UPDATED: LibDems gain a seat from Tories

The Liberal Democrats in Thatcham, Berkshire have stormed home to win a clean-sweep of Town Council seats over the Tories. This includes one seat in North ward which was previously held by the Conservatives.

The results were:

Thatcham North:- 27.7% turnout

Boeck - Conservative 527
Sparkes - Liberal Democrat 625

Thatcham Central:- 28.1% turnout

Crumly - Conservative 515
Leake - Liberal Democrat 743
Smithson - Conservative 494
Steevenson - Liberal Democrat 762

Overall this was an average LibDem percentage share of 59.9% against an average Conservative share of 40.1%.

This is an excellent result, particularly given the large size of the two wards involved, which cover a large swathe of Thatcham. The Conservatives were fighting the election very hard and were busy ferrying people to the polls yesterday during a particularly vicious downpour.

So, well done to Stephanie Steevenson, Annie Sparkes and Jason Leake on being elected to Thatcham Town Council. Well done also to David Rendel for leading a brilliant campaign.

Update: The by-elections covered an area of Central and North Thatcham which contains approximately one eighth of the Newbury constituency electorate.

By-elections in the same two wards also took place in May 2005, the same month as the last General Election. The results yesterday showed swings in favour of the Liberal Democrats of 14% (Thatcham Central) and 20% (Thatcham North) as compared to the results at the time of the General Election. The swings since the full Town Council election in May 2007 were 5% (North) and 10% (Central).