Three principal council by-elections were fought yesterday alongside the Parliamentary contest in Rochester & Strood. In Stockport, the Conservatives held on to their seat in Bramhall South & Woodford despite a hard fought campaign by the Liberal Democrat team. Polling day saw many volunteers from across the Greater Manchester area descend on the Stockport MB ward in an attempt to clinch victory from the Conservatives. However the Conservative candidate polled 53.2% to secure victory by 578 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Jeremy Meal managed to increase the party’s vote share by 5.3% from the ward’s previous contest in May in winning 38.4% of the vote.
The story of the council by-election in Peninsula ward in Medway council drew a direct parallel to the Parliamentary contest in the district. The UKIP candidate had defected from the Conservatives at the same time as Mark Reckless and subsequently called a by-election. UKIP secured 34.6% swing from the Conservatives to comfortably take the seat with a majority of 885 votes. There was a disappointing result from a Liberal Democrat point of view with the party polling 1% of the vote.
The contest in Uplands ward on Swansea UA resulted in former Liberal Democrat PPC Peter May winning the seat as an Independent from Labour, with May finishing 118 votes clear of the Labour candidate. Janet Thomas polled 10.4% to finish third ahead of the Conservatives.