There's no doubt that the Liberal Democrats are staging a bit of a comeback at the locals in 2018.

 

Yesterday they gained Three Rivers Rural in Hertfordshire from the Conservatives with 53% (+10) of the votes, and came within 2 pc of taking Bosmere Ward in Suffolk.

 

In 2018, there have been 208 council by-elections (for 213 seats). Here are the results:

 

CON: 91 (-14) , 35.7% (-1.5)

LAB: 58 (-1) , 28.5% (+3.3)

LDM: 33 (+20) , 17.9% (+7.2)

A rural Hertfordshire seat?!

 

It's because they are the party of remain. Corbyn should take note.

Three Rivers used to be an area where the Lib Dems were pretty strong, so this result represents something of a return to form there.

A rural Hertfordshire seat?!

 

It's because they are the party of remain. Corbyn should take note.

 

Somehow I don't think Labour would stand a snowball in hell's chance in rural Hertfordshire... :P

Three Rivers used to be an area where the Lib Dems were pretty strong, so this result represents something of a return to form there.

 

The full result...

 

Hertfordshire CC, Three Rivers Rural

LD 1846 [53.4%; +9.5%]

Con 1315 [38.0%; -9.0%]

Lab 144 [4.2%; -0.1%]

UKIP 86 [2.5%; +0.6%]

Green 68 [2.0%; -1.1%]

Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative

Percentage changes from 2017

Turnout 29.7%

Somehow I don't think Labour would stand a snowball in hell's chance in rural Hertfordshire... :P

 

Perhaps you're right :kink:

I think Lancaster Gate ward n Westminster Council may have made a late bid to have the most boring local by-election result of the year.

 

CON: 47.2% (-0.4)

LAB: 35.4% (-0.5)

LDEM: 14.2% (-2.3)

GRN: 3.2% (+3.2)

 

The only result of note on Thursday was in Enfield where there was a big swing from Labour to the Tories. It means the ward regains its status as a safe Tory seat which it had been up to, and including, 2010. In May's constituency of Maidenhead, a candidate standing for the National Flood Prevention Party came second.

I think Lancaster Gate ward n Westminster Council may have made a late bid to have the most boring local by-election result of the year.

 

CON: 47.2% (-0.4)

LAB: 35.4% (-0.5)

LDEM: 14.2% (-2.3)

GRN: 3.2% (+3.2)

 

The only result of note on Thursday was in Enfield where there was a big swing from Labour to the Tories. It means the ward regains its status as a safe Tory seat which it had been up to, and including, 2010. In May's constituency of Maidenhead, a candidate standing for the National Flood Prevention Party came second.

 

Wolvercote ward in Oxford has put in an even later bid for the "most boring result" title.

 

LDEM: 60.5% (-0.5)

CON: 24.5% (+1.0)

LAB: 9.8% (-0.1)

GRN: 5.2% (-0.5)

 

There was also a by-election in Scotland in a ward that is larger than Luxembourg and Malta :lol: That ward saw the SNP gain a seat from the Lib Dems. That was largely down to the use of AV in by-elections where STV is used in full elections. The Lib Dems won the last of the seats allocated and, therefore, started from a weak position in an AV vote That has led to a discussion on Twitter on whether there is a better way for filling vacancies in such circumstances.

 

Elsewhere, the Tories lost a seat to an independent candidate in a normally rock-solid Tory ward on Surrey CC and Labour held a seat in Leicester with over 5/6ths of the vote.

We need to get rid of these rotten boroughs and assign seats by overall popular vote.

There was also a by-election in Scotland in a ward that is larger than Luxembourg and Malta :lol: That ward saw the SNP gain a seat from the Lib Dems. That was largely down to the use of AV in by-elections where STV is used in full elections. The Lib Dems won the last of the seats allocated and, therefore, started from a weak position in an AV vote That has led to a discussion on Twitter on whether there is a better way for filling vacancies in such circumstances.

 

In the NI Assembly (during the occasion under a blue moon where it's actually sitting), when a member steps down, their position is co-opted from a list that is drawn up by their predecessor, which is in almost all cases someone from the same political party. It does mean that someone from a similar political persuasion to the person who has left the position will fill the role, but then of course it means that your representative for the rest of the Assembly's term is not someone who has been elected by the people. It's not a perfect solution, but it does seem a better way of doing things than the AV you've mentioned, as if there are several by-elections that don't overlap, there could be a situation where the representatives in the council are not actually representative after all, and could end up being from the same party.

Always thought this was dodgy too though as the party internally can fix who they want wherever they want them especially with certain political parties in NI!

Always thought this was dodgy too though as the party internally can fix who they want wherever they want them especially with certain political parties in NI!

That's an interesting point. There would be a risk that a party might persuade an awkward representative to resign so that they can be replaced with someone more compliant. Perhaps there is a case for having different rules depending on the reason for the vacancy. A vacancy caused by a death or resignation through ill-health (subject to safeguards in the latter case) could be filled by nomination, but a vacancy caused by a resignation for other reasons would trigger a by-election.

We need to get rid of these rotten boroughs and assign seats by overall popular vote.

What does this even mean

What does this even mean

Your guess is as good as mine :lol:

That's an interesting point. There would be a risk that a party might persuade an awkward representative to resign so that they can be replaced with someone more compliant. Perhaps there is a case for having different rules depending on the reason for the vacancy. A vacancy caused by a death or resignation through ill-health (subject to safeguards in the latter case) could be filled by nomination, but a vacancy caused by a resignation for other reasons would trigger a by-election.

 

Exactly seen this happen before!

What does this even mean

 

Get rid of boundaries and FPTP by constituency. Have a popular vote cross the country and assign the number of seats based on that. No mote Tory 'wins' through gerrymandering!

Get rid of boundaries and FPTP by constituency. Have a popular vote cross the country and assign the number of seats based on that. No mote Tory 'wins' through gerrymandering!

 

But that would eliminate the crucial local link - how would you like your MP to be someone from hundreds of miles away who couldn't give s sh1t about your constituency's problems?

 

Also, we'd then have permanent coalition gov't because no party would ever get 50% of the popular vote.

Get rid of boundaries and FPTP by constituency. Have a popular vote cross the country and assign the number of seats based on that. No mote Tory 'wins' through gerrymandering!

 

That would just cause resentment amongst voters. people in a safe Labour area would be pissed off at having Tories represent them, and people in safe Tory seats pissed off at having Labour - though the advantage would be Libdems having more seats, the disadvantage would be no Libdem councils ever even when they have local strongholds.

 

Just wouldn't work.

Get rid of boundaries and FPTP by constituency. Have a popular vote cross the country and assign the number of seats based on that. No mote Tory 'wins' through gerrymandering!

Having a local representative is a key tenant of an effective parliamentary democracy

 

Also, we'd then have permanent coalition gov't because no party would ever get 50% of the popular vote.

Not a problem for the entire rest of Europe. And let’s be real, ignoring the SNP getting 50.3% in Scotland in 2015 GE, when was the last time anyone got close to 50% nationally? Weren’t not a 2 party system and we will never return to being one. The days of a 50% vote and a win are over

Well no. Places with a high Labour vote would get Labour MPs. One with similar votes would get one of each etc. Easy fix and stops results like in 2010 where Labour got an almost identical vote spli5 to the Tories but 100 fewer seats. That is not democracy.