There was only one by-election taking place this week and it was for the Olivers Battery and Badgers Farm ward on the Winchester City Council. The by-election was called following the death of Liberal Democrat Councillor David Spender. The Lib Dems had won the seat comfortably in May and they held on last night, despite a swing against them. Brian Laming secured over half the vote to see off his Conservative and Labour challengers. The Liberal Democrat vote share fell from May, but not as much as it has done in some recent by-elections. Labour were the main beneficiaries of this as they managed to double their vote share from the last election, but from such a low starting point this wasn't a problem for Laming. Locally, the Liberal Democrats will be relieved to have won this by-election as they are clinging on to control of Winchester Council. They suffered some bad news yesterday morning when a Councillor who had recently left the Lib Dem group to sit as an Independent announced she was joining the Conservatives. There will be partial Council elections in May which could give either party a more stable majority.
Winchester City Council | |||||
LD | CON | IND | |||
27 | 27 | 3 | |||
Olivers Battery & Badgers Farm | |||||
By-Election Candidate | Votes | Vote % | +/- | ||
Brian Laming (LD) | 894 | 53.9% | -6.3% | ||
Leanne Wheeler (CON) | 604 | 36.4% | +1.3% | ||
Hum Qureshi (LAB) | 162 | 9.8% | +5.1% | ||
*I'm not 100% my Council make-up is correct following the recent defections. If anyone knows for sure feel free to correct me!
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