Despite throwing everything bar the kitchen sink into their campaign, Conservatives failed to capitalise on current Labour unpopularity as Liberal Democrats topped the poll in a Cambridgeshire by election yesterday.
Tory hopeful Clive Pelbrough-Power enjoyed campaign visits that ranged from the former Conservative MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow to Fenland Council leader Chris Boden, and former South Cambs MP Anthony Browne.
And for good measure were campaign visits from police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston and Ben Obese-Jecty, MP for Huntingdon.
Emphatic @LibDems victory in by election today at Histon near Cambridge. Good independent showing (candidate one time @LibDems cllr). @Conservatives 4th place in 5 horse race. They'll be bloody livid- piled in canvassers too. pic.twitter.com/VTZgOtyYaU
— John Elworthy (@johnelworthy) October 24, 2024
But the Histon and Impington vacancy on South Cambridgeshire District Council was retained by Liberal Democrats with James Rixon winning with a 325 vote majority over nearest rival independent candidate Edd Stonham, coincidentally a one-time Lib Dem councillor.
Tories might have thought they would benefit from the current disquiet with Labour, who have lost 20 by elections since the General Election compared to the 15 victories enjoyed by the Conservatives.
But Histon and Impington, as well as South Cambridgeshire, remains firmly Liberal Democrat.
The by election was caused by the resignation of Pippa Heylings after her successful bid to become an MP.
Newly elected councillor James Rixon said: “I’m really grateful to have been elected as district councillor and to be joining my fellow Liberal Democrats Cllrs Martin Cahn and Sunita Hansraj to represent the communities of Histon, Impington and Orchard Park.
“I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with county councillor Ros Hathorn, who has been instrumental in steering the incredible team of local members and supporters to our by-election success.
“It’s been an exciting journey, and I have had a huge amount of support from the whole team at the South Cambs Liberal Democrats.”
Council leader Cllr Bridget Smith said: “James will be an incredible addition to the team and a superb champion for residents.
“His experience as an architect focussing on sustainability and retrofit will be invaluable as he takes his seat on the council, helping us deliver truly sustainable homes and put climate at the heart of all council decisions.”
Tories were philosophic about their defeat, posting to their Facebook page today congratulations to Cllr Rixon.
“It was a good, clean campaign from all candidates and relatively few dodgy bar charts in sight!,” said the post.
“Second thanks to all the Conservative members and supporters who came to help on the day and throughout the campaign.
“We have had more than 40 Conservatives representing at least 6 local associations helping with delivery and canvassing and it is good to see people engaging in the fightback against Labour.
“Finally, many thanks to Clive Pelbrough-Power for being an outstanding and energetic candidate leading from the front.
“On the night we increased our vote share from 2022 and went from 5th to 4th, but the main story of the evening is that the Labour vote share collapsed in half, and they dropped from 3rd to 5th.”
“His experience as an architect focussing on sustainability and retrofit will be invaluable as he takes his seat on the council, helping us deliver truly sustainable homes and put climate at the heart of all council decisions.”
Mr Stonham had reminded voters of his reasons for leaving the Liberal Democrats.
“In 2010, I was elected as a Liberal Democrat Councillor,” he wrote.
“I resigned from the party due to concerns from the residents and the Parish Council regarding a planning application.
“It appeared that the Liberal Democrats wanted to push this application through without considering the views of the residents of Histon and Impington.
“At that point, I realised I could not stay as a Liberal Democrat councillor because I felt unable to fulfil my commitment to the community within a party framework.
“Therefore, on July 26, 2012, I resigned from the Liberal Democrats and became an independent councillor. I was re-elected as an independent in 2014.”!
He described Lib Dems locally as “not good for our community. They seem to have an agenda that is not what is portrayed in leaflets or when you meet them.
“A theme of Green standards is always being shouted about, when the A14 Project removed hundreds of trees on the village gateway near the hotel, they used this as a major campaign issue.
“However, look at how they voted for Coton Orchard and the trees that will be removed and a large concrete busway put in, which they have voted for en masse at county council”.
Green candidate was Kathryn Fisher, who stood as the Green candidate for MP in St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire at the general election, finishing in 6th place.
“It’s time to shake things up in the yellow council,” she proclaimed during the campaign.
“Let’s get the first Green district councillor on the South Cambs District Council.”
Not this time but even her critics would argue she had a respectable campaign, polling nearly twice the votes cast for Labour and Conservatives and snatching third place.
PROFILE OF CLLR JAMES RIXON
James lives with his wife and two children in Histon.
He runs an architectural consultancy in Cambridge that works with local charities and other organisations on decarbonisation and retrofit strategies.
He is a founding co-director of the community not-for-profit Cambridge Retrofit Hub, tasked with decarbonising homes in Cambridgeshire to make them warmer, healthier, and cheaper to run.
James got involved in local politics whilst working to resolve issues of flooding experienced by himself and other Histon residents caused by the building of the new primary school.
The impact of the flooding on neighbours appalled him, and the council wasn’t taking the necessary measures to fix the problem.
James coordinated the residents, worked with the council, and got them to concede that the construction of the school was impacting the residents of Garden Walk and to take steps to rectify the problem.
As a councillor James says he will build on Pippa Heylings’ strong legacy and work to advance policies that meet the needs of residents while enabling our communities to be green and sustainable.
He believes his understanding of residents’ needs and his experience of planning law and regulations and working with councils will be invaluable.
“Green and sustainable communities mean energy efficient homes, clean electricity, low carbon transport, proximity to local jobs, good public transport and accessible social connections and networks,” he says.
He also believes that it is wrong that new towns are being built without essential NHS services.
“It puts unacceptable strain on services in neighbouring communities,” he says.
Working with local MPs James is calling on the government to change its approach to how it manages NHS service in areas of growth.
“Every new town needs an NHS dentist right from the start and GP surgeries must be funded to meet demand as the population grows,” he says.
“An NHS dentist in neighbouring Darwin Green would open up access to residents across Histon, Impington and Orchard Park.”
