There were six council seat vacancies filled this week and for the second week in a row we had an unorthodox polling day for one of them. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council held its by-election on Wednesday. All in all, we had two defences apiece for Labour and the Tories, one for the Greens and a free-for-all in Tunbridge Wells.
Kemi Badenoch will probably be the happiest party leader on the back of these results. Two holds and a gain from the hapless Greens - all with increased vote shares - marking the best Tory returns for some time. The Greens will be happy to have gained a Labour seat in Brighton, but this somewhat masks an otherwise torrid round of performances. Brighton asides, their vote share was down in every seat the party contested, including a wooden spoon and a failed defence in the Cotswolds in which they slumped to fourth with a derisory 54 votes.
The rise of the Greens as a potential challenger to Labour on the left have sunk in the rear view mirror as Burnham continues to breathe a very faint spark of life into the party his predecessor nearly killed off. He's not doing so great judging by this set of results, with two wooden spoons and defeat to the Greens in Brighton. Labour managed an impressive hold in Milton Keynes, but like their defeat in Brighton, this was a result with local issues at heart.
Queen's Park, Brighton and Hove City Council
Grn: 1,139 (50.1%) +26.2%
Lab: 802 (35.3%) -15.7%
Ref: 160 (7.0%) New
Con: 97 (4.3%) -3.2%
LDm: 74 (3.3%) -1.3%
Grn GAIN from Lab
Triggered by the resignation of the Labour incumbent, who was elected in a 2024 by-election. She stood down as the result of a dispute in which she sought assurances that the Labour controlled council would comply with a recent ruling that clarified the Supreme Court's confirmation of biological sex-based rights. She failed to obtain those assurances and resigned her seat, although it is not clear if she left the party also. Yes, this is Brighton and Hove, a notoriously woke city in which the Alphabet People have a strong presence. Control of the council has changed hands between Labour and the Greens several times since 2011. The Greens won a by-election in this ward last year and did so again on Thursday, bucking their national downward trend. They remain some considerable distance behind Labour in terms of seats on the council. There was no independent candidate this time.
Karl - Lab HOLD ✘
Rich - Lab HOLD ✘
Blockley, Cotswold District Council
Con: 431 (54.7%) +11.0%
LDm: 230 (29.2%) New
Ref: 59 (7.5%) New
Grn: 54 (6.9%) -49.5%
Lab: 14 (1.8%) New
Con GAIN from Grn
Triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, who cited additional work commitments outside of her council duties as the reason for stepping down. She had served this rural ward since the most recent elections here in 2023, winning the seat in a head to head contest against the Conservatives, emerging victorious 518-402. The ballot paper was greatly expanded on Thursday, but the Greens could not blame their disastrous performance on the addition of three candidates. All the votes for the newcomers combined came nowhere near the 518 votes secured by the Greens in 2023, while the victorious Tories increased their vote share. Bad news for Zack's crazy gang.
Karl - Con GAIN ✔
Rich - LDm GAIN ✘
New Bradwell, Milton Keynes City Council
Lab: 1,023 (54.2%) +19.7%
Ref: 441 (23.4%) -3.1%
Grn: 175 (9.3%) -12.5%
Con: 160 (8.5%) -2.6%
LDm: 87 (4.6%) -1.5%
Lab HOLD
Triggered by the untimely death of the 28-year-old incumbent, who had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumour. She won the second of two seats here in May, with Reform close behind. The latter were looking to gain their tenth councillor in Milton Keynes, but it wasn't to be as Labour delivered an impressive defence. This was the first time Labour had increased their vote share by more than 19 points in a council by-election since August 2025. Was it largely down to a sympathy vote? They played heavily on the tragic death of their councillor in campaign leaflets, while there was also a swing from the rapidly declining Greens.
Karl - Lab HOLD ✔
Rich - Ref GAIN ✘
Womborne North, South Staffordshire District Council
Con: 864 (50.1%) +8.1%
Ref: 645 (37.4%) New
Lab: 115 (6.7%) -12.3%
Grn: 68 (3.9%) -16.1%
LDm: 33 (1.9%) -7.3%
Con HOLD
Triggered by the death of the incumbent, who was thought to be in his late 70s or early 80s. His health had reportedly been in decline. There have not been any council wide elections to this authority since 2023, which has been under Conservative control since 1976. The Tories have now won all three of the by-elections fought here since 2023, with Reform still unable to get a foot in the council house. As we saw last week, there appeared to be an unusual swing from left-wing parties, predominantly to Reform, but also to the victorious Conservatives. There was no Heritage Party candidate this time, but they only picked up 208 votes in 2023.
Karl - Con HOLD ✔
Rich - Ref GAIN ✘
Bray, Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council
Con: 745 (36.1%) +1.3%
LDm: 719 (34.9%) +20.1%
Ref: 368 (17.8%) New
Ind: 193 (9.4%) -32.9%
Lab: 38 (1.8%) -6.3%
Con HOLD
Triggered by the death of the 94-year-old incumbent (yes, you read that correctly, 94). He had served no less than 52 unbroken years on the council, although he was clinging on by the time of the last election here. In 2023, he managed to secure the second of the ward's two seats by the narrow margin of 20 votes. Local group Borough First took first place on that occasion and they stood again on Thursday, but sank to a distant fourth. They are marked as Independents, as per our policy towards all local groups. The Conservatives managed to hold off a huge Lib Dem surge by just 26 votes.
Karl - Ind GAIN ✘
Rich - LDm GAIN ✘
Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
LDm: 697 (37.4%) +22.9%
Con: 590 (31.6) -14.6%
Ref: 392 (21.0%) -4.4%
Grn: 186 (10.0%) -4.0%
LDm GAIN from Ind
Wednesday's by-election was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, who had represented this largely rural ward - in both its current boundaries and previous boundaries - since 2019. A member of local independent group the Tunbridge Wells Alliance, her colleagues did not contest this by-election, so we had a free-for-all that turned into a stunning Lib Dem gain. The Lib Dems finished third here in May, with less than a third of the votes garnered by the first place Tories.
Karl - Con GAIN ✘
Rich - Con GAIN ✘
A complete strike out for Richey this week as Karl claws back three points.
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