By-elections 7-8 October

[Robert Waller]

In case anyone was, like me, looking to see what we have this week, I have copied this from another thread.
No doubt a more useful person than myself will add candidate details and so on.

7th October - 2
Cardiff UA, Riverside - Labour resigned - 7 candidates: Con, Lab, LD, PC, UKIP, Green, TUSAC
Western Isles UA, West Side & Ness - Independent died - 3 candidates: Green, Ind, No Description

8th October - 6
Bolsover DC, Bolsover South - Labour died - 4 candidates: Con, Lab, UKIP, TUSAC
Highland UA, Aird & Loch Ness - SNP resigned (now MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey) - 5 candidates: Con, LD, SNP, Green, Ind
South Hams DC, Totnes - Green resigned - 5 candidates: Con, Lab, LD, Green, Ind
South Oxfordshire DC, Sandford & The Whittenhams - Conservative resigned - 4 candidates: Con, Lab, LD, Green
Woking BC, Goldsworth East - Liberal Democrat resigned - 4 candidates: Con, Lab, LD, UKIP
Woking BC, Goldsworth West - Liberal Democrat resigned - 4 candidates: Con, Lab, LD, UKIP

[maxque]

I typed half of them, should publish later.

[maxque]

October 7th

Riverside - Cardiff - Cecilia Love (Labour), resigned due to her poor attendance. She cited the difficulties of being a single mum from an Asian background to explain it.

Dec 2013 by: Lab 1120, PC 773, Con 107, UKIP 97, TUSC 70, LD 58
2012: Lab 1731/1555/1431, PC 1153/944/940, Grn 294/272/189, Con 286/276/263, LD 142/129/122, TUSC 99
Mar 2011 by: Lab 1700, PC 1099, Con 369, Grn 277, LD 187
2008: PC 1064/1064/991, Lab 786/743/707, Con 295/209/206, LD 280/250/235
2004: PC 1448/1408/1248, Lab 1280/1135/1092, LD 693/658/561, Grn 605, Con 465

Steffan Bateman (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
Ruksana Begum (Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales)
Gareth Bennett (UK Independence Party (UKIP))
Sean Driscoll (Welsh Conservative Party Candidate)
Gwilym Owen (Welsh Liberal Democrats / Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru)
Hannah Pudner (The Green Party / Plaid Werdd)
Caro Wild (Welsh Labour / Llafur Cymru)

An Taobh Siar agus Nis - Eilean Siar - Iain Morrison (Independent) died. He was a councillor since 1999.

Mar 2015 by: Ind Maclennan unopposed
2012: Morrison 354, Mackay 310, SNP 298, Murray 289, Maclennan 119, Dunlop 94 (winners: Morrison, Mackay, SNP, Murray on 2nd count; final count Murray 316, Maclennan 128, Dunlop 103)
2007: Morrison 463, Mackay 335, Murray 313, MacSween 277, Rennie 267, MacLeod 118, McTaggart 14 (winners: Morrison, Mackay, Murray, Rennie on 5th count; final count Rennie 338, MacSween 323) (only ward in Western Isles to have no party candidates in 2007)

Richard Froggart (Independent)
Gavin Humphreys (Scottish Green Party)
John MacLeod


October 8th

Bolsover South - Bolsover DC - James Hall (Labour) died.

2015: 2 x Lab unopposed
2011: Lab 787/611, Con 351
2007: 2 x Lab unopposed
2003: 2 x Lab unopposed

Juliet Armstrong (The Conservative Party Candidate)
John Bagshaw (UK Independence Party (UKIP))
Pat Cooper (Labour Party)
Jon Dale (Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts)

Aird and Loch Ness - Highland - Resignation of Drew Hendry (SNP), the new MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. He was Highland Council leader from 2012 to 2015.

