Since the May local elections, no English party has faced more by-elections caused by breaches of electoral law than the Greens.
In some cases, resignations were forced as councillors simultaneously won mayoral contests; in others, candidates were disqualified for being elected to authorities by whom they were employed, or being subsequently found to be otherwise ineligible.
The latter was the case in the recent Frome West by-election in Somerset. The Green share of the vote was marginally down this time, on a much lower turnout, but nonetheless the seat was retained quite comfortably.
The Greens also made two gains. One, in Reigate and Banstead, was to a council that will cease to exist next May regardless of the pause to local government reorganisation in other parts of the country.
The second – also from the Conservatives – was in Dover, where the Conservative share of the vote halved as Reform UK polled nearly 30 per cent from a standing start.
The Greens polled fewer votes than they had in 2023, despite an overall higher turnout, but managed to stay just ahead of a divided pack.
Their new councillor joins the increasing number of elected representatives from all parties who have been positively endorsed by less than three in ten of those who voted.
The only other English party to record no losses over what we may see as the ‘school holiday’ period was the Liberal Democrats. They picked up three more seats, two of them from Reform.
In the St Neots Eynesbury ward of Huntingdonshire, a candidate who had polled well but unsuccessfully standing as an Independent in May, took on the Liberal Democrat label and beat Reform.
In Almondbury, Kirklees, the Liberal Democrats regained a seat lost in May in a ward which they had habitually won for most of its two-decade existence.
Although Reform UK won new seats in councils which last had elections in 2022 or 2023, before the party existed, there is evidence that support has dipped since May.
Reform won clear overall majorities in Barnsley, St Helens and Thurrock in May, but the recent by-election defeats in these three areas, at Labour’s hands, all followed a fall in its own share and a rise in that for its opponents over the past three or so months.
As the political season now picks up, other parties will look for further indications from the ballot box as to whether Reform UK has peaked locally.
| By-elections |
|---|
| Barnsley, Penistone East LAB GAIN FROM REF 27.9% over Ref Turnout 38.6% |
| Bolton, Rumworth IND GAIN FROM LAB 11.7% over Lab Turnout 28.8% |
| Caerphilly, Hengoed PLAID HELD 13.5% over Ref Turnout 24.0% |
| Cumberland, Harraby South REF GAIN FROM LAB 6.9% over Lab Turnout 27.9% |
| Dover, Guston, Kingsdown and St Margarets-at-Cliffe GREEN GAIN FROM CON 1.3% over Ref Turnout 45.1% |
| East Devon, Exmouth Brixington CON HELD 5.7% over Lib Dem Turnout 24.0% |
| East Devon, Honiton St Michael’s LIB DEM GAIN FROM LAB 20.3% over Ref Turnout 28.7% |
| Eastleigh, Hedge End South LIB DEM HELD 21.1% over Con Turnout 27.4% |
| Huntingdonshire, St Neots Eynesbury LIB DEM GAIN FROM REF 17.6% over Ref Turnout 24.1% |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Heacham REF GAIN FROM CON 9.2% over Lib Dem Turnout 17.7% |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Snettisham REF GAIN FROM CON 2.8% over Lib Dem Turnout 29.0% |
| Kirklees, Almondbury LIB DEM GAIN FROM REF 16.8% over Ref Turnout 29.5% |
| Medway, Cuxton, Halling and Riverside REF GAIN FROM CON 4.8% over Con Turnout 37.5% |
| Newcastle City, Throckley, Walbottle and Newburn REF HELD 10.0% over Lib Dem Turnout 32.9% |
| Nottingham, Leen Valley LAB HELD 7.4% over Res Turnout 31.8% |
| Oxfordshire, Chesterton and Launton LIB DEM HELD 12.8% over Con Turnout 31.3% |
| Reigate and Banstead, Hooley, Merstham and Netherne GREEN GAIN FROM CON 17.4% over Ref Turnout 27.0% |
| Rhondda Cynon Taff, Llantwit Fardre CON HELD 39.4% over Plaid Turnout 35.4% |
| Sheffield, Southey REF GAIN FROM LAB 13.3% over Lab Turnout 15.8% |
| Somerset, Frome West GREEN HELD 7.4% over Lib Dem Turnout 21.7% |
| South Gloucestershire, Longwell Green CON HELD 9.9% over Ref Turnout 34.0% |
| South Holland, Long Sutton REF GAIN FROM IND 26.7% over Con Turnout 26.3% |
| South Tyneside, Harton REF HELD 17.4% over Lab Turnout 28.3% |
| St Helens, Billinge and Seneley Green LAB GAIN FROM REF 9.5% over Ref Turnout 33.8% |
| Stroud, Kingswood LIB DEM HELD 48.2% over Con Turnout 37.3% |
| Thurrock, Grays Riverside LAB GAIN FROM REF 2.1% over Ref Turnout 18.0% |
| Thurrock, Grays Town LAB GAIN FROM REF 10.0% over Ref Turnout 24.0% |
| Uttlesford, Great Dunmow North CON GAIN FROM RES 22.6% over Ref Turnout 28.8% |
| Wandsworth, Trinity LAB HELD 3.9% over Con Turnout 39.6% |
| Ynys Môn, Bro’r Llynnoedd PLAID HELD 9.3% over Ref Turnout 29.7% |
- For more details on these and other recent by-election results, please view our elections spreadsheet below.