James Barlow

A disappointing result yesterday (from my party's point of view, obviously) in the St. George West by-election:

• St George West

• Vacant Seats: 1
• Electorate: 8259

• Ballot Papers: 2720
• Spoilt Papers: 6, Turnout: 32.93%.

Well done to Colin Bretherton for putting up a good fight - tenth time is the charm, I'm told. Interestingly, the combined votes of Colin and former Conservative Angelo Agathangelou (blog here) totalled less than either the Labour or Liberal Democrat vote. That'll be something for the local team to ponder at the next campaigning session. Local journalist Torben Lee made the same comment at his new Evening Post Politics blog.

The next question, then, is whether the Liberal Democrats will attempt to to have a crack at running things again. Labour or Lib Dem? Something of a Hobson's choice for Bristol, unfortunately.

The initial results suggest that Bristol remains under "No Overall Control", with two seats being lost by the Liberal Democrats to Labour.

In Cotham ward, my colleague Sue Fleming and I received 21% of the vote, which puts us third behind the Lib Dems and the Green Party. Something to ponder for the future...

Here's a quick graphical representation of changes in Cotham over the last three elections (03/05/07).

More details from the Council's Website.