2012: Ind 1194/659, SNP 840/287, LD 498, Con 279, Lab 221, UKIP 66 (winners: Ind, SNP, Ind, LD on 7th count; final count LD 768, SNP 413)
2007: Ind 1215/1125/322/192, SNP 892, LD 550, Con 355, Lab 292 (winners: Ind, Ind, SNP, LD on 7th count; final count LD 866, Ind 598)

George Cruickshank (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
Jean Davis (Scottish Liberal Democrats)
Zofia Fraser (Independent)
Emma Knox (Scottish National Party (SNP))
Vikki Trelfer (Scottish Green Party)

Totnes - South Hams DC - Barrie Wood (Green) resigned for health reasons.

2015: Grn 2215/1839, Lab 1265/1137/1111, LD 1150, Con 928/815/754, UKIP 693, TUSC 349

John Birch (Liberal Democrat)
Ralph Clark (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Eleanor Cohen (Labour Party)
John Green (Green Party)
Peter Pirnie (Independent)

Sandford and The Whittenhams - South Oxfordshire DC - Jon Woodley-Shead (Conservative) resigned for unknown reasons.

2015: Con 1030, LD 445, Lab 367, Grn 343

Sam Casey-Rerhaye (Green Party)
Sue Lawson (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Jim Merritt (Labour Party)
Simon Thompson (Liberal Democrat)

Goldsworth East - Woking DC - Amanda Coulson (Liberal Democrat) resigned due to taking up a teaching position in the Middle East. She was elected in 2011 as Amanda van Niekerk.
2015-2016 term (all up elections due to new boundaries)

2015: Con 1592, LD 859, Lab 766, UKIP 377
2014: Con 837, LD 687, UKIP 381, Lab 376
2012: LD 783, Con 680, Lab 350, UKIP 168
2011: Con 1093/839, LD 947/817, Lab 447/351, UKIP 215
2010: LD 1861, Con 1267, Lab 373, UKIP 189
2008: LD 1261, Con 654, UKIP 126, Lab 120
2007: LD 1150, Con 829, Lab 163, UKIP 72
2006: LD 1062, Con 840, Lab 198
2004: LD 1122/966, Con 500/358, Lab 196/135, UKIP 194, Health and Community Issues Party 68
2003: LD 727, Con 457, Lab 210
2002: LD 797, Con 488, Lab 316

Jay Butcher (Labour Party)
Sonia Elbaraka (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Tim Read (UK Independence Party)
James Sanderson (Liberal Democrats)

Goldsworth West - Woking DC - Denzil Coulson (Liberal Democrat) resigned due to taking up a teaching position in the Middle East.
2014-2016 term (all up elections due to new boundaries)

2014: LD 467, Con 409, UKIP 238, Lab 126
2012: LD 515, Con 270, Lab 160
2010: LD 1271, Con 850, Lab 220, UKIP 121
2008: LD 661, Con 369, Lab 116, UKIP 50
2006: LD 810, Con 368, Lab 83
2004: LD 561, Con 297, UKIP 122, Lab 73, Health and Community Issues Party 22
2002: LD 485, Con 266, Lab 83

Troy de Leon (UK Independence Party)
Tina Liddington (Liberal Democrats)
Chitra Rana (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Robina Shaheen (Labour Party)

[Deleted]

"An Taobh Siar agus Nis"

That's my boy.

[Devil Wincarnate]

A Green named Green. Top drawer.

Best nominative determinism since Colin Veritas last ran.

[finsobruce]

Oct 6, 2015 21:00:01 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

A Green named Green. Top drawer.

Best nominative determinism since Colin Veritas last ran.

Not the first Green Green we've seen - and replacing a Wood.....

[Dan]

Oct 6, 2015 21:35:27 GMT finsobruce said:

Not the first Green Green we've seen - and replacing a Wood.....

Some might argue it's best to replace a Wood with a Birch.

[finsobruce]

Oct 7, 2015 8:12:15 GMT Dan said:

Oct 6, 2015 21:35:27 GMT finsobruce said:

Not the first Green Green we've seen - and replacing a Wood.....

Some might argue it's best to replace a Wood with a Birch.

I will have to refer this to the next branch meeting...

[froome]

Oct 7, 2015 8:12:15 GMT Dan said:

Oct 6, 2015 21:35:27 GMT finsobruce said:

Not the first Green Green we've seen - and replacing a Wood.....

