Four council contests this week and another dull night for Labour who saw their vote share fall in all but one. They held easily in Wigan, but no great surprise there. Labour hold 57 of Wigan's 75 council seats. North of the border they suffered an embarrassing defeat to the SNP in Falkirk, finishing a distant third, although this is not as straightforward as it sounds. The last time this seat was contested all three seats were up for grabs, but as each of the parties only put forward one candidate the top three candidates all won a seat - including third placed Labour. It was the resignation of this Labour councillor that triggered the by-election, hence it is technically an SNP gain.
Elsewhere, the Tories held easily in Harrow and took a seat from the Lib Dems in Surrey.
Falkirk South, Falkirk Council
(First preferences votes)
SNP: 1,691 (39.2%) +3.5%
Con: 1,676 (38.9%) +6.8%
Lab: 679 (15.7%) -11.4%
Grn: 267 (6.2%) +1.1%
SNP GAIN from Lab (elected at stage 4)
Pinner South, Harrow London Borough Council
Con: 1,392 (60.5%) -4.6%
LDem: 390 (17.0%) +5.0%
Lab: 331 (14.4%) -8.6%
Grn: 188 (8.2%) New
Con HOLD
Frimley Green, Surrey Heath Borough Council
Con: 896 (48.5%) +19.6%
LDem: 877 (47.4%) -1.6%
Lab: 76 (4.1%) New
Con GAIN from LDem
Leigh West, Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council
Lab: 1,004 (56.2%) +2.1%
Con: 432 (23.7%) +8.2%
Ind: 257 (14.4%) -9.5%
LDem: 103 (5.8%) -0.8%
Lab HOLD
Abbreviations
SNP = Scottish National Party
Con = Conservative
Lab = Labour
Grn = Green
LDem = Liberal Democrat
Ind = Independents
