There were four principal council by-elections held on the 19th November. The Tories lost one seat to an Independent and hled one seat.  Labour gained one seat from an Independent and the SNP held a seat. In the only Parish and Town council election result reported to ALDC the Tories held the seat.

In the very rural Cholmondeley Ward of East Cheshire Unitary Council our candidate was Bryan Halson. We ran a one-leaflet campaign in a very challenging area for us. Not only had the there been little political activity from us in the recent past it was also physically challenging. The problem here is sheer distance, taking 45 minutes to drive across the ward and lots of dispersed housing. The new Unitary Authority is still working on the old (very large) county ward boundaries and the Boundary Commission is currently looking at boundary changes. We focussed our effort in the area that could be delivered. One village was targeted for work as it will make up the heart of a new ward just proposed Here we got 32% in its box on the night and so the team are planning to build on this.

In the Coleford East ward of the Forest of Dean council in Gloucestershire we nearly won from a standing start. Following recent by-election success we threw all our resources at this one and got within 37 votes of victory. We did not even stand a candidate last time it was fought but with the enthusiasm generated by the Mitcheldean and Drybrook victory in August we fought vigorously.

Finally, two reminders.  Don't forget that the final date for getting on the electoral register that will be used for council nominations is Friday 5th February.  Whilst this feels like some way off it will no doubt come round very quickly and you don't want to leave it until it's too late.  If you're still in the process of approving your candidates don't forget that we have advice on our website to help you do this too.
 

There were nine principal council by-elections held on the 22nd October. The Tories held seven seats and gained one from an independent unopposed and the Liberal Democrats held one seat. There were no Parish and Town council election results reported to ALDC.

In the Vale Of White Horse DC, Abingdon Dunmore Ward we held the seat seemingly comfortably. The relatively small shift between the Tories and us doesn't really tell the whole story as this ward is half of one of the County seats we lost in June, Abingdon North, with this result:
 
LD                   1177                37.9%
Con                  1402                45.2%
Grn                    334                10.8%
Lab                    189                  6.1%
 
The campaign was fought very hard by both us and the Tories. The by-election was caused by our councillor, Tim Smith, moving to Australia because of work.  We were lucky to find a young and enthusiastic candidate, Julia Bricknell, who was born and brought up in the ward.
 
During the eight weeks up to polling day we delivered six Focuses and four sets of target letters, eve of poll and good morning. We did a very thorough canvass - 61% contact during the by-election and an overall total of 88% on Latest.
 
We also knocked on about half the doors in the ward with a petition on a big local issue - the need for an improved junction at north Abingdon with the A34 - an issue which put the Tories on the back foot.  This issue dominated the campaign right up to polling day when Dr Evan Harris MP asked a question in parliament about it.
 
We concentrated hard on the postal vote, both signing up supporters and then targeting them up to when the postal votes were delivered.  We did three target letters and also did targeted door-knocking in the days running up to them being delivered.  The turnout of postal voters was 82% (!) and they contributed a good proportion of our majority.

In the Nevile Ward of Rushcliffe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire we lost out by just 13 votes. The huge swing was down to a lot of hard work by our team. The 84 year old Tory councillor had been on the council since 1960! Six un-wasted weeks after his death the Tories had still not called the election, so we did. The ward had been part of a targeted county division and so received some Focuses but being very rural it had not previously been seen as “good territory”. Our first leaflet was a clear guide to a new bus service establishing us as actually useful to the electorate. Our second was a survey. Our candidate lived in the ward but did not quite believe the canvass returns. It’s frustrating to lose by a small amount, after recounts but the Thank You Focus is alreadyat the printers and we are now targeting 2011!

Elsewhere in Eriswell & the Rows Ward of Forest Heath District council in Suffolk we stood a candidate and nearly pulled off another great result with a 39.6% increase in our vote.

The Tories one gain came unopposed in the Sibsey Ward of East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire. Technically it was a gain from East Lindsey Independent not only did we not stand in the by-election, the deceased East Lindsey Independent had been elected unopposed in May 2007.  Always stand a candidate

John Bridges

There was one principal council election held on the 25th June. The SNP held the seat. There were no Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC.
In Angus, in the Monifieth and Sidlaw ward we faced an uphill struggle. In 2007 we got 7% on first preferences to the SNP 54%. We improved our vote by 4.9% but the SNP, who run the council, cruised to victory with 68.6% of the vote.
It may seem early to look forward to the local elections in 2010 but it is essential that council groups and local parties let ALDC know:
A)    whether existing councillors are re-standing
B)   if not, who has been selected to replace them
C)   candidates and agents in all defences and key targets.
so that we can target our help and support early enough to make a difference.
Do not wait until you have a full slate. Let us know as soon as you are clear who your candidates are likely to be even if they may not have been formally selected.
The General Election is likely to be held on the same day as the 166 local authority elections on May 6th 2010. 880 Lib Dem councillors will be defending their seats and we will be defending control of 17 councils from Liverpool to Sutton. Joint elections will create extra demands so it’s even more important to build up your infrastructure over the summer.  The Campaigns department is running a “Big Build’ campaign. Materials will be made available in instalments on both the party’s extranet site and the ALDC website. The first instalment gives you the tools to get out and recruit the deliverers you need. Later instalments will include: ideas and activities to recruit new Liberal Democrat members, clean up and expand your data pool, increase your garden and window poster sites, increase fundraising, voter identification and much more.
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.
Don’t be a wally and leave it till the last minute - get them in at the end of June.
 

June 4th By-elections

There was one principal council election held on the 7th May. Labour held the seat. There were no Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC.
Please remember Tuesday 19th May is the deadline for both postal votes and application for the electoral register to allow a resident to vote in the June 4th elections.

John Bridges
john.bridges@aldc.org