Lib Dems' Winning Streak in Council By-Elections Continues and Tories Lose Control of Suffolk County Council
LD Leader Tim Farron
Wow, since my last roundup of council by-elections a month ago the Liberal Democrats have gained more than ten more council seats in by elections! And all this without losing any and with a seat safely held at Bishops Castle in Shropshire.
This is rapidly going beyond my ability to maintain an accurate count, but I reckon it must be now around two dozen seats gained since the May elections without a single loss.
The gain in Hadleigh in Suffolk was especially significant since the Tories have, as a result, lost control of Suffolk County Council. There are now 8 Liberal Democrat Suffolk County Councillors - and the Conservatives will from now on have to listen to them a bit more carefully.
To summarise, since 28th August, the Liberal Democrats made the following gains:
1. Teignmouth Town Council (2 seats) - gained from the Conservatives
2. Cockermouth - gained from the Conservatives
3. Hadleigh, Suffolk CC - gained from the Conservatives
4. Hailsham Town Council - gained from the Labour
5. Teignbridge District Council - gained from the Conservatives
6. Plasnewydd, Caerdydd AU - gained from the Labour
7. Tupton, N E Derbyshire DC - gained from the Labour
8. Lymington & Pennington - gained from the Conservatives
9. Mosborough, Sheffield - gained from the Labour
10. Four Lanes, Cornwall UA - gained from the UKIP
Elsewhere, Lib Dems did well on East Herts DC at Puckeridge by getting an 18% vote share standing for the first time. Labour gained 2 seats from the Conservatives and Conservatives gained one seat from Labour - but ended up very badly down. Finally UKIP (remember them?) managed to hold a seat in Shepway South - which orbits around Planet Thanet.
