There were eight electoral contests reported to ALDC for June 21st, although one should properly be described as a deferred election, arranged after the death of the Labour candidate in Esher prior to May 3rd’s local elections. Sadly, the only seat to change hands was a Lib Dem seat lost to Labour, the rest were one Labour hold, and six successful Conservative defences.
Elmbridge’s Esher ward was won by the Conservatives, who were run fairly close by the Esher Residents Association who were around fifty votes shy of an upset. The Woodhall Farm ward of Dacorum Borough also saw the Tories hold, despite a 16 per cent fall in vote-share, their nearest competition being a Labour Party still a good 150 votes behind and the rest of the pack trailing badly. The Hertfordshire County division of Hemel Hempstead Town was comfortably held by the Conservatives, whose winning margin here was a robust 700 votes. Over in Huntingdonshire, the Tories held the ward of Earith by less than 90 votes against an insurgent UKIP campaign that added 26 per cent onto their vote-share, 18 per cent of which was likely shed from the incumbents. The fifth of the six Conservative holds was in Dudley, where the Norton ward was defended by a 700-vote majority against the Labour Party, with the Lib Dems holding third place against UKIP by a margin of just 30 votes. Finally, the Tavistock North ward of West Devon was held by 150 votes, although the remaining three parties all placed within 20 votes of each other.
The one seat to change hands on Thursday was the Peterlee West division of Durham County Council. There is no disguising the huge fall in the Lib Dem vote here, which is a grim reminder of the torrid time that some of our local campaigners are facing. Our commiserations to the County Durham team. The last of the contests was Harraby in Carlisle, a comfortable Labour hold with 63 per cent of the votes cast.
Not a great set of elections then, but your by-elections are only as good as the seats that are up and these were not a propitious eight to begin with. It’s the start of a busy spell for campaigners, with six by-elections reported for the 28th, including both a county and borough defence in Chelmsford. The best of luck to our councillors and campaigners across the country.
Craig Whittall
craig.whittall@aldc.org