Some might argue it's best to replace a Wood with a Birch.

Some might argue that you can't see the wood for the trees...

[andrewteale]

The Lib Dem candidate in Goldsworth East is a former Tower Hamlets councillor (Bethnal Green North, 2002-6).

[maxque]

23.9% turnout in Cardiff.

[andrewteale]

Since Kris doesn't seem to have put the previews up...

AN TAOBH SIAR AGUS NIS, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar; caused by the death of Independent councillor Iain Morrison at the age of 60. "Iain a' Mhillichan", as he was better known on Lewis, was one of the longest serving Western Isles councillors, having been first elected in 1999 for the former Barvas and Arnol ward. Morrison was a director of and driver for the family bus company. A keen footballer who once played in goal for Stornoway United against Celtic, Morrison served for eight years as chairman of the Western Isles Island Games association, standing down after the 2013 Island Games in Bermuda at which the Western Isles team won ten medals, four of them gold.

For the first of this week's two Scottish by-elections we travel to the Isle of Lewis. An Taobh Siar agus Nis can be loosely translated into English as "West Side and Ness", and consists of a series of villages along Lewis' north-west coast, from Shawbost at the western end to the Port of Ness at the eastern end. This is a little-known and less-visited area, and a stronghold of the Gaelic language: this is the ward with the highest proportion of Gaelic speakers in Scotland, and has the distinction of being the most northwesterly electoral district in the European Union. Included within the ward is the remote island of Sula Sgeir, a dot in the north Atlantic forty miles to the north of Lewis inhabited only by gannets: these are a local delicacy on Ness, with the supply coming from a controversial licensed hunt each autumn.

The Outer Hebrides' local politics are dominated by independents, although not to the same extent as in the non-partisan Orkney or Shetland: in the 2012 election official party candidates took ten of the islands' 31 seats. One of those was an SNP gain in West Side and Ness, coming from an independent councillor who had stood down. The other three independent councillors were all re-elected very easily, Iain Morrison coming top of the poll; between them the five independent candidates had 80% and the SNP 20%. One of the other independent councillors, Kenneth Murray, died earlier this year and was replaced by Alistair Maclennan, who had been a distant runner-up in the 2012 election; however, that by-election wasn't covered in this column because it was uncontested - the first uncontested local election in Scotland since the introduction of PR in 2007.

Two independent candidates are standing to succeed Morrison. John Norman Macleod is prominent in the local community and was prominent in Lewis' Yes campaign during last year's referendum, while Richard Froggatt is a carer who migrated here from England nine years ago. Completing the ballot paper is the ward's only official party candidate, TV editor Gavin Humphreys of the Scottish Green Party.

Parliamentary constituency: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Holyrood constituency: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
ONS Travel to Work Area: Eilean Siar

March 2015 by-election Ind unopposed
May 2012 result Ind 1166 (5 candidates) SNP 298
May 2007 result Ind 1787 (7 candidates)

RIVERSIDE, Cardiff city council; caused by the resignation of Labour councillor Cecilia Love. Love, whose resignation came for a combination of family reasons and poor attendance at council meetings, had served as a councillor since 2012.

There's a lot of rugby on at the moment, and Wales have been doing very well in the present World Cup. They do have the advantage (like, er, England) of playing some of their games in their home venue, the large Millennium Stadium on the banks of the River Taff. The Riverside division is the other side of the river from the Millennium Stadium, with much of the actual riverside forming the park of Sophia Gardens, home to Glamorgan cricket club's Test ground, the SSE SWALEC Stadium. This is an interesting mix of areas. At the northern end is Pontcanna, a leafy area favoured by the Welsh arts and media establishment (the so-called "crachach") which once hosted TV studios for HTV and S4C. At the southern end is Riverside proper, an ethnic enclave with large Bangladeshi and Chinese populations - Love herself was a single mum from a Far Eastern background.

