A Busy Week for Council By Elections, Encouragement for Lib Dems and Marked Absence of UKIP and Greens.
There were 9 council by elections this week, but only one change - a Conservative gain from Labour in Pendle's Reedley Ward high in the Pennines near Nelson. With Labour and the Conservatives fairly evenly matched it only needed a small swing for the seat to change hands. The election was hard fought with a high turnout and with UKIP failing to stand once again it was not surprising that the Conservatives got the modest boost they needed.
The real surprise - and a source of great encouragement to the Liberal Democrats - was a huge surge in their vote share of over 30% in Blakelaw on Newcastle County Council. Labour fell back 18% and only just managed to hold the seat.
In Bury St Edmunds the Conservatives held a seat unopposed (by anybody!) on the Borough Council. I hope our people will put up a show next time.
The main pattern that comes out of these contests is that Liberal Democrats are continuing to get significantly improved vote shares overall and the Greens and UKIP seem no longer to be serious about fighting elections. UKIPand Green did not fight in Newcastle, nor in Eastbourne, nor in Bury, nor in Pendle, nor in Somerset and votes for both of them crashed in Carlisle. The best UKIP managed were two small increases on two very small figures in Tandridge and Basingstoke.
So it's a matter of "Keep Calm and Carry On Voting Lib Dem"!