Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher

The face of local government in England is undergoing incremental yet quite radical change.

Losing more than 1,000 councillors last May, and suffering regular by-election defeats, the Conservatives must be hoping fortunes improve as the next General Election looms.

Labour’s victory in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West parliamentary by-election ensures that the imminent contests in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth will be examined for further evidence of a resurgence.

Almost half of the local by-election contests held over the summer resulted in a seat changing hands.

In the latest batch of by-elections, the Greens continued to make gains, one each from Labour and Conservative, but lost a seat of their own.

These latest by-elections, which include some county contests held on 4 May, largely support the general pattern of voting seen in the main local elections.

Labour will have to wait to see if May’s local election results presage a General Election victory.  

This year’s local elections in England encompass more than 8,000 seats in 230 councils, with 49 of them having undergone a boundary review. 

There are just four by-elections to report but three may offer clues about the May elections.