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).
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