Local Council By-Elections September 2015

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  Aug	Average/ contest	+/- Aug	+/- Seats
Conservative	17	9,019	25.2%	+11.0%	531	+153	0
Labour	16	10,740	30.1%	+1.2%	671	-99	+1
LibDem	13	3,098	8.7%	+4.7%	238	+100	0
UKIP	14	2,974	8.3%	+4.4%	212	+92	0
Green	9	2,596	7.2%	+2.2%	288	+130	-1
SNP*	3	5,337	15.0%	-22.8%	1,779	-239	0
PC**	1	509	1.4%	+0.9%	509	+330	0
TUSC	2	62	0.2%	-0.1%	31	-28	0
Ind***	7	923	2.6%	+0.9%	132	+7	0
Other****	5	437	1.2%	-2.1%	87	-66	0

* There were three by-elections in Scotland
** There was one by-election in Wales
*** There was one independent clash
*** Others this month were SSP (97), Left Unity (32), Scottish Libertarian Party (17), Health Concern (167), and Yorkshire First (124)

Overall, 35,695 votes were cast over 17 local authority (tier one and tier two) contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. Only one council seat changed hands. For comparison see August's results here.

If last month was an exception, what with the SNP easily cleaning up in the popular vote stakes, September represented a return to normality of sorts. Discounting Scotland - again - things south of the border are starting to look a bit, well, retro. Once again the LibDems have seen off the UKIP challenge despite running fewer candidates. If this carries on (it's four months now) we can perhaps start talking about a trend. The Greens also polled very strongly, though surely that cannot last now a good proportion of their activist base have been tempted away by Jezmania.

Speaking of the Labour Party, there's isn't much evidence our new leader is setting the polls alight. Then again, few things do where by-elections are concerned. But give it time. Already, Labour have half-inched a council seat in Scotland for the first time in ages - though it was the Greens who lost out (the SNP secured the other seat with a whopping lead in that particular two-seat contest). One thing can be said for sure. British politics is in its most agitated state ever, so expect more weirdness in the months ahead.