There were four principal council by-elections held on 3rd September. Labour held one seat and lost one to the Tories. The Tories lost a seat to an Independent and one to the Liberal Democrats. In the six Parish and Town council elections reported to ALDC the Lib Dems held one seat and gained two seats from the Tories. The Tories held two seats and Independents one.

In the Hallow Ward of Malvern Hills council we scored a spectacular gain from the Tories in the key West Worcestershire parliamentary seat. Crucial was the Regional Spatial Strategy advocating 3500 extra houses for the village. The Tories claimed they’d been instrumental in delaying the implementation of the RSS (incidentally following the national Tory strategy revealed last week http://tinyurl.com/torydelaytactics).  We pointed out that the Tories had forced through the proposal. Strong issues well used.

In the Luton and Wayfield Ward of Medway Unitary Authority in Kent we had not stood a candidate for years. The parliamentary seat is held by Labour but is a top Tory target. The remaining Labour councillors in the Ward (once Labour’s safest in the parliamentary seat) resigned and joined the independents over the Labour candidates selection. The Tory candidate was a Ghurka but the Tories were closing a local primary school.!! Clearly there was plenty of ammunition but in such a highly charged political atmosphere three leaflets and some target mail is not normally a winning campaign, and so it proved this time.

In the Southwick Ward of the newly unitary Wiltshire an Independent took the seat, leapfrogging our campaign. Whilst the Tory vote was hardest hit it does highlight the issue of how to deal with independents in the current “anti politics” environment. One thing to be extremely careful of is historic canvas data whether it’s from actual canvassing in previous elections or “how did you vote last time/usually” type questions. This data is often gathered without reference to the possible choice of candidates in the current election. Once electors are aware they have a choice beyond the main parties they can be tempted to leave their usual allegiances or abstain. It is something the party needs to address before next May.  One approach may be to re-canvas the historic element of the shuttleworth in the last few days of the campaign, perhaps on the final Sunday.

Regular readers of this column may be aware that we have made significant progress in local by-elections this year with over 10 net gains in the year to date. While the causes of success in any election are notoriously difficult to unravel it is evident that one of the keys to Liberal Democrat success is that in by elections we can focus the resources from across a borough or county to campaign in the by-election ward.  As Chris Huhne outlined in his article in Lib Dem news last week, our opinion poll ratings double when were not squeezed by Labour and the Tories. It is the volume and quality of our campaigning that helps us bridge this credibility gap. In 2010 the likelihood of combined local and parliamentary elections presents huge capacity challenges to the party as a whole. There are no guarantees of success but it will be clear that where we have not built sufficient financial and human resources will not win. Now is the time to join the Big Build campaign to build the capacity we need for success in 2010.
 

There were four principal council by-elections held on Thursday 20th August. The Liberal Democrats gained two seats from Independents but lost one to the Conservatives. The Tories held one seat In the only parish and Town council elections reported to ALDC the Lib Dems held one seat and lost one seat to the Conservatives.

In the Hucknall Central Ward of Ashfield District council, Nottinghamshire the local Liberal Democrats continue to march onward apace. Following dramatic recent electoral progress they had formed the district council's minority administration following the 2008 elections. Then in May this year a cabal of Labour, Independents and the Tories then conspired to oust the Lib Dem administration re-instating Labour much to the fury of local residents. In June’s County elections the Lib Dems made four gains from Labour and have now stormed to success in this District by-election as well. The Liberal Democrats remain the biggest group on the District Council with 13 seats.

In the Mitcheldean and Drybrook Ward, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire we had come second in the county elections from June and had seen a possible district by-election coming. This had allowed us to identify a potential candidate early and prioritise the County “Thank You” and surveying for this district ward, culminating in us calling the by-election. Our campaign was not innovative from a national perspective, but was novel locally including strong postal vote, volume of literature, clear messaging, blue letters, direct mail, eve of poll, good mornings and two knock ups. It was also handy that we had the only local candidate.

In the Saxilby ward of West Lindsay council in Lincolnshire we lost the seat to the Tories. Our councillor had become an Independent before she resigned and then fought and wonthe by-election as a Tory. This was a council that we ran in 2006 but lost control of in 2008.

There were six principal council elections held on the 16th July. We held three wards, the Tories two and Labour took a seat from the Tories. In the only Town and Parish Council result reported to ALDC we held the seat.

In the Merseyside metropolitan borough of St Helens we held all three seats in the Moss Bank ward. The council was on a knife edge. Lab 23: LD 19: Con 6. We lead a LD/Con administration. When a well respected councillor for Moss Bank ward, Anne Heyes, died, control of the council was at stake in the ensuing by-election. Our campaign team quickly spotted from early canvassing that one of our other councillors in the Ward, Carole Kavanagh was the Liberal Democrat that most voters identified with. Our campaign was then to use Carole’s popularity to help the new candidate David Kent get elected. We did this by having plenty of target mail from Carole and emphasising David as part of our strong team. Photos on literature were of our two existing councillors with David, not usually of David on his own. This contrasted well with the isolation of the opposition candidate’s campaigns. Labour ran an entirely negative campaign against our administration.

In the Portfield ward of Christchurch Council in Dorset we saw the benefit of knocking up to the last minute. In 2007 in the borough we lost a seat when the vote was tied and lots were drawn. On the first count in Portfield ward there were only 4 votes between 1st and 2nd place. After the first recount we led by one vote as a bundle of 25 had been found to be mixed and this was confirmed on the second recount. It pays to knock on phone and foot to the last minute.

In the Warwickshire County council ward of Arbury and Stockingford Labour again demonstrated their resilience by retaking this ward from the Tories. So far this year Labour has made five net gains in by-elections, not as good as us but very notable in the current national political climate

There were two principal council elections held on the 2nd July. The Lib Dems gained one seat from the Tories and the Tories held the other. No Town and Parish Council results were reported to ALDC.

Thursday was another good night for the Lib Dems. We now have made eleven net gains since the beginning of the year in council by-elections.

Nonsuch ward, part of the London Borough of Sutton has been a Lib Dem ward but the Tories took a seat in 2006 all out London elections. We wanted it back! So in a held parliamentary seat we pulled out all the stops and utilised help from across London with action days every weekend. How often will the two Lib Dem MPs’ turn up to help deliver the good morning leaflet at 6am only to find there were none left to deliver!
Labour and the BNP ran two leaflet campaigns but the Tories produced six full colour leaflets.  The final Tory leaflet went negative against our candidate but the tactic backfired badly. We not only have two local MPs, we also run the council and fighting by-elections when in control is often difficult. In these circumstances getting a swing to the Lib Dems from the Tories and over 50% of the vote in a high turnout election is particularly encouraging.

Unfortunately despite this success we are still failing to stand candidates even in wards where we polled 22% last time. Standing no candidate in the Ferndown Central ward of East Dorset District Council is even more inexplicable as it is in the Christchurch constituency.

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.