Local Council By-Elections June 2022

This month saw 42,699 votes cast in 22 local authority contests. All percentages are rounded to the nearest single decimal place. Nine council seats changed hands. Furthermore, seven seats were newly created or vacant during the last round of local elections, hence the net gains and losses will not tally in the table below. For comparison with May's results, see here.

Party	Number of Candidates	Total Vote	%	+/-  May	+/- Jun 21	Avge/ Contest	+/- Seats
Conservative	20	10,804	25.3%	-5.8	-3.8	540	-5
Labour	20	12,757	29.9%	-11.9	+6.4	638	+5
LibDem	18	10,364	24.3%	+9.5	+12.5	576	+8
Green	13	2,905	6.8%	-0.3	-9.1	223	0
SNP*	1	96	0.2%	+0.2	-6.5	96	0
PC**	2	611	1.4	+1.4	+0.8	306	0
Ind***	18	4,819	11.3%	+6.2	-0.9	268	0
Other****	5	343	0.8%	+0.6	+0.6	69	-1

* There were two by-elections in Scotland
** There were two by-elections in Wales
*** There were three independent clashes
**** Others running this month were Harlow Alliance (76 votes), SDP (125 votes), UKIP (24 and 25 votes), Yorkshire Party (93 votes)

Only scraping into second place in the popular vote by 440 votes, June proved to be another bad month for the Conservatives. Five net losses were the scores on the boards, with seats dropped to the Liberal Democrats and, horror of horrors, Labour as well. A consolation gain from Kidderminster Community Health, who didn't bother standing a candidate, hardly speaks of a party in rude electoral health. Of course, one can't blame this nosedive solely on the national picture. As this month's infestation of independent candidates testifies, local issues matter. But the determined swing against the Tories since December suggests something's afoot.

Naturally, the LibDems and Labour will be happy. The latter particularly seems to have found its by-election mojo again. But if these results are overdetermined by the national picture, I'd suggest it's an anti-Tory sentiment rather than a pro-Labour one. But as long as the party carries on showing reasonable leads in the polls - Ipsos has Labour on an 11 point lead, for instance - Keir Starmer feels he can take his time before setting out his policy stall.

By my reckoning, there are 22 more by-elections to look forward to this month with seven Conservative defences - seven more opportunities to cause a bit more pain.

9th June:
Breckland, Mattishall, Con hold
Crawley, Southgate, Lab hold
Sevenoaks, Penshurst, Fordcombe & Chiddingstone, LDem gain from Con

16th June:
Rother, Brede & Udimore, Con hold
Sunderland, Copt Hill, Lab hold
Warwick, Leamington Clarendon, Lab hold
Wyre Forest, Franche & Habberley North, Con gain from Oth

23rd June:
Harlow, Bush Fair, Lab gain from Con
Kingston, New Malden Village, LDem gain x3
Neath Port Talbot, Port Talbot, Labour gain x2
Shropshire, Highley, LDem gain from Ind
Waverley, Hindhead, LDem gain from Con

30th June:
Buckinghamshire, Bernwood, LDem gain from Con
Croydon, South Croydon, Con hold
East Riding of Yorkshire, Bridlington North, LDem gain from Con
Eilean Siar - Barraigh agus Bhatarsaigh, Ind gain
Eilean Siar - Sgìr’ Ùige agus Carlabhagh, Ind gain
Liverpool, Fazakerley, Lab hold
Middlesbrough, Berwick Hills & Pallister, Lab gain from Ind
Newark & Sherwood, Ollerton, Lab hold
South Derbyshire, Midway, Lab gain from Con
Wyre, Cleveleys Park, Con hold

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