UK local by-elections 2011

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Near your patch; were you involved at all?

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I'm afraid not. Easing my way back 'into things' gently however

Things better in general then?

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I'm afraid not. Easing my way back 'into things' gently however

Things better in general then?

Generally , yes

Glad to hear it

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31% in that ward? Good Lord. I suppose it shows that Community Liberal style campaigning still works, even if not for its inventors.

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Horbury and (especially) Ossett are in the Heavy Woollen District which extends over to Batley; they used to make shoddy (sort of like recycled wool) there.

Much hilarity can be gleaned from a glossary of textile manufacturing terms on tehwiki:

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[Filuwaúrdjan]

I note that his name is Norman. What is it with Norman's from Yorkshire? (we all remember Norman 'chainsaw' Scarth, yes?)

Anyways, Peter Box has been the leader of Wakefield council since 1998. Which is the sort of length-of-service that you normally associate with Manchester and surrounds.

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Good result in Sawley for Labour. Suppose that the LibDems in Peckham will be pleased not to have Greenocked.

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Labour majority in Horbury & South Osset is apparently over 700.

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Interesting that UKIP can poll so much in Churnet Valley outside European Elections time.

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Those would be changes from May.

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The Caernarfon-Bangor bus route goes through Glyder ward so I know it quite well as I now travel through it nearly every day. Mixture of different residential areas, all of which are quite pleasant in a very North Wales way (houses are generally small but well built; white walls and bluish or greenish slate roofing) and one of the more middle class of the Bangor city wards, but then that's not saying a great deal. A reasonable number of people in socially rented housing, but it doesn't have the large estates that you have elsewhere in Bangor (or Caernarfon, for that matter). Employment is dominated by the public sector (education and health; it's Bangor). As you expect, the percentage of people in professional occupations is rather high, the percentage in managerial occupations very low. The middle class element in the ward is very much of the Welsh-speaking middle class variety; I think it's the most Welsh-speaking ward in Bangor (or is that Marchog/Maes-G?). Amazing views in places.

Anyway; Glyder is probably the most 'naturally' Plaid ward in Bangor (the 2008 margin in next-door Dewi was much higher, but then Dogan could run as a Communist - or a Tory even - and win that ward by miles) and as such it would be a major shock if it were lost. Still, it's history isn't as strongly Plaid as might be thought (Bangor used to be dominated by independents, and this ward was no exception. Go back to the 60s and I think it usually had Labour councillors - Bangor West did anyway. Not sure of the boundaries) and the deceased incumbent was a popular figure. I presume that the Labour and LibDem candidates will be the usual City Councillors (edit: almost but not quite. See new post). The LibDem percentage will be important in light of their history of solid percentages in the ward and their County Councillors in Hirael (a Local Councillor For Local People) and (two) in Menai.

I'll report if/when I see any posters.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Is there is a particular why there always seem to have a by-election in Gwynedd? It is not the first time since May.

It's a big council (75 members) and as it's a rural area even more of the councillors are elderly than normal. Though two by-elections (one of which is yet to come) have been caused (the first directly, the second indirectly) by the fact that one of the Ffestiniog councillors was sent to prison for trying to murder his wife.

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Just checked the SoPN for Glyder (yeah, can't sleep). Plaid candidate lives in the ward and is presumably this person (doesn't strike me as being an especially common name). The LibDem candidate also lives in the ward, is a City Councillor and has been around since forever. The Labour candidate lives in a different part of the city (though still on the same side of the railway line as Glyder ward) and was a paper candidate (for Dwyfor Meirionnydd) in the National Assembly election in May. The Tory candidate lives outside the ward but, again, fairly close; Upper Bangor. Same candidate as in the Arllechwedd by-election. Seems that three (and perhaps all four but I know nothing about the Tory) have had something to do with the university in one way or another at some point.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I remember the story about the Llais guy, but what's with the indirectly caused by-election?

The resignation of the councillor elected in the by-election triggered by the conviction of the previous councillor. There have also been two by-elections in one of the other Ffestiniog wards as well, but none in the one that includes Llan. Its a little strange given that local politics in Ffestiniog used to be characterised by these really hard old men who'd been around as long as the Moelwyns, but they're all dead now (the deferred election being a consequence of the death of one of the last of them).

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Ah, so Madge's personal popularity can still be translated into a significant amount of votes, despite his party label. Which is good news for the LibDems in the area seeking re-election (both on the County Council and for the 'City Council') next year.

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There was some bad publicity for the Labour candidate; was on holiday for some of the campaign and the local press found out.

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There will be yet another by-election in Gwynedd, btw. Dewi Lewis (who was one of the most senior members of the Plaid group and of the council; he had the Economics and Development - or something like that - seat on the Council Board) has resigned after confessing to stealing £53,000 while he was a sub-postmaster. Given that he represented Penrhyndeudraeth ward, there's a mild amount of irony in the fact that he's likely to become a prisoner fairly soon (ho, ho, ho).

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What would that be... a five way marginal?

also, wtf is goin on in Gwynedd? I thought it was Ynys Mon that was supposed to be falling apart from the inside

No idea; the business with Dewi Lewis came as a massive surprise. Elections next year will be as messy as always.

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Somerset County Council being less popular than death might be a reason.

Hmm... something about the letter 's'... see also Suffolk and Shropshire.

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I think we can safely predict that the red flag will fly over Eton & Castle.

As for St Peters, yeah, it's one of the most gentrified wards in Islington, though isn't without its poorer sections (because Islington is like that). A few decades back and it would have been a solidly working class area, of course. Labour gaining it in 2006 was a massive, massive shock; one of the defeated LibDem councillors was the borough's then-leader, the controversial and (allegedly!) tyrannical Steve Hitchins.

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You're good at this aren't you? Yes, it happens all the time in rural areas, although it isn't as common as it used to be.

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Reports of a Labour hold in Islington.

Lab 7.3 (+0.3)

Forward, comrades. Forward!

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I suspect that the result in the one ward will be harder to predict than the other.

Anyway, if there's one thing probably all of us associate with Huyton...

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Screenshot it, maybe?

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Those two wards don't have much in common, do they?