Tory gain livens up an uneventful night

There were six by-elections last night and they produced little in the way of excitement. Although there were two gains neither can really be analysed beyond the local circumstances; although no doubt someone somewhere is! Plaid Cymru took a seat off a local independent party in Gwynedd (North West Wales) and the Conservatives gained a seat from Labour in Sedgemoor (Somerset). However, closer inspection of the latter contest reveals the former Councillor commanded a strong personal vote in a ward that isn't natural Labour territory.

We'll start in Somerset where the Woolavington ward on the Sedgemoor District Council played host to the only gain in England. The by-election was held following the death of the Labour group leader Roger Lavers. Labour had been under pressure in this ward from the Conservatives in previous elections and it would seem Lavers' personal vote had been keeping this seat red. Last nights result saw Alison Hamlin easily take the seat for the Conservatives with the Liberal Democrats, who didn't stand in 2007, pushing Labour into third. It is possible Woolavington will become, like so many Council seats in the South West, a straight fight between the Tories and the Lib Dems in future elections.

Moving on to Wales where there was an important by-election taking place in Gwynedd. The resignation of Llais Gwynedd (Voice of Gwynedd) Cllr. Dafydd Lloyd Hughes, for undisclosed 'personal reasons', left a vacancy in the Bowydd & Rhiw ward. The Council was finely poised as Plaid Cymru are controlling as a minority with 35 of the 75 seats, including two vacancies in seats held by opposition parties. However, Plaid had failed to gain a seat from Llais Gwynedd earlier in the summer, despite the fact the vacancy arose because the previous Councillor had resigned in disgrace. This time around the Welsh Nationalists did succeed in as Paul Thomas comfortably won last night's by-election. The other vacancy will be filled next week, and it could leave Plaid just one vote short of a majority in Gwynedd.

Elsewhere the results were fairly mundane. In North Tyneside the former Liberal Democrat Cllr. Dorothy Bradley, who lost her Battle Hill seat in May, failed in her bid to return to the Council. She was easily beaten by the Labour candidate Lesley Spillard, which is in keeping with the Liberal Democrats poor performances in urban areas, especially in the north, since the General Election. Labour also held seats on the Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (Greater Manchester) and the Durham County Council. They currently run both Councils, although their majority in Durham is slim. Finally, the Conservatives easily held the Alderley ward on the Cheshire East Unitary Authority.

North Tyneside Council													Tameside Borough Council
LAB		CON					LD						LAB		CON				IND
29	-	24		-			7			-			46	-	9		-		2		-
Candidate			Votes			Vote %			+/-				Candidate			Votes		Vote %		+/-
Lesley Spillard (E)			1334			58.0%			+11.2				Janet Cooper (E)			1275		49%		+5.2
Dorothy Bradley			826			35.9%			-5.5				Rob Adlard			1083		41.6%		+3.6
Wendy Morton			97			4.2%			-7.6				Melanie Roberts			99		3.8%		-5.1
Dan Ellis			43			1.9%			+1.9				Anthony Jones			80		3.1%		+3.1
													Kevin Misell			67		2.6%		-6.8

 

Gwynedd County Council													Cheshire East Council
PC		IND		LG		LD		LAB		VAC			CON		LD		LAB		MF		NF		IND
36	+1	17	-	12	-1	5	-	4	-	1	-		58	-	12	-	6	-	3	-	1	-	1	-
Candidate						Votes			Vote %				Candidate						Votes			Vote %
Paul Thomas (E)						338			57.9%				Matthew Lloyd (E)						1647			67.9%
Donna Morgan						246			42.1%				Oliver Romain						779			32.1%

 

Durham County Council
LAB		LD		IND		CON		IG			LIB			VAC
67	-	24	-	11	-	10	-	10		-	3	-		1	-
Candidate						Votes			Vote %				+/-
John Turnbull (E)						1204			64%				+13.2
Maureen Smith						538			28.6%				-3.6
Marc Krajewski						140			7.4%				-1.4