Three by-elections this week with Labour defending a seat, a local residents' party defending a seat and an open contest following the departure of an independent. Two seats were up for grabs in Yorkshire and the stark demographic differences across Calderdale borough were on show with two very different results. Labour easily held its Park seat with a whopping 82.9 per cent of the vote (all the candidates here were Muslim, with the exception of the Green candidate). However, in rural Ryburn it was the Tories who swept up a seat vacated by an independent.
In Cheshire it was a hold for the Residents of Wilmslow, although there was a significant swing to the second place Tories.
Park, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Lab: 1,980 (82.9%) +26.1%
Con: 212 (8.9%) +3.9%
Grn: 137 (5.7%) +2.8%
LDem: 60 (2.5%) New
Lab HOLD
Ryburn, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Con: 1,188 (53.6%) +25.4%
Lab: 798 (36.0%) +24.8%
Grn: 163 (7.4%) +0.9%
LDem: 66 (3.0%) -0.9%
Con GAIN from Ind
Wilmslow Dean Row, Cheshire East Council
RoW: 447 (50.7%) -18.7%
Con: 354 (40.2%) +9.6%
LDem: 46 (5.2%) New
Grn: 34 (3.9%) New
RoW HOLD
Abbreviations
Lab = Labour
Con = Conservative
LDem = Liberal Democrat
Grn = Green
RoW = Residents of Wilmslow