Local Council By-Elections February 2020

This month saw 22,016 votes cast over 15 local authority (tier one and tier two) contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. Five council seat changed hands. For comparison with January's results, see here.

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  Jan	+/- Feb 19	Avge/ Contest	+/- Seats
Conservative	15	8,467	38.5%	+0.0%	+14.5%	564	-1
Labour	12	6,608	30.0%	-3.0%	-0.1%	551	-1
LibDem	9	3,411	15.5%	+0.3%	-10.7%	379	+1
Green	7	549	2.5%	-4.6%	-0.1%	78	0
SNP	0						0
PC**	1	189	0.9%	+0.9%	-2.3%	189	+1
Ind***	14	2,776	12.6%	+10.6%	+8.3%	198	0
Other****	1	16	0.1%	+0.1%	-8.4%	16	0

* There were no by-elections in Scotland
** There was one by-election in Wales
*** There were four Independent clashes this month
**** Others this month consisted just of UKIP (16 votes)

A month of electoral high drama? No, not really. But at least one that has movement, with Labour and the Tories gaining and losing, and ditto for the Independents. One thing I think we can now say after three months on the trot of similar patterning is a post-Brexit politics-as-usual is setting in. No more wild surges for the Liberal Democrats, no downright rotten scores for Labour. We'll see if there's a big change when the new leader (who is almost certain to be Keir Starmer) comes in, though the stupid length of time this contest is going on for means we won't find out until the end of April. One thing I'd like to see is a renewed effort at getting Labour stand everywhere, just like the Tories do. Why should rural areas be left to the LibDems or Indies to provide the opposition?

6th February
Warrington UA, Burtonwood and Winwick, Lab hold

13th February
Derbyshire CC, Whaley Bridge, Lab gain from Con
East Staffordshire DC, Yoxall, Con hold
Hertsmere DC, Borehamwood Kenilworth, Con gain from Lab
Huntingdonshire DC, St Ives East, Con hold
Thanet DC, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Con hold
Waverley DC, Milford, Ind hold

20th February
Middlesbrough UA, Coulby Newham, Con hold

27th February
Blaby DC, Millfield, Lab hold
Cambridgeshire DC, Duxford, LDem gain from Con
Cheshire East UA, Crewe South, Lab hold
Hillingdon LBC, Hillingdon East, Con hold
Manchester MBC, Clayton and Openshaw, Ind gain from Lab
South Cambridgeshire DC, Whittlesford, Con hold
Wrexham UA, Gwersyllt North, PC gain from Ind

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