This was a quiet week for by-elections. There was just one Council by-election in Wroxham (Broadland DC). The Liberal Democrats were piped to the post by just fourteen votes in the ‘Capital of the Norfolk Broads’. The Conservative candidate emerged victorious with 400 votes (45%) to take the seat from the Liberal Democrats. Malcolm Springall, the Liberal Democrat candidate, received 386 votes (43.4%) and Labour came third with 11.6%. This result is especially disappointing for the Liberal Democrats as they managed to win a by-election in the ward in March with a 141 majority.
Thursday also saw the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner by-election following the death of the Labour PCC in July. Labour retained the Commissioner with 50.8% of the first preference votes. The by-election however has been marred by the record low turnout of just 10.32% (the lowest turnout recorded for a PCC election). In Coventry just 9.54% of voters went to cast their vote. Ayoub Khan stood again for the Liberal Democrats and his vote share remained stable at 6.5%.
There is just one council by-election next week. In North Jesmond (Newcastle CC) the Liberal Democrats are defending a seat after the sitting councillor moved away for work reasons. If you’re able to help email anita.lower@gmail.com or peter.breakey@blueyonder.co.uk
For all the detailed results see the ALDC elections page: https://www.aldc.org/category/by-election-results/