Although the Norwich North by-election hogged the political headlines, it was the council by-elections that produced the more interesting, and less predictable, set of political news.

This week’s by-election results got off to an early start, thanks to the holiday plans of Kensington & Chelsea’s Chief Executive creating that rare event – a Wednesday by-election. And what a result to start with! Our victory in Colville Ward, a formerly safe Labour seat which includes the famous Portobello Road, is the culmination of four years of hard work by Carol Caruana and her team. The campaign, ably led by Robin Meltzer, saw monthly Focus leaflets and addressed mailings which concentrated hard on the issues that residents of the area really cared about. This result not only gives us our first ever elected councillor in the borough, but it also upset both Labour and the Conservatives in the process, who both assumed they would win.

There were two principal council elections held on the 2nd July. The Lib Dems gained one seat from the Tories and the Tories held the other. No Town and Parish Council results were reported to ALDC.

Thursday was another good night for the Lib Dems. We now have made eleven net gains since the beginning of the year in council by-elections.

Nonsuch ward, part of the London Borough of Sutton has been a Lib Dem ward but the Tories took a seat in 2006 all out London elections. We wanted it back! So in a held parliamentary seat we pulled out all the stops and utilised help from across London with action days every weekend. How often will the two Lib Dem MPs’ turn up to help deliver the good morning leaflet at 6am only to find there were none left to deliver!
Labour and the BNP ran two leaflet campaigns but the Tories produced six full colour leaflets.  The final Tory leaflet went negative against our candidate but the tactic backfired badly. We not only have two local MPs, we also run the council and fighting by-elections when in control is often difficult. In these circumstances getting a swing to the Lib Dems from the Tories and over 50% of the vote in a high turnout election is particularly encouraging.

Unfortunately despite this success we are still failing to stand candidates even in wards where we polled 22% last time. Standing no candidate in the Ferndown Central ward of East Dorset District Council is even more inexplicable as it is in the Christchurch constituency.

For those who had county or Unitary elections in June the deadlines for the receipt of return of election expenses are: Thursday 9th July if your result was declared before midnight on 4th June. Friday 10th July if your result was declared after midnight i.e. 5th June.

Following last week’s success in council by-elections this was another week of success for the Liberal Democrats.

Harlow’s by-election came under unusual circumstances when a former Conservative councillor was thrown off the council due to non-attendance as a result of a six month stint on remand.  The by-election campaign was centred on Lib Dem opposition to cuts by the local Conservative council and resulted in a collapse in the Conservative vote of 15%.  Combined with a Lib Dem increase of 6% this saw John Strachan elected by 60 votes to become Harlow’s ninth Lib Dem councillor.  You can find out more about we won this election in an article by Lorna Spenceley on Liberal Democrat Voice.

In Sheffield, we had our first electoral test since taking control of the city council.  Each party focused their campaign on our record since last May and the result saw a resounding 819 vote majority in a ward won by just 74 votes two years ago.  The contest saw a swing from Labour to the Lib Dems and the Conservatives limped home in fourth place despite a very active campaign.  Congratulations to Cllr Colin Taylor and his campaign team that was ably led by Ben Curran and Adam Williams.

Of particular significance this week is that our two by-election wins were in parliamentary seats that are being targeted by the Conservatives at the next General Election.  On this evidence, it shows that the task for the Conservatives is a lot harder than their poll ratings show.  It also gives hope to those people who worry that the Liberal Democrats may be squeezed out.

There were six principal council elections held on the 23rd April. The Lib Dems gained a seat off the Tories, one off Labour and one off Independents. The Tories held two seats and lost a seat to Labour. There was one Town and Parish Council result reported to ALDC, an Independent hold.

In the Totteridge ward of Wycombe District council in Buckinghamshire we took a seat off Labour. The result saw the Liberal Democrats move from third place in 2007 to victory with over 50% of the vote taking the seat from Labour. The main issue of the campaign was the decision by local Conservatives to close the open air swimming pool. Steve Guy and the Lib Dems have been running a campaign to save the pool.

In the Inverness West ward of Highland Council in Scotland , in Danny Alexander MP’s seat we won on the first round with 60% of the vote taking the seat from an Independent. There was a 22% swing to us from the SNP and the Conservatives came a dismal 5th.

In the Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside ward of Aberdeenshire council we took a seat off the Tories. Labour didn’t even bother to field a candidate and the SNP were pushed into 4th place by an Independent candidate.

We also had a 17% increase in our vote in the Wanstead Ward of the London Borough of Redbridge, which will do no harm to our chances in Leyton & Wanstead at the General Election and next year’s locals in London.

In the Alford , Cranleigh Rural and Ellen’s Green Ward in the Borough of Waverley we had a 14% increase in our vote which will boost Sue Doughty’s hopes of returning as the MP for Guildford.

Knock until you drop!

There were seven principal council elections held on the 2nd April. The Tories held four seats and gained one from Labour. The Lib Dems gained one seat from Labour and held one seat. There were two Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. One Lib Dem loss to Tory, and two Tory holds.
In the Redcar & Cleveland BC Dormanstown Ward, Ken Lucas achieved a 17.3% increase in vote share to take the seat from Labour. The campaign delivered was based around a mix of leaflets and target mail, with the emphasis on, getting on the doorstep. From having no data for this ward, the local team now have data from 55% of the ward. This shows again that you have to get on the doorstep.

In the Camden Ward of Belsize, Tom Simon achieved an increase of 5.4% against a concerted Conservative campaign, which consisted of lots of leaflets along with lots of negative campaigning being delivered on the doorstep and phone. The Lib Dem campaign was targeted with lots of doorstep voter contact and plenty of leaflets and targeted mailings to identified voters. Yet again showing that doorstep is best for connecting with our voters.
In the Leeds City Council Temple Newsam, Ward Ian Dowling and his team came from 5th in May 2008 with 521 to come only 283 behind the Tories with 1,468, which boads well for the next election in Temple Newsam ward.
In the Arun DC Ward of Felpham West Martin Lury’s team achieved an increase of 6.2%. In the Calderdale Ward of Skircoat the local team led by Pauline Nash came a good second and are in a good place for the next election to go on and win it. In the Huntingdonshire DC ward of Ramsey we came third behind the Tories, In South Holland we achieved 18.9% in a seat where we had not stood before, with more work this is a good start for future elections here.

Mark Alcock
mark.alcock@aldc.org