There were three principal council by-elections reported to ALDC for Thursday 6th September, unfortunately, they were all formerly ours and we only held the one.
There was disappointing news from Lincolnshire, where we have to report on a pair of losses. Our formerly held division seat in Lincolnshire County Council, Nettleham and Saxilby, was lost to the Conservatives by just over four hundred votes. Things were a little closer in the West Lindsey district seat of Nettleham, where after a hard fight the Conservatives took the ward by fifty-two votes. Our commiserations to the West Lindsey team on such a narrow loss and to our campaigners out in Lincolnshire for tough pair of results.
Our main story comes from South Gloucestershire, where Tony Davis and the local Focus team comfortably held off the Labour Party in Dodington. The surprise result of the day was that the previously second-place Tories collapsed to fourth, with a big uptick in Labour support and an insurgent UKIP campaign taking a fine chunk out of the Conservatives’ right flank. The town itself, and the wider area, has a strong Lib Dem heritage and the Town Council in Yate, which forms part of Dodington ward, is currently 100 per cent Liberal Democrat. Our candidate was a former councillor with a solid record of local action, messages were kept positive and emphasised that record of service. With a range of A3 (folded to A4) Focus leaflets and a significant canvassing and delivery effort, including a lot of work from highly-respected local MP Steve Webb, the messages were widely spread and plenty of new local data added. Labour’s myopic national focus cost them further votes in a town that prides itself on judging local politicians by their actions and not by national newspaper editorials. The only other party to put any real effort in was UKIP, who canvassed and delivered with some determination, and they were rewarded by forcing the Tories into fourth.
A mixed bag on the night, but we were in the fight in all of these contests. Our congratulations to the South Gloucestershire team and the very best of luck to all of our campaigners out in the field.
Craig Whittallcraig.whittall@aldc.org