There were six by-elections last night and they produced little in the way of excitement. Although there were two gains neither can really be analysed beyond the local circumstances; although no doubt someone somewhere is! Plaid Cymru took a seat off a local independent party in Gwynedd (North West Wales) and the Conservatives gained a seat from Labour in Sedgemoor (Somerset). However, closer inspection of the latter contest reveals the former Councillor commanded a strong personal vote in a ward that isn't natural Labour territory.
We'll start in Somerset where the Woolavington ward on the Sedgemoor District Council played host to the only gain in England. The by-election was held following the death of the Labour group leader Roger Lavers. Labour had been under pressure in this ward from the Conservatives in previous elections and it would seem Lavers' personal vote had been keeping this seat red. Last nights result saw Alison Hamlin easily take the seat for the Conservatives with the Liberal Democrats, who didn't stand in 2007, pushing Labour into third. It is possible Woolavington will become, like so many Council seats in the South West, a straight fight between the Tories and the Lib Dems in future elections.
Moving on to Wales where there was an important by-election taking place in Gwynedd. The resignation of Llais Gwynedd (Voice of Gwynedd) Cllr. Dafydd Lloyd Hughes, for undisclosed 'personal reasons', left a vacancy in the Bowydd & Rhiw ward. The Council was finely poised as Plaid Cymru are controlling as a minority with 35 of the 75 seats, including two vacancies in seats held by opposition parties. However, Plaid had failed to gain a seat from Llais Gwynedd earlier in the summer, despite the fact the vacancy arose because the previous Councillor had resigned in disgrace. This time around the Welsh Nationalists did succeed in as Paul Thomas comfortably won last night's by-election. The other vacancy will be filled next week, and it could leave Plaid just one vote short of a majority in Gwynedd.
Elsewhere the results were fairly mundane. In North Tyneside the former Liberal Democrat Cllr. Dorothy Bradley, who lost her Battle Hill seat in May, failed in her bid to return to the Council. She was easily beaten by the Labour candidate Lesley Spillard, which is in keeping with the Liberal Democrats poor performances in urban areas, especially in the north, since the General Election. Labour also held seats on the Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (Greater Manchester) and the Durham County Council. They currently run both Councils, although their majority in Durham is slim. Finally, the Conservatives easily held the Alderley ward on the Cheshire East Unitary Authority.
North Tyneside Council | Tameside Borough Council | ||||||||||||||||||||
LAB | CON | LD | LAB | CON | IND | ||||||||||||||||
29 | - | 24 | - | 7 | - | 46 | - | 9 | - | 2 | - | ||||||||||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/- | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/- | ||||||||||||||
Lesley Spillard (E) | 1334 | 58.0% | +11.2 | Janet Cooper (E) | 1275 | 49% | +5.2 | ||||||||||||||
Dorothy Bradley | 826 | 35.9% | -5.5 | Rob Adlard | 1083 | 41.6% | +3.6 | ||||||||||||||
Wendy Morton | 97 | 4.2% | -7.6 | Melanie Roberts | 99 | 3.8% | -5.1 | ||||||||||||||
Dan Ellis | 43 | 1.9% | +1.9 | Anthony Jones | 80 | 3.1% | +3.1 | ||||||||||||||
Kevin Misell | 67 | 2.6% | -6.8 |
Gwynedd County Council | Cheshire East Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PC | IND | LG | LD | LAB | VAC | CON | LD | LAB | MF | NF | IND | |||||||||||||
36 | +1 | 17 | - | 12 | -1 | 5 | - | 4 | - | 1 | - | 58 | - | 12 | - | 6 | - | 3 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | |
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | Candidate | Votes | Vote % | |||||||||||||||||||
Paul Thomas (E) | 338 | 57.9% | Matthew Lloyd (E) | 1647 | 67.9% | |||||||||||||||||||
Donna Morgan | 246 | 42.1% | Oliver Romain | 779 | 32.1% |
Durham County Council | |||||||||||||||
LAB | LD | IND | CON | IG | LIB | VAC | |||||||||
67 | - | 24 | - | 11 | - | 10 | - | 10 | - | 3 | - | 1 | - | ||
Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/- | ||||||||||||
John Turnbull (E) | 1204 | 64% | +13.2 | ||||||||||||
Maureen Smith | 538 | 28.6% | -3.6 | ||||||||||||
Marc Krajewski | 140 | 7.4% | -1.4 |
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