A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Council by-election results

There were some real by-elections last night, as well as the pointless waste of public money in Haltemprice & Howden.

Croft Ward, Blyth Valley DC. Lab hold. Lab 439 (48%, -9%), Ind 266 (29.1%, +29.1%), LD 176 (19.3%, -7%), Con 32 (3.5%, -13.2%). Swing of 19.1% from Lab to Ind since 2007. However, there is a swing to Lab compared with the May 1 results for the new Northumberland Unitary. Blyth Valley DC is being abolished next year.

Risca West Ward, Caerphilly UA. Lab hold. Lab 636 (56.0%, +5.6%) Plaid Cymru 315 (27.8%, +0.3%) Con 137 (12.1%, -10%) Lib 47 (4.1%, +4.1%). Swing of 2.6% from PC to Lab since May. Good result given context of tightness of outcome in May on Caerphilly (32 Lab, 32 PC, 9 Ind - there were 9 Labour losses on 1 May).

Barton Ward, Canterbury DC. LD hold. LD 993 (51.8%, +8.1%), Con 701 (36.6%, +4.2%), Green 121 (6.3%, +6.3%), Ind 102 (5.3%). Swing of 2% from Con to LD since 2007. Strange that there was no Labour candidate in a ward that I'm fairly sure was a 3-way marginal in the '90s - is there a non-aggression pact between the former coalition partners in my home town?

Aberystwyth Rheidol Ward, Ceredigion UA. Plaid Cymru gain from LD. PC 271 (40.2%, +12.0%), LD 252 (37.4%, -30.2%), Ind 98 (14.5%, +14.5%), Lab 36 (5.3%, +5.3%), Con 17 (2.5%, -2.7%). Swing 21.1% LD to PC.

Bury Ward, Chichester DC. Con hold. Con 431 (69.3%, +14%), LD 191 (30.7%, +30.7%). Changes in vote share are since 2007 when it was a Con vs Ind straight fight.

Bradwell South & Hopton Ward, Great Yarmouth DC. Con hold. Con 623 (49.9%, +1.9%), Lab 429 (34.4%, +15.2%), UKIP 196 (15.7%, +5.3%). Swing 6.7% Con to Lab (mainly because the LDs did not field a candidate).

Dalton Ward, Kirkless MBC. Lab hold. Lab 1397 (40.5%, +10%), LD 1155 (33.5%, -0.8%), Con 605 (17.5%, -1.9%), BNP 157 (4.5%, -6.3%), Green 103 (3%, -2%), Ind 34 (0.9%, +0.9%). Swing of 5.4% since May. Good result in a ward where the other 2 cllrs are Lib Dem. This is in Huddersfield parliamentary constituency.

Cranbrook Ward, LB Redbridge. Con hold. Con 1,625 (60.0%, +8.4%), Lab 729 (26.9%, -5.1%), LD 318 (11.7%, -4.7%), BNP 37 (1.4%, +1.4%). Swing of 6.8% from Lab to Con since 2008.

Common Ward, Stafford BC. Con gain from Lab. Con 397 (40.4%, -3.5%), Lab 294 (29.9%, -26.1%), LD 140 (14.2%, +14.2%), EPP 78 (7.9%, +7.9%), Green 74 (7.5%, +7.5%). Swing 11.3% Lab to Con since 2007. Labour's worst result of the night due to intervention by minor parties in what had been a two-way fight.

Trowbridge Central, West Wiltshire DC. Con gain from LD. Con 452 (55.3%, +21.9%), LD 366 (44.7%, +3.8%). Swing of 9.1% from LD to Con since 2007 following withdrawal of independents who ran then.

Wigan West Ward, Wigan MBC. Lab hold. Lab 817 (38.3%, -5.5%), Con 528 (24.8%, +5.8%), LD 344 (16.1%, -2.4%), BNP 200 (9.4%, -5.1%), UKIP 124 (5.8%, +5.8%), Community Action 118 (5.5%, +5.4%). Swing 5.7% Lab to Con since May.

With the exception of Stafford these are rather better results than for several months.

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

There were some real by-elections last night, as well as the pointless waste of public money in Haltemprice & Howden.

I see your favoured candidate, Jill Saward, the most prominent candidate supporting the government's position, came sixth, with a massive 2.1% of the vote.

9:26 am, July 11, 2008

 
Blogger Luke Akehurst said...

And the "this is a waste of time party" took 65% of the electorate.

9:27 am, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Caerphilly CBC

Risca West

Bye
Election caused by the death of Labour Councillor Keith Griffith two days after his reelection in May.

Lab 636
PC 315
Con 137
Lib 47

Lab Hold

T/o about 27%

GW

9:28 am, July 11, 2008

 
Blogger Tim said...

Kirklees, Dalton ward, from Council website:

Labour 1397,
Liberal Democrat 1155,
Conservative 605
BNP 157
Green 103
Independent 34

Labour hold, but actually a very good result as the Lib Dems had gained this ward from Labour in both May 2007 and May 2008

May 2008 result was Lib Dem 1467, Labour 1303, Con 830, BNP 460, Green 212

So a pretty good result all round for Labour, and a welcome collapse in the BNP vote.

