There were five principal council contests and one town council election reported to ALDC on Thursday 25th October.
Our best result on the night was courtesy of the Windsor and Maidenhead Lib Dems, who were out fighting the defending Tories for the Pinkneys Green ward. When it was last contested in May 2011, the Conservatives enjoyed a 90-vote majority in the ward, leaving it winnable but with the ever-present uncertainty of the role UKIP and Labour would play in the final totals. This time it was a near eight per cent surge for UKIP that appears to have hamstrung Conservative efforts, whilst a squeezed Labour vote and a robust Lib Dem base put our Simon Werner over the top with an eight-vote majority. Well done to Simon and the whole team for a thrilling result and a great piece of by-election news.
The remaining four principal contests didn’t have much going for them, although two had Lib Dem candidates which is always nice! South Oxfordshire’s Didcot All Saints was a Labour hold with the local Focus team back in third, and we’d like to give an honourable mention to Hartlepool Lib Dems who put up a candidate in Seaton – the record shows they didn’t run there last time, so well done on that front and commiserations for a tough result. In the end, the independent Putting Hartlepool First party held the seat comfortably. On the naughty stool this week, we have Caerphilly’s New Tredegar and the St Marys ward of Fenland, two seats in which any Lib Dem supporters were denied the chance to express their preference at the ballot.
Finally, there was a bit of a to-do out in the towns. A mistake by the Labour Party in Todmorden’s Central ward left the town council by-election a two-horse race between Lib Dem Joe Rez, and a far-right agitator whose previous association was with the British Peoples Party. Joe built on a strong local reputation and the whole team worked hard to ensure that no-one was left under any illusions as to the politics of the ‘Independent’ opponent. The polling day operation (in which yours truly was happy to take part!) was a smooth one, with two full knock-ups completed and Connect working well. Congratulations to Joe, who took the seat with three-quarters of the available vote.
Craig Whittallcraig.whittall@aldc.org