Local Council By-Elections June 2021

This month saw 27,508 votes votes cast over 15 local authority contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. Overall, five council seats changed hands. For comparison with May's results, see here.

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  May	+/- Feb 20	Avge/ Contest	+/- Seats
Conservative	14	8,007	29.1%	-11.2	-9.4	572	+1
Labour	12	6,457	23.5%	-9.9	-6.5	538	-2
LibDem	12	3,234	11.8%	+0.6	-3.7	270	0
Green	11	4,385	15.9%	+8.6	+13.4	399	+1
SNP*	2	1,847	6.7%	+6.4	+6.7	924	0
PC**	1	161	0.6%	+0.0	-0.3	161	+1
Ind***	10	3,356	12.2%	+7.6	-0.4	336	-1
Other****	3	61	0.2%	-2.1	+0.1	20	0

*There were two by-elections in Scotland
**The was one by-election in Wales
***There were two Independent clashes in June
**** Others this month consisted on Independence for Scotland (14), Reform (7), and TUSC (40)

The two main parties far out in the lead, but both their votes are squeezed by strong performances elsewhere. One might expect the Liberal Democrats to turn something of a corner at the local level following their Chesham and Amersham performance, and indeed they did. After losing to the Tories badly in Aberdeenshire last week, they pull one back from Labour in Chichester. Annoyingly the Tories continue to do well, gaining another councillor and topping the poll (as usual), but the matter most of interest is the surging Green vote. Without looking at the archive of results I'm pretty sure June was their best by-election performance in raw vote terms, and the first time they've secured third place under "normal" circumstances. And they come out with an extra councillor too. If only someone had been forecasting this for quiet a while ...

Can the Greens hang on to these numbers, or is it a one off? It's tempting to put it down to the rough and tumble of local politics, but with a Labour leadership determined to shed its base the Green vote can only go up.

NB The comparator has been changed from March 2020 to February 2020, which was the last full pre-pandemic month of elections.

10th June
Waltham Forest LBC, Grove Green, Lab hold
Waltham Forest LBC, Lea Bridge, Lab hold

17th June
Aberdeenshire UA, East Garioch, Con gain from LDem
Kent CC, Elham Valley, Con hold
Mid Devon DC, Upper Culm, Con hold
Norfolk CC, Sewell, Lab hold
Norwich DC, Sewell, Grn gain from Lab
Somerset West and Taunton DC, Old Cleeve and District, LDem hold
Tandridge DC, Fellbridge, Ind gain from Con

24th June
Chichester DC, Chichester East, LDem gain from Lab
Gwynedd UA, Harlech, PC gain from Ind
North Lanarkshire, Murdostoun, Ind hold
Rugby BC, Wolvey and Shilton, Con hold
Somerset West and Taunton DC, North Curry and Ruishton, LDem hold
Swindon BC, Priory Vale, Con gain from Ind

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