Local Council by-elections 12th August 2021

[Tony Otim]

EAST SUFFOLK DC; Orwell and Villages (Con resigned)
Candidates:
NINNMEY, Michael Robert James (Liberal Democrat)
RICHARDSON, Mick (Conservative)
ROWE, David John (Labour)

2019: Con 1179, 1141; Ind 1040, 1017; Grn 694; Lab 459

David Rowe (Lab) was the unsuccessful candidate in May in Felixstowe North & Trimley division, which overlaps with this ward.

Current council: Con 38; Lab 7; Grn 5; LD 3; Ind 1; 1 vacancy



HIGHLAND UA; Inverness West (Ind resigned)
Candidates:
AITKEN, Colin (Liberal Democrat)
BANNERMAN, Max (Conservative)
FORSYTH, Iain Cullens (Independence for Scotland)
LIPTROT, Calum Mark (Libertarian)
MACKINTOSH, Ryan (Green)
MacLEAN, Kate (SNP)
McDONALD, Duncan (Independent)

2017: SNP 722, 300; LD 964; Ind 719, 130; Con 416; Lab 235

Even on old boundaries, the ward always split 1 LD, 1 SNP and 1 Ind although the Lib Dems did gain the Independent seat in a 2009 by-election, but didn’t defend their gain, fielding only 1 candidate in 2012.


HIGHLAND UA; Wick & East Caithness (Ind resigned)
Candidates:
CAMERON, Michael James (SNP)
CHRISTIAN, Harry (Scottish Libertarian)
FERNIE, Bill (Indepedent)
ROSS, Daniel (Conservative)
TILT, Jill (Liberal Democrat)

2017: Ind 1046, 967, 338, 327, 224; Con 649; SNP 549; Lab 404; LD 172

Bill Fernie was the indie who got 327 votes in 2017 and was independent councillor for the old, much smaller Wick ward from 2007 -2017.

Current Council: Ind 25; SNP 18; Con 10; LD 9; Highland Matters 4 (including 1 Grn & 3 ex-SNP); Lab 3; Non-aligned 1; Real Independent 1; Sutherland Ind Grp 1; 2 vacancies



NORTH AYRSHIRE UA; Dalry & West Kilbride (SNP resigned)
Candidates:
GRAHAM, Robyn (SNP)
KIRKWOOD, Ruby (Liberal Democrat)
McDAID, James (Socialist Labour Party)
REID, Valerie (Labour)
STALKER, Ronnie (Conservative)
WILLIS, John (Independent)

2019: Ind 990, 599, 418, 301, 27; SNP 1219; Con 1137; Lab 432

John Willis was the indy who got 27 votes in 2017. (he also stood on the old boundaries in 2012 getting 24 votes).

Current Council: Lab 11; SNP 9; Con 7; Ind 4; Alba 1; 1 vacancy



SOUTH LAKELAND DC; Grange (LD resigned)
Candidates:
CHAMBERS, Steve (Conservative)
HANLON, Fiona Marguerite (Liberal Democrat)
LE MARE, Robin (Green)
WRIGHT, Patricia (Labour)

May 21by: LD 1427; Con 627; Grn 163; Lab 155
2019: LD 1366; Con 665; Grn 202; Lab 134
2018: LD 1215, 1139, 1121; Con 1058, 1016, 975; Grn 272, 115, 75; Lab 189

Robin Le Mare stood here for the Greens in 2019 and this May. Steve Chambers was the top Conservative candidate in 2018.

Current Council: LD 32; Con 14; Lab 3; Grn 1; 1 vacancy



TOWER HAMLETS LBC; Weavers (Lab died)
Candidates:
AHMED, Kabir (Aspire)
ANDJELIC, Emanuel Tomislav (Liberal Democrat)
BIENFAIT, Nathalie (Green)
KHAN, Nasrin (Labour)
PIERRE, Hugo (TUSC)
WEAVER, Elliott (Conservative)

2018: Lab 1773, 1516; Aspire 533, 517; Grn 342, 316; LD 266, 139; PATH 231, 141; Con 220, 194; Renew 154
2014: Lab 1237, 1223; THF 1214, 1128; Grn 557, 527; UKIP 316; Con 254, 197; LD 202; TUSC 113

PATH= People’s Alliance of Tower Hamlets; THF = Tower Hamlets First

Kabir Ahmed was Labour councillor for the ward on old boundaries from 2010 and the top Tower Hamlets First candidate in 2014. Hugo Pierre was the TUSC candidate in 2014. Elliott Weaver was the second Conservative candidate in 2018 (although I do like that they managed to find a candidate called Weaver for Weavers ward).

Current council: Lab 40; Aspire 1; Con 1; Ind Member of the Con Grp 1; LD 1; 1 vacancy

[evergreenadam]

An interesting week to see where all those large independent votes will go this time around.

[East Anglian Lefty]

Hugo Pierre also stood in the last Unison general secretary race, coming last.

[MacShimidh]

I wish I had some crazy anecdote from Inverness West, but alas it's been a complete snoozefest thus far. A few weeks ago a Lib Dem went round the doors on our street, but if not for that, you wouldn't even know there's a by-election happening. I guess I'd put the Lib Dems as the slight favourites to win but it's hard to say in the absence of any other information.

