Quarter Three Local By-Election Results 2016

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  Q2	Average/ contest	+/-   Q2	+/- Seats
Conservative	82	34,774	28.0%	-1.4%	424	-294	-8
Labour	73	35,883	28.9%	-5.8%	492	-392	-3
LibDem	65	22,388	18.0%	+7.1%	344	-31	+16
UKIP	52	11,562	9.3%	-0.7%	222	-163	-2
Green	33	4,632	3.7%	-2.3%	140	-162	0
SNP*	4	4,813	3.9%	+1.5%	1,203	-747	-1
PC**	5	1,421	1.1%	+0.9%	115	+115	+1
TUSC	0
Ind***	30	5,957	4.8%	-0.6%	199	-154	-5
Other****	18	2,711	2.2%	+1.6%	151	+45	+2

* There were four by-elections in Scotland
** There were seven by-elections in Wales
*** There were four Independent clashes
**** Others this quarter were Yorkshire First (91), People Before Profit (129), Justice and Anti-Corruption (41), Christian Alliance (29), Mebyon Kernow (161) (111), Socialist Labour Party (131), SDP (15), United Thanet (44), North East Party (15), Farnham Residents' Assoc (754) (386) (356), English Democrats (24), MIF (148), British Peoples Party (6), People First (64), and the Communist Party of Britain (86)

Overall, 124,141 votes were cast over 85 local authority (tier one and tier two) contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. 29 council seats changed hands. For comparison see Quarter Two's results here.

The first full quarter since the Brexit vote and what do we see? Stasis from UKIP and a surge for the pro-EU LibDems, with a net gain of 16 councillors. Coincidence? Yes and no. As a party, it is in ruder health than the immediate aftermath of the general election. It's undergone a few mini (by Labour's standards) member surges and is standing more widely than when it was in government, so an element of its support are those who didn't necessarily have the opportunity to vote for them previously. On the other hand, it is reasonable to assume there are some die-hards who are casting their vote to protest Brexit, though the rising support for LibDems in by-elections can be traced back to May 2015.

Meanwhile, not much is separating the main parties, with Labour having a slight edge. Can the logjam be broken and swing one way or the other any time soon?