Post by middleenglander on Dec 24, 2015 9:27:08 GMT
There have been some 247 by-elections for 251 seats during 2015 with 59 (23½%) changing hands. This is a lower proportion than in previous years largely because the Conservatives retained 88% of the seats they defended during the year.
26 of the by-elections arose because the former councillor was elected a MP at the General Election - 16 in Scotland and 5 each in England and Wales. At least a further 3 seats became vacant indirectly from the General Election - 2 in England with councillors resigning to contest the GE and 1 in Wales to replace an Assembly Member who had become a MP.
The comparable previous year in the electoral cycle is 2011 - although neither Scotland nor Wales will have local council elections next year whereas they had in 2012 - when there were 192 seats contested or some 59 fewer than the current year. Approximately half this difference can be attributed to the General Election with at least some of the rest from a high number of vacancies of councillors only elected in May.
The gains and losses by party are given by:
These figures do not include deferred elections nor Parliamentary by-elections.
26 of the by-elections arose because the former councillor was elected a MP at the General Election - 16 in Scotland and 5 each in England and Wales. At least a further 3 seats became vacant indirectly from the General Election - 2 in England with councillors resigning to contest the GE and 1 in Wales to replace an Assembly Member who had become a MP.
The comparable previous year in the electoral cycle is 2011 - although neither Scotland nor Wales will have local council elections next year whereas they had in 2012 - when there were 192 seats contested or some 59 fewer than the current year. Approximately half this difference can be attributed to the General Election with at least some of the rest from a high number of vacancies of councillors only elected in May.
| 2015 | 2015 | 2014 | 2014 | 2013 | 2013 | 2012 | 2012 | 2011 | 2011 | 2010 | 2010 | |
| number | changed | number | changed | number | changed | number | changed | number | changed | number | changed | |
| England only: | ||||||||||||
| - January to annual | 15 | 20% | 46 | 33% | 47 | 28% | 48 | 40% | 22 | 32% | 41 | 44% |
| - annual, single contests | 43 | 14% | 30 | 20% | 114 | 25% | 23 | 13% | 23 | 17% | 38 | 26% |
| - annual, multi contests | 31 | 29% | 40 | 28% | 29 | 17% | 25 | 36% | 45 | 22% | ||
| - other May to August | 31 | 29% | 44 | 39% | 56 | 43% | 53 | 13% | 30 | 37% | 48 | 38% |
| - September & October | 34 | 15% | 43 | 35% | 53 | 23% | 30 | 37% | 36 | 17% | 58 | 22% |
| - November & December | 30 | 30% | 36 | 25% | 40 | 33% | 49 | 27% | 26 | 31% | 31 | 32% |
| England total | 184 | 22% | 239 | 31% | 310 | 29% | 232 | 25% | 162 | 28% | 261 | 30% |
| Scotland | 38 | 29% | 17 | 41% | 14 | 43% | 3 | 100% | 18 | 44% | 4 | 25% |
| Wales | 29 | 24% | 15 | 27% | 13 | 8% | 8 | 63% | 12 | 75% | 16 | 38% |
| GB total | 251 | 24% | 271 | 31% | 337 | 29% | 243 | 27% | 192 | 32% | 281 | 31% |
The gains and losses by party are given by:
Party | Gains | Losses | Gains | Losses | Gains | Losses | Gains | Losses | Net gains / losses | |
Jan to Apr | Jan to Apr | 7th May | 7th May | Jun to Dec | Jun to Dec | 2015 Year | 2015 Year | 2015 | ||
| Conservative | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 26 | 10 | +16 | |
| Labour | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 13 | -3 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |||
| SNP | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| UKIP | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 13 | -10 | |||
| Green | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | ||||
| Resident Groups | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | -4 | ||||
| Independents | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | ||||
| Health Concern | 1 | 1 | -1 | |||||||
| Liberal | 1 | 1 | +1 | |||||||
| No Description | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | |||||
| Total | 8 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 35 | 35 | 59 | 59 | 0 |
These figures do not include deferred elections nor Parliamentary by-elections.