23rd Sep
Tameside	Metro.	Longdendale	Labour	Death	30th Sep
Tower Hamlets	London	Mayor		Created	21st Oct
Carmarthenshire	Wales	Cenarth	Independent	Death	TBA
Cheshire East	Unitary	Alderley	Conservative	Death	TBA
Durham	County	Brandon	Labour	Death	TBA
Durham	County	Deneside	Labour	Death	TBA
Gwynedd	Wales	Bowydd & Rhiw	Llais Gwynedd	Resigned	TBA
Gwynedd	Wales	Seiont	Independent	Death	TBA
Hampshire	County	Andover South	Conservative	Death	TBA
Herefordshire	County	St Nicholas	Independent	Death	TBA
Knowsley	Metro.	Park	Labour	Personal	TBA
Liverpool	Metro.	Croxteth	Labour	Death	TBA
Medway	Unitary	River	Conservative	Resigned	TBA
St Helens	Metro.	Billinge & Seneley Green	Labour	Death	TBA
Sheffield	Metro.	Manor Castle	Labour	Death	TBA
Stockton-on-Tees	Unitary	Ingleby Barwick East	IND Group	Resigned	TBA
Stockton-on-Tees	Unitary	Mandale & Victoria	IND Group	Death	TBA
West Sussex	County	Maidenbower	Conservative	MP	TBA

I have to apologise for the missing round-up from last week. I finished a major project on Friday and this is the first time I've turned a computer on since! I'll pop up a post about them tomorrow (if anyone still cares)!

By-Election Preview (26/08/10)

I haven't had much time to look at this week's by-elections, so apologies if I've missed anything. Labour are defending two seats in top-tier Councils; one in Redcar & Cleveland and the other in Sheffield. There are also three District and two Town Council by-elections taking place.

Of the two the vacancies the one in Redcar & Cleveland is the more competitive. The vacancy for the Brotton Ward has arisen because the Labour Councillor Peter Scott has resigned. I have to confess that, despite regularly searching, I have no idea why! Answers on a postcard; or in the comments section! The Liberal Democrats need a swing of just over 5% to take the seat, but that hides how close they were to taking one of the three seats in this ward at the last election. Scott pipped Valerie Miller to the third place by just 10 votes in 2007. Miller is the Liberal Democrat candidate again this week, so they should put in a strong showing. The new Labour candidate had a visit from the Labour Leader frontrunner David Miliband, whose South Shields constituency is just up the coast, but the Lib Dems are claiming they hijacked the event. The ward borders the Redcar Parliamentary constituency the Lib Dems sensationally took in May, and so they have recent form in this neck of the woods. It seems Labour are going to have to work hard to hold on here, and their minority administration can ill afford to lose a seat. On a side note, I wonder how many Wham! fans will accidentally vote for the BNP candidate…!

Brotton (R&C)
Candidate	2007
Dorreen Rudland (LAB)	39.1%
Valerie Miller (LD)	29%
Don Agar (CON)	19.2%
Barry Hunt (IND)	12.7%
Michael George (BNP)	-

Labour should have an easier task holding the Woodhouse ward in Sheffield. The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Marjorie Barker. She won her seat easily in 2008, and although the Liberal Democrats increased their vote here in May they were still way behind Labour. The dynamic of the race should favour Labour too. The Liberal Democrats lost a couple of seats earlier this year, which meant they technically lost control of the Council. They remained in control of Sheffield, and as this is one of two vacancies that have arisen in Labour held seats they currently enjoy a two seat majority. As Labour are the opposition locally and nationally it's hard to imagine them losing to the swing required. As the other by-election is in an equally safe Labour ward it's surely only a matter of time before the Lib Dems' majority in Sheffield is wiped out yet again.

Woodhouse (Sheffield)
Candidate	2008	2010
Jackie Satur (LAB)	47.6%	47%
Laurence Hayward (CON)	16.3%	14.5%
Joe Otten (LD)	15.4%	21.9%
Jonathan Arnott (UKIP)	13.8%	9.6%
John Grant (GRN)	6.8%	2.7%
N/C (ED)	-	4.3%
Jordan Pont (BNP)	-	-
Derek Hutchinson (IND)	-	-

Elsewhere, the following by-elections are taking place: Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury, Channock Chase DC (Staffordshire); Aldbury & Wigginton, Dacorum BC (Hertfordshire); Burnham Church, South Buckinghamshire DC; South Ward, Penzance TC (Cornwall); Victoria, Burgess Hill TC (West Sussex).

By-Election Watch (23/08/10)

Here's our current list of forthcoming by-elections. There are two top-tier elections this week, which I'll preview on Wednesday. There are also three District and two Town Council polls taking place.

Council	Type	Ward	Party	Reason	Date
Redcar & Cleveland	Unitary	Brotton	Labour	Resigned	26th Aug
Sheffield	Metro.	Woodhouse	Labour	Death	26th Aug
Cumbria	County	Aspatria & Wharrels	Conservative	Death	9th Sep
Edinburgh	Scotland	Liberton/Gilmerton	Labour	MP	9th Sep
Exeter	District	All Wards		Ineligible	9th Sep
Middlesbrough	Unitary	Ayresome	Labour	Personal	9th Sep
Norwich	District	All Wards		Ineligible	9th Sep
Poole	Unitary	Newtown	Lib Dem	Work	9th Sep
Cambridgeshire	County	Cambridge East Chesterton	Lib Dem	Resigned	16th Sep
Hackney	London	New River	Conservative	Death	16th Sep
Kensington & Chelsea	London	Cremone	Conservative	Misconduct	16th Sep
Kensington & Chelsea	London	Earls Court	Conservative	Misconduct	16th Sep
Nottinghamshire	County	Worksop West	Conservative	Death	16th Sep
Gateshead	Metro.	Lobley Hill & Benshaw	Labour	Death	23rd Sep
Gateshead	Metro.	Saltwell	Labour	Resigned	23rd Sep
Tower Hamlets	London	Mayor		Created	21st Oct
Carmarthenshire	Wales	Cenarth	Independent	Death	TBA
Cheshire East	Unitary	Alderley	Conservative	Death	TBA
Durham	County	Brandon	Labour	Death	TBA
Durham	County	Deneside	Labour	Death	TBA
Gwynedd	Wales	Bowydd & Rhiw	Llais Gwynedd	Resigned	TBA
Gwynedd	Wales	Seiont	Independent	Death	TBA
Hampshire	County	Andover South	Conservative	Death	TBA
Herefordshire	County	St Nicholas	Independent	Death	TBA
Knowsley	Metro.	Park	Labour	Personal	TBA
Liverpool	Metro.	Croxteth	Labour	Death	TBA
St Helens	Metro.	Billinge & Seneley Green	Labour	Death	TBA
Sheffield	Metro.	Manor Castle	Labour	Death	TBA
Stockton-on-Tees	Unitary	Ingleby Barwick East	IND Group	?	TBA
Stockton-on-Tees	Unitary	Mandale & Victoria	IND Group	Death	TBA
Tameside	Metro.	Longdendale	Labour	Death	TBA
West Sussex	County	Maidenbower	Conservative	MP	TBA