Overall, 505,316 votes were cast over 314 local authority (tier one and tier two) contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. For comparison see 2016's results here.
Party | Number of Candidates | Total Vote | % | +/- 2016 | +/- 2015 | Average | +/- Seats |
Conservative | 308 | 176,562 | 34.9% | +5.7% | +3.9% | 573 | -6 |
Labour | 273 | 158,131 | 31.3% | +0.7% | +1.1% | 579 | -5 |
LibDem | 250 | 88,436 | 17.5% | +2.6% | +7.8% | 354 | +17 |
UKIP | 132 | 18,898 | 3.7% | -5.2% | -4.4% | 143 | -12 |
Green | 164 | 23,063 | 4.6% | +0.0% | -0.3% | 141 | +6 |
SNP* | 8 | 9,463 | 1.9% | -2.2% | -7.1% | 1,183 | 0 |
PC | 2 | 635 | 0.1% | -0.6% | -1.1% | 318 | 0 |
Ind*** | 93 | 20,269 | 4.0% | -1.4% | -0.2% | 218 | -3 |
Other**** | 39 | 9,840 | 1.9% | +0.4% | +0.3% | 252 | +3 |
* There were eight by-elections in Scotland.
** There were three by-elections in Wales.
*** There were 11 Independent clashes.
**** See the quarterly round-ups for details of other parties
What a weird year. In 2016, you know, the year Labour dwelled in the doldrums, it nevertheless came out on top in the by-election contests. And with the terms somewhat reversed the Tories turn the tables. How so? It all comes down to that awful, demoralising set of local election results back in May - dispiriting if you were Labour, at least. You may remember those halcyon days where Theresa May couldn't put a foot wrong and looked like she was going to flick the Labour Party aside without breaking a sweat. Then, only a couple of weeks into the general election campaign it did look like that could have happened. We know things turned out differentlyt, but it just so happened the council by-elections that had been held over for the locals replicated the "normal" election results. And the small matter they took place in an over preponderance of Conservative-leaning seats. Therefore the polarisation that has happened since is more or less swamped by those second quarter stats.
There isn't much else to say. The Greens are holding up despite the huge pressure on them from the mammoth Corbyn-led Labour Party, so that's no mean feat. And UKIP are down to their lowest level since I've been tracking local by-elections. The nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales find themselves squeezed this year because, well, there haven't been many by-elections for them to fight.
What is interesting is the LibDems. After a tough time in the middle of the year, it would appear they're back on the by-election winning trail again, even if their vote average remains stubbornly behind the two major parties. Still, since August (i.e. the point I began reporting ward results) the LibDems have taken six seats off the Tories and three seats off Labour. To my mind this seems to tally with the win ratio from earlier in this year. Therefore they have a choice. Cuddly Uncle Vince could try the same trick Tim Farron tried to pull and disproportionately target Labour, with little headway, or pitch slightly more to the centre right to start taking more votes and seats off the Tories. On those figures, I know where I'd concentrate my fire.
Any predictions for next year? Hella no, I've supposed to have given them up. Nevertheless, despite that I'm sure something of this ilk will come along soon.
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