March 11th is better known as ‘Johnny Appleseed Day’ on the other side of the Atlantic, a celebration of the well-loved nineteenth-century nurseryman who first introduced apple orchards to vast swathes of the American mid-west.  On this side of the pond it was a relatively tranquil by-election Thursday, with only two principal council by-elections and a pair of Parish Council results to digest.  The two principals resulted in Conservative holds, whilst in the two parish elections reported to ALDC we held one seat and gained the second from Labour.

The by-election in Adeyfield West ward of Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire became fractious with the introduction of a BNP candidate and some highly negative campaigning by the Labour party.  Of the three main parties only the Lib Dem campaign succeeded in increasing the proportion of their vote, the defending Conservatives shedding nearly 9% and the Labour vote dropping by over 13%.  The presence of the BNP appears to have had the effect of solidifying the soft-Labour support that was showing signs of melting away at the previous County Council elections.  Without the additional turnout of Labour supporters catalysed by the BNP, Labour could well have been facing a dramatic collapse.  The Lib Dem campaign to ‘end the neglect of Adeyfield’ came in third by around 60 votes, and almost double the vote of the BNP who limped in fourth.

Less competitive was the by-election for the Redwell West ward of Wellingborough District Council in Northamptonshire, where the successful Tory campaign retained the seat with 143 votes more than every other candidate combined.  With an English Democrat presence diluting the far-right vote, the BNP found themselves pushed from a previous second into third place.  The Liberal Democrat campaign worked with virtually no resources and almost doubled their popular vote.  If the 23 votes that went to the Greens had come our way, we could have forced the BNP from second to fifth overnight.

Finally, warm congratulations to the Deborah Crane campaign who have taken a seat from Labour in the Central ward of Lawley and Overdale Parish Council in Telford constituency, and John Kelly, whose team in the Brandon and Byshottles Parish Council election in Country Durham succeeded in fending off a Labour challenge and retaining the seat for the Liberal Democrats.  

After last week’s slow start to the month, February’s electoral schedule gathered pace with a total of seven principal council by-elections and a pair of Town Council results reported to ALDC this week.  Four of the seven were retained by their incumbent parties, and of the remaining three Labour and the Tories exchanged two, with the final being a Conservative gain at the expense of an Independent.  

The pick of the results was our successful defence of Aylesbury Central ward of Aylesbury Vale District Council, in the Buckinghamshire constituency of Aylesbury.  The campaign of Graham Webster polled more than 50% of the popular vote – a 20% majority over the Tories, for whom this ward was an important local target.  A wide variety of Literature, and growing use of telephone canvassing and election software, add to the legacy benefits of a highly successful campaign.  The Tories’ transparent attacks on the previous incumbent backfired on the doorstep, as their lurid allegations of corruption were exposed for what they were and depressed the Conservative vote by a further 6%.  

Related to the Aylesbury Central defence was the valiant Lib Dem effort in Aylesbury’s Luffield Abbey Ward.  With few resources on the ground, the campaign of Ian Metherell placed just twenty votes behind a ‘kitchen sink’ UKIP campaign featuring party leader, and now PPC for the area, Nigel Farage.  A complacent Tory effort still succeeded in holding this very rural Buckingham ward.

The Labour hold in Easington Ward of Durham County Council was no great surprise, our emphasis in this ward being the development of a viable party organisation.  With valuable assistance from Easington PPC Tara Saville, the Harrison campaign made the most of limited resources to peg a respectable third place in an area with historically minimal Liberal Democrat activity.

In Town Council terms Labour held in London Colney, despite some high-quality artwork from LD candidate Vibs Nazeri.

Two wards in Telford and Wrekin, College and The Nedge, went without Lib Dem candidates yesterday.  We have now failed to stand a candidate in three out of eighteen by-elections in 2010.  If we had failed to stand a similar number of PPCs at the 2005 election, then a total of 109 seats would have been completely uncontested.  The ALDC’s advice on this will never change: always, always, always stand a candidate.  

There were four principal council elections held on the 4th February. The Tories held one seat. The Lib Dems held one seat but also lost two seats to Labour. There were three Parish council elections reported to ALDC.

Rarely, thankfully, do we have to report on an utter disaster, but that was the case in the Holmewood and Heath by-election in North East Derbyshire. In 2007 two Labour councillors were elected for the ward un-opposed. In fact they had been unopposed for the last 20 years and only Labour had ever been elected in this coal mining and largely council housing renting area. In April 2008 there was a by-election that we won with 42% and a 26 vote majority.  Our sitting councillor resigned after 14 months non-attendance due to ill health and we failed to stand a candidate to defend the seat. The problem may have come from the ward switching from the  North East Derbyshire constituency to Bolsover in the boundary changes but whatever the reason conceding without a fight borders on the politically criminal.

