Lancastrians go Green

The latest updates on local electoral information are as follows.

Result

• Caerphilly: Charlotte Bishop was elected unopposed for Aber Valley division on 20 May, as she was the only candidate nominated. A poll had been scheduled for 17 June. Plaid Cymru hold.

Changes of allegiance

• Enfield: Charith Gunawardena, who was elected for the Labour Party in Southgate ward, has joined the Green Party. On the council he will sit in the Community First group.
• Fenland: Nick Meekins, who was elected as an Independent in Peckover ward, has joined the Conservative group.
• Forest of Dean: Jackie Fraser, who was elected for the Labour Party in Mitcheldean, Ruardean and Drybrook ward, has joined the Green Party.
• Hounslow: Richard Eason, who was elected for the Labour Party in Osterley and Spring Grove ward, has left the group and is sitting as an Independent councillor.
• Plymouth: Mark Deacon, who was elected for the Conservatives in Southway ward but was suspendended from the whip in March, has now returned to the group.
• Spelthorne: Nick Gething, who was elected as a Conservative but left the party in November last year to sit as unaffiliated, has rejoined the Conservative group.
• Uttlesford: Vere Isham, who was elected for Residents for Uttlesford in Takeley ward, has left the group and is now sitting in the Green Party group. It is also noted that the Thaxted and the Eastons Independent Group has united with Residents for Uttlesford.

New vacancies

• Ealing: Hobbayne ward, after the resignation of Labour councillor Lewis Cox, who is disillusioned by local politics. Term ends 2022.
• Enfield: Bush Hill Park ward, after the resignation of Independent councillor Will Coleshill, who was elected as a Conservative. Term ends 2022.
• Gwynedd: Harlech division, after the resignation of Independent county councillor Freya Bentham. Term ends 2022.
• Huntingdonshire: St Neots East ward, after the resignation of Labour councillor Dr Nik Johnson, now Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Term ends 2022.
• North Ayrshire: Dalry and West Kilbride ward, after the resignation of Scottish National Party councillor Joy Brahim. Term ends 2022.
• North East Lincolnshire: Heneage ward, after the resignation of Labour councillor Chris Nichols. Term ends 2022.

Dates for byelections

• Chelmsford: The byelection due in Writtle ward will be held on 1 July.
• Gwynedd: The byelection due in Harlech division will be held on 24 June.
• Huntingdonshire: The byelection due in St Neots East ward will be held on 8 July.
• North East Lincolnshire: The byelection due in Heneage ward will be held on 1 July.
• North Lanarkshire: The byelection due in Murdostoun ward will be held on 24 June.
• Somerset West and Taunton: The byelection due in North Curry and Ruishton ward will be held on 24 June.
• Somerset West and Taunton: The byelection due in Old Cleeve and District ward will be held on 17 June.
• Swindon: The byelection due in Priory Vale ward will be held on 24 June.

Other updates

• Burnley: A Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition has been formed and taken control of the council.
• Crawley: The Conservative group has put down a motion to remove the Labour administration which will be decided at the council meeting next Friday.
• Elmbridge: The Residents’ Associations and Liberal Democrat coalition which has been running the council for the past few years will continue.
• Hart: The coalition administration formed by the Liberal Democrats and Community Campaign Hart is continuing to run the council.
• Isle of Wight: There are reports that the non-Conservative councillors have formed an alliance and will put forward a single candidate to be the new council leader.
• Lancaster: At the annual council meeting, the Labour-led administration was removed and a Green Party leader elected, with support from the Conservatives, Morecambe Bay Independents, and three out of four Eco-Socialist Independents. An Eco-Socialist Independent will be deputy leader.
• Oxfordshire: The ‘Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance’, a coalition between Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party groups, is to run the council.
• Plymouth: A Conservative leadership has been elected, with the support of most of the Independent councillors.
• Portsmouth: The minority Liberal Democrat administration will continue, after Labour agreed to oppose a Conservative motion to remove it.
• Sheffield: Labour and the Green Party have formed a co-operative administration which will run the council for the next year.
• Southend-on-Sea: At the annual meeting of the council, the Labour group leader was elected to lead the council, thereby preserving the ‘rainbow coalition’ of Independents and Liberal Democrats.
• Stockport: A Liberal Democrat motion to remove the Labour council leader was defeated when the Conservatives opposed it. The Labour minority administration will continue.
• Stroud: Following talks, the Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat groups have agreed an alliance which will continue to run the council.
• West Lancashire: A minority Labour administration will continue to run the council, although the opposition Conservative and Our West Lancashire groups will chair some important non-executive committees.
• Woking: Future control of the council is uncertain as the Conservatives are unwilling to continue as a minority, but Labour’s keenness to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats is not reciprocated.
• Worcester: During a period of no overall control, the council constitution required the leader and deputy leader to come from different groups and the committee chairs to be shared between the parties – mandating an all party administration. The new Conservative majority has amended the constitution to allow single-party administration.

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