November 11th is, of course, the day on which we all reflect on both the fragility and the price of the freedoms we are lucky enough to enjoy.  It also adds an extra resonance to the act of voting in an election that can often be lost on the other 51 Thursdays of a year.  There were five principal council by-elections that took place on the 11th and ALDC received reports of one election contested out in the towns.  The current political cold snap continues, with very little to cherry pick for Liberal Democrats; of the five elections, we were defending none, we stood candidates in two, and neither of those changed hands.

It was a good day for Independents.  An Independent held the one seat they were defending in the Hunsdon ward of East Hertfordshire District, and another took the Forres seat on Moray Council in Scotland from the Tories, who collapsed into third behind the SNP and the eventual Independent winner on first preferences.  The remaining three seats were all holds for the Conservative Party; a marginal decline in vote-share in the Rushall-Shelfield ward in Walsall wasn’t enough for Labour, who remained 28 votes behind.  The last time the Walsall seat was contested, the local Lib Dem team took a respectable 17.8%, but the absence of a candidate somewhat hampered efforts to build on that this time around.  On the Isle of Wight, Labour’s first attempt to win the Chale, Niton, and Whitwell ward yielded a haul of 76 and our candidate Malcolm Groves kept the Lib Dem vote steady.  Finally, in a three-way thriller in Bury St Edmunds Tower division of Suffolk County Council, the Tories held the second-place Independent off by 55 votes, and the Liberal Democrats placed fifth with a fraction less of the popular vote than in 2009.  There’s a little bit of silver glinting around the November clouds, none of our candidates registered a dramatic decrease in their vote-share and we did pick up a seat in the Pill ward of Saltash Town Council.

As the nights draw in and the air gets brisker, ALDC have rustled up some very fetching Christmas card and calendar templates for those character-building Winter rounds!  They can be accessed at the members-only section of the ALDC site here.  It’s onwards and upwards next week with a further six principal council by-elections, there’s a double election in Croxteth in Liverpool and one of those seats is the week’s only Lib Dem defence.  The very best of luck to all our candidates and campaigners across the country.

Craig Whittall
craig.whittall@aldc.org

There were three principal council by-elections this week, and one reported contest out in the towns.  Labour held both of the seats they were defending; putting 17% on their previous tally in the Kentish Town ward in Camden, and a marginal increase in East Kilbride West in South Lanarkshire.  In both seats, the Liberal Democrat vote held up better than current polling would indicate and we continue to track around 5% above our national opinion poll average when it comes to real elections.  

Our featured story this week is the successful defence of the Springbank ward on Cheltenham Borough Council, where nearly seven out of ten voters backed Cheltenham Lib Dems’ Chris Coleman.  With a history of regular Focus and street letters, Chris’ previous experience as a borough councillor, and a large store of public goodwill based on the association of the party with the popular Springbank Community Resource Centre, Springbank had all the makings of a successful campaign.  This was delivered, with help from across the town and as far afield as Gloucestershire and Bath, and phone canvassing from the Western Counties phone bank.  The campaign saw three Focus leaflets, including an excellent colour A3 folded down to A4 with a ward-map detailing Lib Dem achievements as the centre page.  This worked particularly well as a counter to the Labour charge that the party had done nothing for the ward, which, in a feat of strategic brilliance, they decided to put out after our Focus had already landed!  An M.P.’s endorsement, cream letter, and hand-addressed postal vote knock-up rounded out the pre-polling day literature.  The Focus team used local knowledge and previous canvass experience to stagger their election day knock-ups according to who they knew would be in at different times of the day.  Combined with telephone knock-up and full telling cover, the polling day operation was well-run and bore fruit.  When asked what lessons had been learned from the day, Councillor Chris Coleman commented ‘that traditional ALDC-style campaigning still works, and the other parties still don’t have an answer’.  A sentiment with which this unbiased observer couldn’t agree more!

Out in the towns, Labour held on to their seat on Great Aycliffe Town Council.  There will a total of seven principal by-election contests to report on next week, including on South Lakeland and Manchester MBC.  The very best of luck to our candidates and campaigners across the country.

Craig Whittall
craig.whittall@aldc.org

There was one principal council election held on the 25th June. The SNP held the seat. There were no Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC.
In Angus, in the Monifieth and Sidlaw ward we faced an uphill struggle. In 2007 we got 7% on first preferences to the SNP 54%. We improved our vote by 4.9% but the SNP, who run the council, cruised to victory with 68.6% of the vote.
It may seem early to look forward to the local elections in 2010 but it is essential that council groups and local parties let ALDC know:
A)    whether existing councillors are re-standing
B)   if not, who has been selected to replace them
C)   candidates and agents in all defences and key targets.
so that we can target our help and support early enough to make a difference.
Do not wait until you have a full slate. Let us know as soon as you are clear who your candidates are likely to be even if they may not have been formally selected.
The General Election is likely to be held on the same day as the 166 local authority elections on May 6th 2010. 880 Lib Dem councillors will be defending their seats and we will be defending control of 17 councils from Liverpool to Sutton. Joint elections will create extra demands so it’s even more important to build up your infrastructure over the summer.  The Campaigns department is running a “Big Build’ campaign. Materials will be made available in instalments on both the party’s extranet site and the ALDC website. The first instalment gives you the tools to get out and recruit the deliverers you need. Later instalments will include: ideas and activities to recruit new Liberal Democrat members, clean up and expand your data pool, increase your garden and window poster sites, increase fundraising, voter identification and much more.
For those who had county or Unitary elections in June the deadlines for the receipt of return of election expenses are: Thursday 9th July if your result was declared before midnight on 4th June. Friday 10th July if your result was declared after midnight i.e. 5th June.
Don’t be a wally and leave it till the last minute - get them in at the end of June.
 

There were six principal council elections held on the 23rd April. The Lib Dems gained a seat off the Tories, one off Labour and one off Independents. The Tories held two seats and lost a seat to Labour. There was one Town and Parish Council result reported to ALDC, an Independent hold.

In the Totteridge ward of Wycombe District council in Buckinghamshire we took a seat off Labour. The result saw the Liberal Democrats move from third place in 2007 to victory with over 50% of the vote taking the seat from Labour. The main issue of the campaign was the decision by local Conservatives to close the open air swimming pool. Steve Guy and the Lib Dems have been running a campaign to save the pool.

In the Inverness West ward of Highland Council in Scotland , in Danny Alexander MP’s seat we won on the first round with 60% of the vote taking the seat from an Independent. There was a 22% swing to us from the SNP and the Conservatives came a dismal 5th.

In the Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside ward of Aberdeenshire council we took a seat off the Tories. Labour didn’t even bother to field a candidate and the SNP were pushed into 4th place by an Independent candidate.

We also had a 17% increase in our vote in the Wanstead Ward of the London Borough of Redbridge, which will do no harm to our chances in Leyton & Wanstead at the General Election and next year’s locals in London.

In the Alford , Cranleigh Rural and Ellen’s Green Ward in the Borough of Waverley we had a 14% increase in our vote which will boost Sue Doughty’s hopes of returning as the MP for Guildford.