Lib Dems score two good victories whilst Labour hold in Camden

Unfortunately I missed most of last Thursday's by-election night due to work, which is a shame because there were some interesting results. Despite throwing the kitchen sink at Highgate, Camden LBC the Greens failed to gain a seat from Labour. However, the night really belonged to the Liberal Democrats who, on the eve of their annual conference, scored two well fought victories. They managed to hold the tight marginal ward of Surbiton Hill, Kingston LBC and gained a seat from Labour in Gedling (Nottinghamshire). There were also holds for Labour in Wolverhampton and three for the Conservatives in Hampshire.

I'll start in Camden where the Greens had high hopes of adding to their solitary Councillor by gaining a seat of Labour in the Highgate ward. The vacancy arose following the resignation of Labour Councillor Michael Nicolaides, who cited work commitments and plans to move from the borough with his new wife as reasons behind his decision. Nicolaides was one of two Labour Councillors elected in 2010 but they were both behind the lead Green candidate in this multi-member ward.

There were reports that the Greens had called on activists from Brighton to help their campaign but it wasn't enough to prevent a Labour win. Sally Gimson enjoyed a comfortable victory in the end, holding the seat for Labour with a majority of 231 votes. Although they failed to win the result wasn't terrible for the Green Party. They increased their vote share from last May but it would seem they failed to reach out beyond their core support in the ward.

The expected Liberal Democrat collapse duly occurred as their vote share dropped to just 3.9% from around 16% at the last election. Labour appeared to benefit the most from the Lib Dems' poor performance as their vote share increased by around 12% from 2010, which gave them a comfortable victory in the end.

This hold maintains Labour's six seat majority on the London Borough Council with the next full Council elections not due until 2014.

Camden London Borough Council
Lab		LD			Con			Grn
30	-	13	-		10	-		1		-
Highgate
By-Election Candidate				Votes			Vote %		+/-
Sally Gimson (E)				1178			41.6%		+12.6%
Alexis Rowell				947			33.5%		+3.0%
Antony Denyer				593			21.0%		+0.7%
Martin Hay				111			3.9%		-16.3%

The Liberal Democrats fared much better in the other London by-election as they held a seat against the Conservatives in Kingston-upon-Thames. The by-election in Surbiton Hill was called following the resignation of Cllr. Umesh Parekh, whose new employer Friends of the Earth are not keen on their staff to holding Council seats.

The Liberal Democrats gained all three seats in this in 2010 but given the party's drop in support since the General Election this wasn't going to be an easy hold. They should therefore be delighted that at the end of a hard fought, and controversial, campaign John Ayles emerged the winner, beating the Conservative candidate by 102 votes. However, Ayles' win was somewhat overshadowed by the tragic death of a local schoolchild earlier in the day.

The Liberal Democrats have now stretched their majority in Kingston to six seats with the next full Council elections due in 2014.

Royal Borough Kingston-upon-Thames
LD			Con
27	-		21		-
Surbiton Hill
By-Election Candidate		Votes		Vote %		+/-
John Ayles (E)		997		39.7%		-2.6%
Nick Kilby		895		35.6%		-0.9%
Katie Hill		349		13.9%		+2.7%
Paul Pickhaver (CPA)		171		6.8%		+4.7%
Chris Walker		81		3.2%		-4.7%
James Riding (Ind)		21		0.8%		+0.8%

The Liberal Democrats were celebrating a second victory on Thursday evening, this time at the expense of Labour in Gedling BC (Nottinghamshire). The vacancy in the Phoenix ward arose following the resignation of Labour Cllr. Ian Howarth, who is emigrating to Mexico to teach.

The Liberal Democrats had lost both their seats in this ward to Labour in this May's local elections but given one of their candidates was pipped to the second by four votes they fancied their chances of taking this back. The Lib Dems appear to be recovering from their low point earlier in the year and Andrew Ellwood, the incumbent Councillor who narrowly missed out in May, secured a comfortable victory for his party in the end. The 121 vote majority represented a 7.4% swing to the Liberal Democrats from the election four months ago, and is the latest in a string of by-election results where the yellows have bettered their 2011 result.

Labour still enjoy a comfortable majority in Gedling and the next full Council elections are due to take place in 2015.

Pheonix (Gedling)
By-Election Candidate	Votes	Vote %	+/-
Andrew Ellwood (E)	566	49.2%	+1.4%
Allan Leadbeater	445	38.7%	-13.5%
James Faulconbridge	98	8.5%	+8.5%
Lee Waters	42	3.6%	+3.6%

In the other Midlands by-election Labour were expected to score a big win and they didn't disappoint. The by-election in Graiseley, Wolverhampton MBC was taking place following the death of Labour Councillor Dr. Mohan Passi. The ward has been safely Labour for a number of years and so Jacqueline Sweetman's victory with almost two-thirds of the vote came as no surprise.

The fact the Conservatives had selected the former Independent candidate in this ward John Mellor seemed to pay off as he almost secured the same vote share as the combined Con/Ind vote from May. Still, this was no-where near enough to trouble Labour, who will enjoy a comfortable majority in Wolverhampton until at least next May's partial Council elections.

Graiseley (Wolverhampton)
By-Election Candidate	Votes	Vote %	+/-
Jacqueline Sweetman (E)	1527	64.7%	+0.2%
John Mellor	591	25.0%	+8.5%
Eileen Birch	177	7.5%	+2.1%
Don Cooper	65	2.8%	+2.8%

Finally, there were three seats up for grabs in Hampshire following the resignation of a married couple. Conservative Councillors Sam & Anna James both resigned from their East Hampshire District Council seats in the Bramshott & Liphook ward and Sam also stood down from his Hampshire County seat in Headley. The reason for the joint resignations is likely to be linked to fact Sam has passed away since this vacancy has been known.

The Conservatives easily held all the seats up for election last week with Lynn Ashton and Bill Mouland the newly elected District Councillors and Ferris Cowper winning the County Division. Interestingly, the Liberal Democrats managed to attract more votes in the District by-election than they did in the County, despite the former accounting for half the latter. It has been suggested that the presence of the 'Justice & Anti-Corruption Party' on the County ballot has a lot to do with this, especially as they have apparently endorsed Liberal Democrat candidates in the past.

These three easy victories for the Conservatives add to their already healthy majority on both Councils. The next County election is due to take place in 2013 whilst the next EHDC elections will be held in 2015.

Bramshott & Liphook (East Hampshire)					Headley (Hampshire)
By-Election Candidate	Votes	Vote %	+/-		By-Election Candidate	Votes		Vote %		+/-
Lynn Ashton (E)	796	52.8%	+2.2%		Ferris Cowper (E)	1588		64.6%		+0.9%
Bill Mouland (E)	743				Maureen Comber	290		11.8%		-19.3%
Michael Croucher	404	26.8%	-5.5%		John Tough	258		10.5%		+5.3%
Eve Hope	371				Neville Taylor	178		7.2%		+7.2%
Frank Jones	183	12.1%	-5.0%		Don Jerrard (Justice)	146		5.9%		+5.9%
John Tough	117
Neville Taylor	126	8.3%	+8.3%

 

Tom Harris

 

If you missed it yesterday evening here's Kristofer Keane's report on the Scottish by-election in Perth & Kinross.