Four principal council by-elections were contested yesterday. UKIP slumped to third place in Bocking ward in Essex (CC) in their attempt to defend the seat as the Conservatives polled 34.3% to win the seat back having lost it by 20 votes two years ago. In addition, UKIP suffered a 5.3% drop in their vote share from 2013 as they finished 119 votes adrift of Labour to finish third.
Elsewhere Labour polled over 70% in holding seats in St Pancras & Somers town and Selhurst wards in the London boroughs of Camden and Croydon.
Also, in Brent (LB) the Conservatives hung on to their seat in Kenton with a 51.6%, despite Labour increasing their vote share by 7.3% from the ward’s 2014 election.
Lib Dem candidates were fielded in the contests in Brent, Croydon and Camden, with the three candidates polling 3.1%, 3.3% and 4.7% respectively. The party’s vote share saw minor decreases in all three of these wards from their last elections in 2014 (3%, 2.9% and 1.9%).