A duo of by-election wins, one strong hold, one great gain
Originally published by South Lincolnshire Liberal Democrats
Well, well. Only three by-elections this week and we've won two of them
One was a solid hold in Taunton Deane, where we lost the parliamentary seat last May.
Our vote went up despite the presence of a Labour candidate, The Greens have really fallen out of favour.
But better news was to come. We gained a seat in Cornwall.
The Tories really tanked. There must be a story around why they lost almost 40% of their vote. That was in the seat held by Dan Rogerson till May.
This certainly shows that the Liberal Democrats are still alive kicking and wining in the West Country.
Congratulations to our new Councillors Chris Booth and Karen McHugh and their campaign teams.
We didn't manage the treble though - the final by-election, also in Cornwall, saw a Conservative hold. But only just. We missed out by just 60 votes with another strong increase.
Cornwall UA, Wadebridge West
LD Karen McHugh 604 [43.5%; +19.2%]
Conservative 356 [25.6%; -39.9%]
Labour 222 [16.0%; +5.8%]
Independent 111 [8.0%; +8.0%]
Green 95 [6.8%; +6.8%]
Lib Dem gain from the Conservatives
Percentage change since 2013
Taunton Deane DC, Halcon
LD Chris Booth 389 [43.0%; +2.7%]
Conservative 222 [24.6%; -11.0%]
Labour 133 [14.7%; +14.7%]
UKIP 118 [13.1%; +13.1%]
Green 42 [4.6%; -19.5%]
Lib Dem hold
Percentage change since 2015
Cornwall UA, Menheniot
Conservative 532 [40.5%; +2.5%]
LD Charles Boney 472 [35.9%; +11.6%]
UKIP 177 [13.5%; -17.7%]
Labour 67 [5.1%; +5.1%]
Green 65 [5.0%; -1.5%]
Conservative Hold
Percentage change since 2013