Further bad news came in the form of a loss to Labour in the Queens Park Ward of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.  The Lib Dem’s in Blackburn form part of a joint administration. The seat was vacant beacuse the councillor resigned - he had been expelled from the Group for non-attendance and he subsequently resigned from the Council The council's weekly bin collections and Housing Market Renewal scheme were popular, its gritting and ensuing bin collection problems were not - particularly when polling day itself involved snow related traffic problems.

The line was finally drawn at the Whyteleafe Ward of Tandridge District Council in Surrey, where recently appointed PPC David Lee led the party to a successful defence.   A general ‘anti’ vote drove the UKIP vote share well beyond the likely return on their limited campaign, and a half-hearted Tory effort failed to register dramatically.  The Labour party failed to field a candidate.  Creating a legacy of new canvass data, in addition to returning a Liberal Democrat Councillor to Tandridge DC, makes the Lee campaign a bright spot in an otherwise dreary February week. 

The only other principal election this week was an unremarkable Conservative Hold in the Newchapel Ward of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.  The Tories held off UKIP by only 60 votes, an early indication, perhaps, of the electoral dangers currently facing the Conservatives in 2010’s new political climate.
 

In the one directly elected mayoral by-election held on 15th October we took the post from an Independent. There were twelve principal council by-elections, the Tories held eight seats, Labour one seat and the Liberal Democrats one seat. The Lib Dems took one seat off Labour but this was reversed with Labour taking one seat from the Lib Dems. There were two Parish and Town council election results reported to ALDC   an Independent hold and a Lib Dem gain from Independent. 

The mayoral campaign was gripping everyone in the ALDC as news seeped out of the count all Friday. We fancied our chances from the start. One of our best results in the country on June 4th was in Bedford where, on new boundaries, we became the largest party in the new unitary authority. Then the Tories decided to hold  an open selection for their candidate alienating many of their core voters and activists in the process. We ran a good campaign with big guns like Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes visiting. On the Tory side Eric Pickles and David Cameron were wheeled out. They must have been aghast to see our window posters, stakeboards and super boards dominating across urban Bedford. With Watford, East of England region now has two directly elected Lib Dem, t Mayors lets hope Henry Vann can take the parliamentary seat next May! 

The Cannock Chase Heath Hayes East and Wimblebury Ward in Staffordshire has been held by all three parties over the last 20 years.  Having held it before we won it back in 2004, but lost it in 2008 coming third.  As soon as this election was over we got wind that the Lab councillor was moving to Sardinia and so we started working it.  In the end it took him 18 months to go and even then it was just three days before he would be disqualified.  We also used the county council elections as a trial run for the by-election, just working that part of the division.
Since June we delivered seven leaflets, covered the whole ward in street letters on specific local issues, direct mail and phone canvassed.  In the postal vote we were neck and neck but we won on the day with a phone knock up.

In the Crawley Borough Council Northgate Ward By-election the Tories started their campaign with a leaflet implying that the reason for our councillors resignation was dubious. Coupled with a family bereavement for the candidate this put us on the back foot and we never really recovered dropping from first to third. The local agent suggests that we simply did not knock on enough doors.

There were eleven principal council by-elections held on 1st October. Labour held four seats, the Tories two and the Lib Dems one.  The Lib Dems took one seat off the Tories and two off independents. Labour gained one seat off an Independent in Scotland.  There were no Parish and Town council elections reported to ALDC. 

The Independent today quoted the press association “The post-conference "Brown bounce" failed to show in the latest council by-elections, although the Tories were hit by a huge surge to the Liberal Democrats.” This may be true looking at their narrow analysis of 5 three-way by-elections. I think perhaps a more important figure, however, is that we have made 15 net gains in by-elections in the year to date whilst the Tories have lost 18. 

Broadlands is one of those councils that only anoraks and East Anglians could probably place. It’s on the outskirts of Norwich and includes much of the Norfolk Broads. In the Wroxham ward by-election we stood a 19 year old local boy, Ben McGilvray, a 2nd year History student at York University who increased our vote by a stunning 58%. His victory makes him the youngest Liberal Democrat Councillor on a principal council that ALDC is aware of (tell us if we’re wrong!). A  lacklustre Tory campaign could not cope with a vibrant campaign focusing on the big local issues; the proposed EcoTown and the Norfolk Hub.

In Walsingham Ward, of pilgrimage fame, we did not have issues as strong as those in Wroxham but it does fall within Norman Lamb’s parliamentary constituency. In May we won the County seat and our campaign built on this to produce  a 32% increase in the vote.

Our third gain of the day was in Droitwich South West Ward of Wychavon District council in Wocestershire. Here we started with a survey and identified the issue of the future of the Brine Bath, a key part of Droitwich’s heritage and identity threatened by the Tories with closure.

 Our candidate took the issue to heart and got coverage on the issue in the local media as well as our own literature. Our campaign team could hardly believe their luck when the Tory decision to finally close the Bath was published on the front page of the local free paper on the day before the election. We, of course, included it in our eve of poll and good morning leaflets. A good day for Liberal Democrats.