9:32 am, July 11, 2008

 
Blogger Silent Hunter said...

I wonder how well Labour will do in Glasgow East then.?

I'm sure that the 'retiring' Labour MP would be more than happy to dip into his pocket for Labours fighting fund...........after all; he embezzled £500,000 of his constituents money to pay for his 'office & secretarial expenses' which turned out to be his front room and his wife (possibly his daughter...he doesn't seem to remember which)

More New Labour SLEAZE.

New Labour - The New Nasty Party.

9:59 am, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not at all bad for mid term council byelections. Well done to every Labour loyalist who worked hard on the ground at the basics to get these results...

10:27 am, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Wigan West Ward, Wigan MBC. Lab hold. Lab 817 (38.3%, -5.5%), Con 528 (24.8%, +5.8%), LD 344 (16.1%, -2.4%), BNP 200 (9.4%, -5.1%), UKIP 124 (5.8%, +5.8%), Community Action 118 (5.5%, +5.4%). Swing 5.7% Lab to Con since May.

This is the best set of results for Labour for some months.
"

Swing 5.7% from Labour to Conservative ... best set of results??? Shurely shome mishtake? Or did you let your true colours (blue) slip for a second?

10:39 am, July 11, 2008

 
Blogger Newmania said...

I rather agree with you on 42 days , in an sense , and I was ambivalent/mystified by the whole by-election.
I agree 42 days is not a matter of principle, it is a matter of judgement and DD at another time might easily have taken the opposing view. Nonetheless I have seen absolutely nothing that justifies the Police having such powers now and the Parliamentary scrutiny is an insult to the intelligence . Inspector Knacker, we are assured , is too busy retiring at 50 defrauding the PA scheme bothering drivers and getting fat at his desk to put twice the bodies on this ,and must have six weeks . If they cannot make their case then it follows that Parliament is going to have to take their word for it . So much for scrutiny. Worthless and irritating as any imposture is.

“This scrutiny committee accepts the man has a scowling demeanour and eyebrows that meet . The Police are right to continue their encrypting or de-encrypting or some long word such as appears at the end of a shampoo commercial ( Here’s the science bit ).”

Still a couple of bombs and I will want anyone who looks funny banged up in perpetuity .Much more serious , in my view is the incremental encroachment both on the legal system and the casual spread of data /surveillance sharing and so on.
I am appalled at the perjurers charterof anonymong witnesses . This truly strikes at the heart of open justice again handing power to the Police .So for me DD chose the wrong issue and the wrong time. We may have made some Liberal friends but they will soon be off. I would have far preferred to see him exclaim in anger that if witnesses are so habitually terrified of appearing in court justice cannot be served ,we not take the streets back, before we return to the star chamber .

It was less than edifying to see Ian Paisley bought off , in fact the joke that Brown’s fixers persuaded him of the dangers of terrorism is so ridiculous its almost worth it ...”Bombs yew say ...thart sounds verry dangerous ...coo “. Still this is part of Parliamentary democracy working imperfectly but as it always has done . It remains better than the alternatives including media stunt gestures .


Incidentally Luke for all I do not much like this sort of stunt I do not agree that it hasnot been worth it for the Conservative Party. brown has given up priceless Liberal ground here that labour can no never get back.wE Conservatives well know the slow piison of being agaisn the Liberal media and the raw numbers are not the whole point over time .

10:41 am, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Luke,
Full figures to follow, but Labour won Croft ward in Blyth Valley on a 47% share of the vote, up 8% points on the share achieved on May 1st.
The awkward news for the governemnt is that the winning candidate, Deirdre Campbell, probably benefitted from the hammering her husband, Ronnie, has given the government in parliament over road tax.

11:45 am, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How is David Davis' pyrrhic victory over a bunch of joke candidates supposed to be bad news for the Government? The only political career he ended last night was his own. What a berk.

4:29 pm, July 11, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

do you know the full Blyth Valley result?

9:28 am, July 12, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think it was a waste of money when you take into account the reasons behind it.

In my eyes it shows David Davis as a man of principle and a person willing to put his job on the line for what he believes. Not many politicians do that these days.

I've been on holiday in the South of France but from what I've heard he won with a large majority. Good on him and whether you stand by his views or not he should be respected for his decision.

It was a little bit weird coming back to the UK because of the economic turmoil sweeping the UK economy. The French and Germans are hardly affected and I can't help thinking why? My house in France is still gaining value and inflation is high but not as noticeable as in Britain. And more importantly the French are still a very happy country....hard to say this about the British at the moment.

Something is very wrong with Britain and how it is being run and I can only hope the conservatives manage to mend some of the ills. If they don't then the UK is in for some very big shocks.

4:23 pm, July 13, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blyth Valley full result

Lab 439
Ind 266
LD 176
Con 32

11:11 am, July 14, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

More analysis on the Blyth Valley result - a 5% swing from LibDems to Labour plus a 1.5% swing from the independent candidate and from the Conservatives to Labour produced this encouraging result. On this sort of swing Labour would still be in control in Northumberland.

12:37 pm, July 14, 2008

 

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