South Gloucestershire Council Lib Dems narrowly hang onto seat vacated by ex-leader Claire Young MP

The Liberal Democrats have held onto the South Gloucestershire Council seat vacated by Claire Young after the authority’s former leader became an MP. David Goodwin was elected as a new councillor for Frampton Cotterell ward in a by-election by just 201 votes – a much narrower margin than at the last local elections in 2023 following a five per cent swing to Conservative candidate Tim Niblett.

The Greens’ Alan Lankester and Labour’s Jonathan Trollope finished a distant third and fourth with six per cent and three per cent of the vote respectively. Both the Lib Dems and the Tories have put a positive spin on the result.

The Liberal Democrats say voters baked Cllr Goodwin’s ‘positive campaign rather than reward the Tories’ negative, attacking approach’, while the Conservatives called it a ‘remarkable’ result for them that showed residents opposed the Lib Dem/Labour administration’s cuts. The by-election, on Thursday, November 28, was called following the resignation of former council leader Claire Young who became an MP at July’s general election by overturning a 12,369-vote majority to oust Tory incumbent Luke Young by more than 3,000 votes in the Thornbury & Yate constituency.

Cllr Goodwin said: “I am delighted and humbled to have been elected to serve the people of Frampton Cotterell ward alongside my fellow Lib Dem councillors Jon Lean and Tristan Clark. The Liberal Democrats have been working hard in this area for decades and I am excited to be able to continue this service.

“I want to stand up for local residents and fight for the issues that really matter to them. Thank you to everyone in Frampton Cotterell ward who came out on a cold November day to vote in this election whether you voted for me or not.

“My colleagues and I will stand up for you and fight your corner on the council. I will be tackling the various issues that residents have raised with me over the course of the campaign and keeping my election pledges to fight against bus cuts, fight against cuts to the winter fuel allowance and fight against sewage dumping in our rivers.”

Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free here.

South Gloucestershire Council leader Cllr Maggie Tyrrell (Lib Dem, Thornbury), said: “I’m very pleased to welcome David as the latest member of the Lib Dem Group on the council. I know from his work on Frampton Cotterell Parish Council that he has the passion and drive to make a real difference.

“I’m especially pleased that the people of Frampton Cotterell ward have chosen to back David’s positive campaign rather than reward the Tories’ negative, attacking approach. This victory is a clear indicator that the current Lib Dem-led administration, despite having to make difficult financial decisions due to years of government underfunding, is on the right track.”

Opposition Tory group leader Cllr Sam Bromiley said the result was ‘remarkable’. He said: “Every other party went backwards as local residents got behind Conservative candidate Tim Niblett’s positive message to stop car parking charges and stop the reduction in black bin collections.

“We will stay on the side of residents and I just hope South Gloucestershire Council pays attention to this result and starts listening to local people.” The Conservatives’ West of England metro mayor candidate Steve Smith said: “The Lib Dems got less than 50 per cent of the vote.

“This shows that residents do not want car parking charges introduced, they do not want their black bins collected just once every three weeks, and that they are appalled at the doubling of the green bin charges to £60. Simply, residents are fed up of the Lib Dems taking them for granted.”

Cllr Goodwin got 1,315 votes, 49 per cent, ahead of Tim Niblett with 1,114, 42 per cent. At the 2023 local elections, the Lib Dems received 55 per cent while the Conservatives had 38 per cent.