The England cricket team played a Test match at Sophia Gardens here in July, in which Joe Root was the star of an unexpectedly one-sided first Ashes test. Like England cricket, this column seems to be returning to Riverside division on a very frequent basis, for the councillor attrition rate is high: this is the division's third by-election in five years. This division is a Labour versus Plaid battle: the three seats split 2-1 in Plaid's favour in 2004 and Plaid gained the Labour seat in 2008, but since then the tide has turned: the March 2011 by-election was a big win for Labour, and they followed up by easily gaining the two remaining Plaid seats in 2012. The most recent by-election, held in December 2013, saw Labour win with 50% and Plaid second on 35%, almost no swing since 2012. To add to the division's interesting features, the number of votes was unusually low in 2008 and there was speculation at the time that the counting team might have missed a ballot box. Even more interest can be added by noting that the ruling Labour group on Cardiff city council is in a state of civil war, and the council leader won re-election this year by just one vote - Love's vote. There could be some interesting consequences from this by-election.

Defending for Labour is Caro Wild, a former rugby league coach who is now a campaigner on cycling and discrimination. His main opposition will come from Ruksana Begum of Plaid, who are on a bit of a high in Cardiff after nearly winning the most recent city by-election in an even more crachach division than this one; however, that was in a commuter village, the opponent was the Tories and the Plaid candidate there had some name recognition as Dafydd Wigley's son. Also on the ballot are Sean Driscoll for the Tories, Gareth Bennett for UKIP, Steffan Bateman for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, former Only Connect contestant Gwilym Owen for the Liberal Democrats and Hannah Pudner of the Green Party.

Parliamentary and Assembly constituency: Cardiff West
Assembly electoral region: South Wales Central
ONS Travel to Work Area: Cardiff

Dec 2013 by-election Lab 1120 PC 773 C 107 UKIP 97 TUSC 70 LD 58
May 2012 result Lab 1731/1555/1431 PC 1153/944/940 Grn 294/272/189 C 286/276/263 LD 142/129/122 TUSC 99
March 2011 by-election Lab 1700 PC 1099 C 369 Grn 277 LD 187
May 2008 result PC 1064/1064/991 Lab 786/743/707 C 295/209/206 LD 280/250/235
June 2004 result PC 1448/1408/1248 Lab 1280/1135/1092 LD 693/658/561 Grn 605 C 465

[middleenglander]

Labour hold - Caro Wild elected.

[maxque]

Cardiff Riverside (2012, 2013by)

Lab 1071 45.9% (-0.8; -4.4)
PC 780 33.5% (+2.4; -1.2)
Con 155 6.6% (-1.1; +1.8)
UKIP 110 4.7% (+4.7; +0.3)
Grn 109 4.7% (-3.2; +4.7)
LD 85 3.6% (-0.2; +1.0)
TUSC 21 0.9% (-1.8; -2.2)

[maxque]

AN TAOBH SIAR AGUS NIS, Eilean Siar

NoDes Macleod 886 (86.9%)
Ind Froggatt 75 (7.4%)
Grn Humphreys 59 (5.8%)

[Pete Whitehead]

lol

[Robert Waller]

I thought something like that would happen - and didn't have the guts to predict it!

[maxque]

Peter Pirnie is well-known in that part of Devon for standing as an Independant while being a BNP member. It caused a scandal when a parish coopted him as a councillor, thinking it was some random independent.

[Deleted]

Oct 7, 2015 22:46:29 GMT maxque said:

AN TAOBH SIAR AGUS NIS, Eilean Siar

NoDes Macleod 886 (86.9%)
Ind Froggatt 75 (7.4%)
Grn Humphreys 59 (5.8%)

before or after the recount .....

[Robert Waller]

Froggatt is an incomer (only nine years on the island!) I think from England. The Green was from Stornoway, not in the ward.
Macleod on the other hand seemed to have just about every voluntary organisation sewn up. I don't know if he's the same John MacLeod as the one who is in charge of a well known Gaelic Language organisation. He certainly isn't the same Macleod as the one(s) who stood in this ward in 2007 and previously.
Finally, I felt not feeling the need for any description at all can sometimes be an ominous sign for opponents.