With all the talk of by-elections, it's about time we resumed our weekly council by-election reporting. We haven't posted a weekly update since March 2020, when council by-elections were put on hold due to coronavirus. They resumed in March 2021.
Here's a round-up of yesterday's action. Check back each Friday for further updates.
Writtle, Chelmsford City Council
Con: 716 (50.0%) -10.7%
LDem: 572 (39.9%) +0.6%
Grn: 78 (5.4%) New
Lab: 67 (4.7%) New
Con HOLD
Cobham & Downside, Elmbridge Borough Council
LDem: 890 (49.8%) +18.4%
Con: 778 (43.5%) -3.9%
Grn: 54 (3.0%) +3.0%
Lab: 47 (2.6%) -6.1%
RefUK: 19 (1.1%) New
LDem GAIN from Con
Bush Hill Park, Enfield Borough Council
Con: 1,694 (55.2%) +15.7%
Lab: 875 (28.5%) -8.7%
Grn: 233 (7.6%) -3.2%
LDem: 225 (7.3%) -2.3%
TUSC: 27 (0.9%) New
TTIP: 18 (0.5%) New
Con HOLD
Tollington, Islington Borough Council
Lab: 1,243 (56.7%) -12.8%
Grn: 730 (33.3%) +16.3%
Con: 127 (5.8%) +0.4%
LDem: 94 (4.3%) -4.0%
Lab HOLD
Bridge, Newark & Sherwood District Council (two seats)
Con: 310 - ELECTED
Con: 267 - ELECTED
Ind: 236
Ind: 181
Lab: 177
Lab: 162
LDem: 104
Grn: 81
LDem: 59
Grn: 57
Con GAIN (two) from Ind
Heneage, North East Lincolnshire Council
Con: 507 (41.9%) +11.3%
Lab: 344 (28.4%) -12.7%
LDem: 336 (27.7%) New
TUSC: 24 (2.0%) New
Con GAIN from Lab
Penkhull & Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Con: 582 (40.5%) +34.0%
Lab: 572 (39.9%) -0.7%
Ind: 171 (11.9%) -32.5%
Grn: 109 (7.6%) -0.8%
Con GAIN from Ind
Abbreviations
Con = Conservative
Lab = Labour
LDem = Liberal Democrat
Grn = Green Party
RefUK = Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party)
TUSC = Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition
TTIP = Taking The Initiative Party
Ind = Independents
The loss of Cobham and Downside in Elmbridge, Surrey will be of concern to the Tories, especially in light of their defeat in the Chesham and Amersham by-election two weeks ago. The Elmbridge seat had been blue for a century. The Lib Dems appear to making the most of public anger in the home counties over the Tories' coronavirus hypocrisy. It's being called the 'Hancock Effect'.
On the flip side, just look at that result in Stoke-on-Trent - formerly solid Red Wall territory. Labour lost control of the council in 2015 and lost all three of the city's Parliamentary seats in the 2017 and 2019 general elections. The Tory gains in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire are also worth noting.
