Local Council By-Elections April 2022

This month saw 18,458 votes cast over 13 local authority contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. Overall, seven council seats changed hands. For comparison with March's results, see here.

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  Mar	+/- Apr 21	Avge/ Contest	+/- Seats
Conservative	13	5,299	28.7%	-7.5	-9.5	408	-4
Labour	10	4,828	26.2%	+11.1	-8.9	483	0
LibDem	8	4,729	25.6%	-13.8	+18.4	591	+4
Green	6	2,454	13.3%	+9.2	+13.3	409	+2
SNP*	0						0
PC**	0						0
Ind***	5	1,018	5.5%	+0.8	-12.9	204	-2
Other****	2	130	0.7%	-1.4	-0.4	65	0

* There were no by-elections in Scotland
** There were no by-elections in Wales
*** There was one Independent clash
**** Others this month consists of the Liberal Party (84) and TUSC (46).

April is traditionally a quiet month as by-elections are held over for local election day. By my reckoning there are 52 such contests to look forward to on 5th May, hence why we're doing the results round up now - there are no more contests to be had. A short month, but a not great one for the Conservatives as they head into the locals four councillors down and only a gain from Labour in the High Peak to console them (Labour took one back from them, extending the party's run without a net loss to a whopping three months). Again, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens gain from the Tories' expense - fitting the analysis pushed here many times about where they should be putting their resources.

In all, not much can be taken from these results. Though it's worth noting the Tory performance, in vote terms, is quite low as revealed by their vote average per contest. A sign that the cost of living crisis and everything else is biting into their local government support? We'll see next month when the main event rolls in.

7th April
Dorset: Lyme and Charmouth, Grn gain from Con
East Riding of Yorkshire: South Hunsley, LDem gain from Con
High Peak: Cote Heath, Con gain from Lab
Horsham: Storrington and Washington, Grn gain from Con
Liverpool: Everton, Lab hold
Liverpool: Warbreck, Lab hold
Mid Devon: Cullompton South, LDem gain from Ind
Telford and Wrekin: Brookside, Lab hold
Wolverhampton: East Park, Lab hold

14th April
Durham: West Auckland, Lab gain from Con
Maldon: Heybridge West, LDem gain from Ind
Surrey Heath: Bisley and West End, LDem gain from Con
Tewkesbury: Brockworth East, Ind hold

Image Credit