Council by-elections

There were four council by-elections on Thursday. Labour held three of them and the Tories held the seat they defended in Swindon. The Swindon and Waveney wards are in parliamentary marginals. The Merton result confirms a run of good results for Labour in London, where every council seat is up for election next May. In all four wards the Lib Dem vote was derisory at under 4%, in contrast to recent rural wards where they retain some organisational capacity.

Colliers Wood Ward, LB Merton. Lab hold. Lab 1685 (72.2%, +21.1), Con 441 (18.9%, -0.7), UKIP 157 (6.7%, +6.7), LD 52 (2.2%, -15.1). Swing of 10.9% from Con to Lab since 2010.

Skelton Ward, Redcar & Cleveland UA. Lab hold. Lab 745 (46.1%, - 8.5), UKIP 485 (30%, +30), Con 176 (10.9%, -20.8), Ind 170 (10.5%, +10.5), LD 40 (2.5%, -11.3). Swing of 19.3% from Lab to UKIP since 2011.

Haydon Wick Ward, Swindon UA. Con hold. Con 1376 (49.6%, +6), Lab 887 (32%, +0.8), UKIP 426 (15.4%, +4.7), LD 83 (3%, -3.3). Swing of 2.6% from Lab to Con since 2012.

Oulton Ward, Waveney BC. Lab 450 (41.2%, +11.5), Con 329 (30.1%, +2.1), UKIP 269 (24.6%, +24.6), Green 23 (2.1%, -4.8), LD 21 (1.9%, -4.3). Swing of 4.7% from Con to Lab since 2011.