his week's by-elections produced some intriguing results. Although Labour failed to gain what appeared to be their easiest target in Hackney, they produced a shock in Nottinghamshire to take a County and a District seat off the Conservatives. The Tories also lost a seat to the Liberal Democrats on the Kensington & Chelsea Council in the wake of a scandal. However, the Lib Dems did not have a great night overall as they saw their vote collapse in wards in which they were not competitive.
I'll start in Hackney where the New River ward was up for election following the death of Conservative Cllr. Maureen Middleton. In May this ward elected two Labour Councillors ahead of Middleton and so the Conservative looked like they would struggle to hold here. As it was their candidate Benzion Papier easily won the seat, with a big swing towards the Tories. Labour's vote stood still as the Liberal Democrats and the Greens collapsed. Without any local knowledge this all seems a bit strange. However, the Labour blogger Luke Akehurst also happens to be the election agent for their campaign. He explains that the ward is "polarised between the mainly Labour-voting Woodberry Down Estate (near Manor House tube) and Tory voting Chassidic Jewish areas of Stamford Hill." Given the difference in turnout between the General Election and a September by-election then it seems getting their vote out was the key to the Conservative's success. Labour still dominate the Council with 50 of the 57 seats though.
There was much better news for Labour in the East Midlands though as they gained two seats from the Conservative in Worksop. Both by-elections were taking place following the death of Conservative Cllr. Michael Bennett, who held Worksop West on the Nottinghamshire County Council and Worksop South on the Bassetlaw District Council. They were both won on impressive swings and it leaves the two Councils extremely tight. On the County Council the Conservatives now have a majority of just three but in Bassetlaw this loss has left the Council virtually hung. The Tories hold 24 of the 48 seats with one vacancy in a safe Labour ward.
The Conservatives were also hit hard in Kensington and Chelsea but this is much more likely to be the result of local factors. The by-elections for the Cremone and Earls Court wards were taking place because two Conservative Councillors, Barry Phelps and Mark Daley, resigned in disgrace. They were engulfed in a scandal involving suspect images being send over the Council's email system and it would seem the voters in this London Borough were not impressed. Labour came within 19 votes of a sensational gain in Cremone whilst Linda Wade went one better for the Liberal Democrats and took Earls Court. The Tories still enjoy a big majority on the Council, and the Earls Court result means the Lib Dems now have three Councillors here.
Elsewhere the Liberal Democrats managed to hold East Chesterton on the Cambridgeshire County Council. The vacancy arose because the sitting Cllr. Siep Wijsenbeek moved to France and Ian Manning is the new Lib Dem Councillor for this ward. In Knowsley (Merseyside) Labour dished out the expected hammering in the Park ward, which was vacant due to the resignation of Cllr. Margaret Dobbie for personal reasons. Tony Brennan managed 86% of the vote to maintain his party's huge majority.
Elsewhere the Conservatives held Stanwix Urban on the Carlisle City Council and the Liberal Democrats held Cadley on the Preston City Council. The Lib Dems also held Northcourt on the Abingdon Town Council and Pinewood on the Whitehill Town Council.
Hackney Borough Council | Nottinghamshire County Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
LAB | CON | LD | CON | LAB | LD | MIF | IND | UKIP | SAI | ||||||||||||||||
50 | - | 4 | - | 3 | - | 35 | -1 | 15 | +1 | 9 | - | 4 | - | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | ||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | ||||||||||||||||||
Benzion Papier (E) | 1567 | 57.2% | +23.6 | Kevin Greaves (E) | 1457 | 61.5% | +28.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Jonathan Burke | 1007 | 36.8% | -0.7 | Alec Thorpe | 755 | 31.9% | -18.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stuart Coggins | 77 | 2.8% | -10.4 | Leon Duveen | 88 | 3.7% | -12.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Benjamin Mathis | 61 | 2.2% | -13.5 | Ron Dawes | 56 | 2.4% | +2.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Darren Fraser | 26 | 0.9% | 0.9 | Terry Coleman | 13 | 0.5% | +0.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
Kensington & Chelsea Borough Council | Cambridgeshire County Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CON | LAB | LD | CON | LD | LAB | GRN | UKIP | ||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | -1 | 9 | - | 3 | +1 | 42 | - | 23 | - | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | ||||||||||||||
Cremone | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | Ian Manning (E) | 832 | 40.9% | +5.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gerard Hargreaves (E) | 602 | 41.2% | -9 | Gerri Bird | 663 | 32.6% | +17.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mabel McKeown | 583 | 39.9% | +16.8 | Matthew Bradney | 334 | 16.4% | -8.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Peter Kosta | 180 | 12.3% | -9.6 | Peter Pope | 117 | 5.7% | -9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Julia Stephenson | 51 | 3.5% | +3.5 | Anna Gordon | 53 | 2.6% | +2.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
David Coburn | 46 | 3.1% | -1.8 | Peter Burkinshaw | 37 | 1.8% | -7.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Earls Court | Knowsley Borough Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | LAB | LD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Linda Wade (E) | 703 | 44.8% | +24.3 | 55 | - | 8 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Malcolm Spalding | 594 | 37.8% | -7.1 | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/-% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Joel Bishop | 151 | 9.6% | -9.2 | Tony Brennan (E) | 650 | 86% | +6.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Elizabeth Arbuthnot | 49 | 3.1% | -0.8 | John White | 70 | 9.3% | -10.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jack Bovill | 29 | 1.8% | Gary Robertson | 36 | 4.8% | +4.8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Enright | 26 | 1.7% | -8.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Antony Little | 18 | 1.1% | +1.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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