Council by-elections: Labour holds on to Leicester seat with nearly 90% of the vote

Labour held onto the seat of Belgrave in Leicester in yesterday’s council by-elections with a staggering 17 point increase in the vote share.

The by-election was triggered by the death of Labour councillor Mo Chohan, who passed away in October. The party selected Padmini Chamund to replace him.

Leicester is a strong Labour constituency, with neighbouring Latimar having voted 81% for the party back in 2011. But Chamund’s campaign yielded even stronger results, with 86.6% of the electorate choosing Labour.

In The Byfleets (Surrey), however, it was a victory for the independent candidate Amanda Boote. The council is known for its strong Conservative support.

Two more seats were contested last night: the seat of Wolvercote in Oxford (a Lib Dem hold), and the Highland seat of  Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh (to be announced).

Belgrave (Leicester) – Labour HOLD

Labour: 86.6% (+17.0)

Conservative: 6.5% (-11.9)

Lib Dem: 3.8% (+3.8)

Green: 3.1% (-2.5)

(No UKIP (-3.9) and TUSC (-2.4) as previously.)

The Byfleets (Surrey) – Independent GAIN from Conservative

Independent: 49.0% (+16.6)

Conservative: 33.1% (-8.3)

Lib Dem: 13.4% (-4.1)

(No Labour (-5.3) as previously.)

Wolvercote (Oxford) – Liberal Democrat HOLD

Lib Dem: 60.5% (-0.5)

Conservative: 25.4% (+1.9)

Labour: 9.8% (+0.1)

Green: 5.4% (-0.3)