There was a by-election in Benfieldshire ward of Durham County Council yesterday. Reform were defending the seat, having taken it from Labour in the May local elections. Back then, Labour had scored a near-death performance in what had, until 4 years ago, been one of their safest councils in the country. Labour were downsized from over 50 members to a miserable 4. The cause of the by-election was a self-inflicted wound for Reform: their candidate was disqualified from standing as he works for the council. It seems that no one in Reform had bothered to check. Vetting candidates was clearly not a priority. The subsequent election of the Reform candidate meant an inevitable by-election.
The result was:
- Lib Dem 824
- Labour 800
- Reform 747
- Independent 459
- Conservative 76
- Green 40
So what can we make of this? Reform's fall from 1st to 3rd place stands out but so does Labour's failure to capitalise on Reform's local difficulties. That benefit has gone to the Lib Dems who shot up from a distant 3rd place to top the poll and seize the seat. Reform's poor performance may be due to local voters having sampled Reform in power and deciding they didn't like it. Afterall, there have been no outstandingly good performances by any Reform controlled council since May. They have nothing positive to show for their 2 months being in charge. People who voted for them may well be feeling disappointed with Reform.
But is this a flash in the pan or a sign of things to come? Was this by-election a one off (or a two off given Reform lost a seat to the Tories in Newark last night) or has the Reform tide started to turn? We can't answer that question for sure now but over the coming months we will get a better view of how things are going.
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