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“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

There are nine by-elections on 3rd March 2022, and we start with the big one. It’s time for the second parliamentary by-election of 2022, and the eighth of this Parliament:

House of Commons; caused by the death of Labour MP Jack Dromey.

Travellers on the M6 towards Birmingham (on the occasions when it moves) will find themselves on a long viaduct which runs for 5.5 kilometres between junction 5 at Castle Bromwich ...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

There are six by-elections on 24th February 2022, all but one of which are Conservative defences. We start with a crucial one in the urban sprawl of South Essex:

Castle Point council, Essex; caused by the death of Conservative councillor Bill Dick.

All of the six by-elections today take place on the drier east side of England, not that you’d guess that from the weather forecast. However there is definitely no thunder in to...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

One by-election on Wednesday 23rd February 2022. Never mind Big Jet TV, it’s time for Big Poll TV:

Spelthorne council, Surrey; caused by the resignation of Conservative councillor Jim McIlroy.

Yes, it’s a Wednesday. Yes, there’s a by-election today. And why not? By-elections in the UK tend to be held on Thursdays, but that’s only a tradition: any working day will do, and sometimes it’s more convenient for everyone invol...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

There are nine by-elections in England on 17th February 2022, and there is something for everyone to enjoy this week with four seats previously held by independents, two by the Conservatives, and one each by Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party. With no fewer than three free-for-alls for open seats, we can expect a lot of seat changes this week – but what might lie behind those changes? Read on…

Allerdale cou...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

Before we start this week, I would like to correct a mistake which crept into the writeup for last week’s Cotswold by-election. The winning Conservative candidate Tom Stowe has not previously threatened legal action against the Lib Dem candidate Danny Loveridge. The threat instead came from Tom’s father Lynden Stowe. Hopefully that’s clear and I apologise to Tom Stowe for the error.

In a break from the Westminster psychodrama we consi...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

Seven by-elections on 3rd February 2022, and we start with the Parliamentary Special:

House of Commons; caused by the death of Conservative MP Sir David Amess.

…and that’s why Southend should be a city!

Sir David Amess MP had a habit of ending many of his speeches with that rousing call to arms, seemingly regardless of whether it was on-topic. You can see why. Southend-on-Sea is a major urban area in its own right, with ...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

Three by-elections on 27th January 2022, all in the same district:

Kent county council; and

Dartford council, Kent. The first and second vacancies result from the death of Conservative councillor Ann Allen, who was the chairman of Kent county council. The third vacancy results from the resignation of Conservative councillor Lucas Reynolds.

January is a trad...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

There are four by-elections, for five seats, on 20th January 2020. Labour defend three, the Conservatives (who are still looking for their first by-election win of the year) defend one, and there is a free-for-all in a very interesting ward. We’ll start in the Midlands, where Labour defend two seats in the Conservative-held seat of Loughborough:

Charnwood council, Leicestershire; a double by-election caused by ...

“All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order”

There is one by-election on 13th January 2022, as we consider what might appear at first sight to be an everyday story of country folk:

Wychavon council, Worcestershire; caused by the death of Conservative councillor Richard Lasota.

After last week’s surprisingly-exciting by-election in the Nottingham suburbs, we move to the Vale of Evesham for the second implicit work event – sorry, council by-election of 2022. The Li...