Seven seats were up for grabs on Thursday, with Labour on the defence in the north Yorkshire borough of Redcar and Cleveland. No-one had come close to unseating Labour in this ward previously, but the Reform juggernaut was new in town and they missed out on a gain by a margin of just 25 votes!
Labour were also on the defence in Macclesfield, where the disgraced incumbent was elected on their ticket in 2019. Cllr Ashley Farrall was suspended by the party last year after being charged with assaulting his partner. He was cleared of the charge, but later convicted of perverting the course of justice and is now serving a twelve month sentence. Labour had a huge majority here, but the Green Party dislodged them with a huge swing.
Elsewhere, there were some interesting results. North of the border, a free-for-all election went to the Conservatives, despite finishing second to Reform on first preference votes. By the time all the transfer votes were whittled down, the Tory candidate pipped Reform to what would have been a stunning victory first time out.
Reform fared even better south of the border, taking two Tory seats - one of which by the ultra thin margin of three votes. The merry-go-round continued in Greater Manchester, where the Tories usurped the Green Party. Despite Trafford Council being under Labour for six years, they did not even bother contesting this seat.
Labour's vote was down everywhere they stood, including a pathetic nine votes in one of two Warwickshire seats.
Macclesfield Central, Cheshire East District Council
Grn: 750 (41.8%) +19.7%
Lab: 513 (28.6%) -25.7%
Ref: 283 (15.8%) New
Con: 164 (9.1%) -4.5%
Eql: 45 (2.5%) New
LDm: 40 (2.2%) -7.7%
Grn GAIN from Lab
Stranraer and the Rhins, Dumfries and Galloway Council
(first preference votes)
Ref: 1,386 (34.4%) New
Con: 1,302 (33.5%) -7.4%
SNP: 541 (13.9%) -9.1%
Lab: 239 (6.1%) -3.7%
Ind: 207 (5.3%) New
Grn: 141 (3.6%) +1.1%
LDm: 96 (2.5%) New
Hrt: 27 (0.7%) New
Con GAIN from Ind (elected at stage 7)
Ashdown & Conquest, East Sussex County Council
Ref: 797 (32.2%) New
Grn: 607 (24.5%) +16.4%
Con: 494 (19.9%) -39.8%
Lab: 395 (15.9%) -7.4%
LDm: 129 (5.2%) -3.5%
Ind: 55 (2.2%) New
Ref GAIN from Con
South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Lab: 368 (47.4%) -17.8%
Ref: 344 (44.3%) New
Con: 64 (8.2%) -4.3%
Lab HOLD
Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon District Council
LDm: 437 (47.3%) +3.5%
Ref: 306 (33.1%) New
Con: 137 (14.8%) -26.2%
Grn: 35 (3.8%) -4.7%
Lab: 9 (1.0%) -5.7%
LDm HOLD
Salford Priors & Alcester Rural, Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Ref: 272 (33.3%) New
LDm: 269 (32.9%) +9.7%
Con: 227 (27.8%) -29.1%
Grn: 31 (3.8%) -5.3%
Lab: 18 (2.2%) -8.6%
Ref GAIN from Con
Hale, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
Con: 1,521 (46.5%) +9.8%
Grn: 1,245 (38.1%) -9.6%
Ref: 264 (0.1%) New
LDm: 101 (3.1%) -0.6%
Con GAIN from Grn
Abbreviations
Grn = Green
Lab = Labour
Ref = Reform UK
Con = Conservative
Eql = Equality
LDm = Liberal Democrat
SNP = Scottish National Party
Hrt = Heritage
Ind = Independent