Curious council by-election results. Straws in the wind for Democrats and Veterans, For Britain and UKIP.

Among the council by-elections which took place on 12 July appeared three results which, on closer inspection, seemed a little curious.  Pakefield, in Waveney, Suffolk, saw a Conservative gain from Labour, but UKIP received 7.9 per cent of the vote while Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all saw their vote decline.  At Cockerton in Darlington, where there was no UKIP candidate, Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement received 5.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Green Party – quite respectable for a party less than a year old. 

The most curious result of all was in Old Town, Barnsley, where there was no UKIP candidate.  Unsurprisingly Labour won, but the Democrats and Veterans Party came second, with 27.3 per cent of the vote, finishing ahead of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, the Yorkshire Party and the BNP – quite remarkable.

These results occurred only days after ministerial resignations over the Prime Minister’s Brexit proposals.

UKIP and its offspring, For Britain and the Democrats and Veterans, seem to be picking up a not inconsequential number of votes - straws in the wind perhaps?

Furthermore, an opinion poll from Opinium for The Observer (July15) shows that the Conservatives have dropped six points with UKIP up five points to eight.  In consequence Labour, although unchanged on 40 per cent, now have a four point lead over the Conservatives.  Seems like Theresa May’s shenanigans over Brexit stirred up a gale which could turn into the storm which blows the Tories apart.