Green Party Allan Weeks lost his seat on Hampshire County Council to UKIP (he came third, the Liberal Democrats were fourth); while Clive Smith lost his seat on Worcestershire County Council to the Tories (he came third, the Lib Dems were fifth).
In general, the poor Green showing is notable: only 22 councillors were elected nationally, a gain of 5. Even their share of the vote is not being picked up on national projections, and as of this morning it seemed their average vote was down 3% to 7% in seats where they stood. I find it puzzling that they have not been able to attract many more former Lib Dems (amongst others). After all, UKIP show that ‘outsider’ parties can do well… It may be of some solace to the Greens that by growing networks slowly they won’t be as fractious as UKIP is (and I’m sure will continue to be), but they should still be doing much better.
Independents: Stuart Parsons, (Independent, Save the Friarage) was elected for Richmond, North Yorks. He wasn’t standing against a Liberal Democrat opponent. Derek Giles and Steven van der Kerkhove were elected to a two-member division in Cambridgeshire (beating Tories, UKIP, Lab, Lib Dem, Green, in that order).
Mebyon Kernow: Derek Collins was elected to his town council, but came in third place for St Austell Poltair on Cornwall Council, which Jackie Bull won for the Liberal Democrats(!). Former County Councillor Tamsin Williams, who moved from the Lib Dems to MK in September 2012, did not seek to defend her seat.
Liberal Party: I’ve not seen any post-2010 Lib Dems standing for the Liberal Party, so haven’t looked systematically for their results (although I notice Fran Oborski was elected to Worcestershire County Council, and they secured two seats in North Yorks). But there continues to be no sign that the party is moving beyond its scattered cores, or offering an attractive home for any but a handful of former Liberal Democrats.
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