By-Election Report: 6 November 2014

There were just two principal council by-elections yesterday. In the Cornwall UA contest in Mevagissey, the Conservatives increased their vote share in the ward by 8.2% to gain the seat from Labour in a closely thought election. The Conservative candidate polled 32% to win with a majority of 67 ahead of UKIP in second.  The Liberal Democrats were the only other party to see an increase in their vote share from the previous contest in the ward during the 2013 local elections, as UKIP, Labour and the Green Party all saw a vote share drop. A 4.3% increase saw Christopher Maynard poll 18% as he finished just 7 votes adrift of the Labour candidate to finish in fourth. The election sees Labour reduced to just 7 representatives on Cornwall council whilst the Conservatives have increased their representation to 31 although they remain third in terms of council representation behind Independents and the Liberal Democrats.

In Rugby, the Conservatives saw a 12.3% decrease in their vote share in Bilton but still managed to retain their seat in the ward with a healthy majority of 343 votes. However the Liberal Democrats secured a 10.2% swing from the Conservatives as Lesley George received 17.6% of the vote to finish in third place, one place higher than the party managed in the ward’s previous election in May. UKIP polled 20.4%, despite not fielded a candidate earlier this year, to secure another second place finish. In addition, Labour saw their vote share drop once again, as they finished 68 votes behind Lesley in fourth place.