This week’s council by-elections

Five principal authority council by-elections this week, with four Liberal Democrat candidates, the same number as last time around in these wards.

Congratulations to Alex Lewis and the local Lib Dem team for moving up into second place in the by-election caused by Labour’s candidate, now MP, in Mid Bedfordshire resigning his council seat.

Thank you to Stephen Richmond for being the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Thank you to Cat Hornsey for ensuring the Lib Dems were on the ballot paper for the second time in a row in this ward after several years of no shows.

Jeff Sumner was the Lib Dem candidate; thank you.

For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see my council by-elections scorecard here.

These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections as it’s only those for which comprehensive results are available. But this week, this by-election at the town/parish/community council level did catch my eye:

Many congratulations to new councillor James Owen and the team. The by-election was for a Conservative vacancy, with the contest called by the Green Party. James’s win makes him the first Lib Dem on the Town Council.

Understanding the opinion polls

For understanding what is happening in politics, by-elections have the advantage of being real votes in real ballot boxes. But the opinion polls have the advantage of trying to be a representative sample of voters, not just those in the places that happen to have by-elections. To understand the polls properly – and what they do and don’t really tell us – see my book, Polling UnPacked: The History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls.

Get by-election results by email

If you sign up for my daily email with the latest pieces from this site, you’ll also get included as a little bonus the full set of council by-election results each week: