Council by-elections: Tories do badly in latest round

The Conservative Party did badly in the latest round of council by-elections, winning one seat but losing one to the SNP, one to Labour and another two to the Lib Dems.

Two by-elections in Fife saw the SNP gain in Dunfermline East against the Tories and hold a seat in Rosyth. Labour’s performance was disappointing in both seats, with the party coming third in Rosyth and fourth in Dumfermline East.

Overall, Labour came out even from the by-elections – losing one seat to Plaid Cymru in Rhos, Neath Port Talbot, but winning one from the Conservatives in St Mary’s ward, Powys.

The by-election in Rhos was triggered after the resignation of Labour councillor, Alex Thomas. Labour saw a 23.9% fall in vote share, coming in third place, while Plaid Cymru saw a 23.1% increase and the Tory’s stayed at about the same level with a small 0.8% shift.

In St Mary’s, Powys, Labour and Plaid Cymru both saw their vote increase by 16.3% and 14.1% respectively, while the Lib Dems and Tories saw theirs fall by 16.3% and 14.9%.

The Conservatives did manage to win one seat; in Torbay they saw a 17.6% increase in their vote share to put them ahead and take the seat from the Lib Dems. UKIP, who polled 14.7% of the vote last time in the seat, did not put forward a candidate this time round.

Inverness Central (Highland) – SNP hold

First preferences:

SNP: 45.2% (+12.3)
Con: 15.3% (+2.9)
Ind: 12.3%
Lib Dem: 10.5% (+6.0)
Green: 9.8% (+3.7)
Labour: 6.9% (10.0)

SNP elected at stage 3.

Dunfermline East (Fife) – SNP gain.

First preferences:

SNP: 33.2% (+3.4)
Con: 24.8% (+0.7)
LD: 22.8% (+15.9)
Lab: 13.5% (-13.1)
Green: 5.1% (+1.9)
Libertarian: 0.6% (+0.6)

Rosyth (Fife) – SNP hold.

First preferences:

SNP – 1347 (42.8%, +6.3)
Con – 768 (24.4%, +2.1)
Lab – 480 (15.2%, -3.0)
Lib Dem – 249 (7.9%, +0.5)
Ind – 157 (5.0%)
Green – 132 (4.2%, +1.3)
Libertarian – 16 (0.5%, +0.5)

SNP elected at stage 6.

Rhos (Neath Port Talbot) – Plaid Cymru gain.

PC: 53.9% (+23.1)
CON: 24.3% (+0.8)
LAB: 21.8% (-23.9)

St Mary’s (Powys) – Labour gain

LAB: 37.4% (+16.3)
CON: 26.5% (-14.9)
PC: 14.1% (+14.1)
LDEM: 11.1% (-16.3)
IND: 11.0% (+11.0)

Culverden (Tunbridge Wells) – Lib Dem gain.

LDEM: 46.7% (+33.5)
CON: 24.9% (-19.1)
WEP: 10.2% (+10.2)
TWA: 9.5% (+9.5)
LAB: 5.2% (-14.3)
GRN: 3.5% (-7.5)

Shap (Eden) – Lib Dem gain.

LDEM: 48.5% (+17.3)
CON: 33.8% (-17.4)
PCF: 17.7% (+0.1)

Goodrington with Roselands (Torbay) – Conservative gain.

CON: 49.3% (+17.6)
LDEM: 35.5% (-)
BREX: 9.3% (+9.3)
LAB: 4.0% (-3.2)
GRN: 1.9% (-8.9)