Thursday’s by-elections gave us very little to work with, given that we only stood candidates in two of the five principal by-elections that took place. Whilst we understand that local circumstances can often throw up obstacles to a nomination, it is little short of unforgiveable to see candidates in only 40% of possible contests. ALDC’s advice remains the same: always, always, always stand a candidate!
In the two elections that we actually fought, the results were mixed. Whilst the 13% drop in vote in Wandsworth’s Southfields ward looks dramatic, it isn’t outside the percentage change we’ve seen in similar contests, and was enough to hold off the Green Party and UKIP on the night, with the Conservatives holding the seat against a 17% increase for Labour. Buxton Central in the High Peak was another Con-Lab horse race, but Derek John Webb and the local Focus Team held us fairly steady in percentage terms, whilst Labour held the seat by 20 votes against the Tories. Our congratulations to both Lib Dem teams for standing candidates (!), giving our supporters a Lib Dem on the ballot in two tricky seats.
As for the other three, we saw two holds and one change of hands. The Labour Party took the Crockenhill and West Hill ward of Sevenoaks BC from an Independent, whilst the Tories held their seats in Cowden and Hever (Sevenoaks, again), and North Kesteven District Council’s Heckington Rural ward.
Finally, our thanks to good Lib Dems of the Burbage Parish Council, who swept in with a late breaking headline to deliver some good news. Our candidate in St. Catherine’s Maureen Vivien Lynch, stole a march on the Conservatives and took the seat with a healthy majority of 52. Well done to the Burbage team for livening up a slow news day!
As of going to print, ALDC has not received notice of any by-election due for Maundy Thursday (in past times that would have been a given, but no longer). The very best of luck to all of our candidates and campaign teams across the country.
Craig Whittall