[timrollpickering]

Jul 25, 2021 19:53:46 GMT Tony Otim said:

TOWER HAMLETS LBC; Weavers (Lab died)

The Boundary Estate in this ward was the subject of a Jago Hazzard video today:

[Chris from Brum]

Jul 28, 2021 21:19:20 GMT timrollpickering said:

Jul 25, 2021 19:53:46 GMT Tony Otim said:

TOWER HAMLETS LBC; Weavers (Lab died)

The Boundary Estate in this ward was the subject of a Jago Hazzard video today:

Despite which he states that the fictional Jago based on the historic Old Nichol area here was not the inspiration for his YouTube persona. As a subscriber to his channel, and being aware of A Child of the Jago (Radio 4 serialised it in the days when they had such things between the end of Today and the news at 9am) I did wonder, but in which case where did he get the name from?

[MacShimidh]

Inverness West - the Independent, Duncan McDonald, put round a leaflet at the weekend. Very short on policy but highlighted his knowledge of the local area and business acumen. He is running with the full backing of the council's Independent grouping, as the leaflet featured endorsements from the outgoing Independent councillor and the Independent Provost of Inverness.

The SNP's candidate also put round a leaflet today. Pretty standard fare from them - generic left-wing patter which very carefully makes no mention of independence whatsoever, as has been their modus operandi for some time now.

[andrew111]

Aug 2, 2021 20:29:03 GMT MacShimidh said:

Inverness West - the Independent, Duncan McDonald, put round a leaflet at the weekend. Very short on policy but highlighted his knowledge of the local area and business acumen. He is running with the full backing of the council's Independent grouping, as the leaflet featured endorsements from the outgoing Independent councillor and the Independent Provost of Inverness.

The SNP's candidate also put round a leaflet today. Pretty standard fare from them - generic left-wing patter which very carefully makes no mention of independence whatsoever, as has been their modus operandi for some time now.

Is the "Independence for Scotland" candidate a far-Nat splinter group?

[MacShimidh]

Aug 2, 2021 20:51:17 GMT andrew111 said:

Aug 2, 2021 20:29:03 GMT MacShimidh said:

Inverness West - the Independent, Duncan McDonald, put round a leaflet at the weekend. Very short on policy but highlighted his knowledge of the local area and business acumen. He is running with the full backing of the council's Independent grouping, as the leaflet featured endorsements from the outgoing Independent councillor and the Independent Provost of Inverness.

The SNP's candidate also put round a leaflet today. Pretty standard fare from them - generic left-wing patter which very carefully makes no mention of independence whatsoever, as has been their modus operandi for some time now.

Is the "Independence for Scotland" candidate a far-Nat splinter group?

Yes, I believe they were originally going to stand list candidates for Holyrood but decided against it to give Alba a free run.

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2021 21:00:56 GMT MacShimidh said:

Aug 2, 2021 20:51:17 GMT andrew111 said:

Is the "Independence for Scotland" candidate a far-Nat splinter group?

Yes, I believe they were originally going to stand list candidates for Holyrood but decided against it to give Alba a free run.

And that turned out so well.

[phil156]

The two wards in Highland and North Ayrshire are counting on Friday

[iang]

And Tower Hamlets will declare when over the weekend? 😁

[andrewp]

Aug 9, 2021 12:04:41 GMT iang said:

And Tower Hamlets will declare when over the weekend? 😁

Which weekend?

[Deleted]

Aug 9, 2021 12:04:41 GMT iang said:

And Tower Hamlets will declare when over the weekend? 😁

At the same time as next year's all out election

[peterl]

Aug 9, 2021 19:14:20 GMT @europeanlefty said:

Aug 9, 2021 12:04:41 GMT iang said:

And Tower Hamlets will declare when over the weekend? 😁

At the same time as next year's all out election

That soon, have they taken on extra staff or something?

[Arthur Figgis]

Aug 9, 2021 19:20:21 GMT peterl said:

Aug 9, 2021 19:14:20 GMT @europeanlefty said:

At the same time as next year's all out election

That soon, have they taken on extra staff or something?

They’ve recalled their staff that had been seconded to New York.

[Tony Otim]

After all these jokes, it'll probably turn out that Tower Hamlets is the first result we have this week.

[Chris from Brum]

Aug 10, 2021 9:32:20 GMT Tony Otim said:

After all these jokes, it'll probably turn out that Tower Hamlets is the first result we have this week.

But will we have any faith in its accuracy?  Mind you, even if they took all year we'd still be sceptical.

[phil156]

Aug 10, 2021 9:52:08 GMT Chris from Brum said:

Aug 10, 2021 9:32:20 GMT Tony Otim said:

After all these jokes, it'll probably turn out that Tower Hamlets is the first result we have this week.

But will we have any faith in its accuracy?  Mind you, even if they took all year we'd still be sceptical.

       Well they are counting after 10pm on Thursday may have 7 recounts and then it will end up in the High Court 

[The Bishop]

Aug 10, 2021 9:32:20 GMT Tony Otim said:

After all these jokes, it'll probably turn out that Tower Hamlets is the first result we have this week.

I find all these jokes as amusing as anyone, but it has been pointed out that a key reason for the infamous delays in the past was Lutfur Rahman supporters invading counts and intimidating council staff - which is both not such a laughing matter, and hopefully at least largely in the past now.