Liberal Democrat candidate romps home in Fulwood byelection to bolster Nick Clegg's chances of retaining Hallam in general election
The Liberal Democrats may have had mixed electoral fortunes across the country, but in a crucial council byelection in the Sheffield suburb of Fulwood the party's performance was more assured.
Fulwood is the quintessential 'leafy suburb' and lies right in the heart of the Sheffield Hallam constituency of the deputy prime minister and Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg.
A third of families here live in detached houses; nearly a fifth of these have five or more bedrooms (the national average is less than 5%). This is not, it is fair to say, the Sheffield of The Full Monty.
Despite spirited campaigns by both Labour and the Conservatives, the seat remained solidly Lib Dem on Thursday night. Cliff Woodcroft, a 63-year-old community campaigner who lives in the ward, cruised to a comfortable victory, gaining 1,400 more votes than Labour's Olivia Blake, who leapfrogged the Tories' Vonny Watts into second place.
The Lib Dems actually gained about 400 more votes than their 2012 total, on a virtually identical turnout. No-one will be more relieved by this impressive win than Clegg. Since he held his Sheffield Hallam seat in the balmy days of 2010 with a comfortable 15,000 majority, he has faced a torrid time locally.
First came the formation of the coalition in a city that remains overwhelmingly red, politically. Then there was the government's fateful decision to rescind a loan guarantee to Sheffield Forgemasters followed by Clegg's decision to renounce his manifesto commitment and vote to increase university tuition fees to £9,000 a year.
In a seat with a huge student population, a visit to Clegg's constituency office became a rite of passage for student protestors, while the Forgemasters decision rekindled raw memories from the 1980s about industrial areas being left high and dry.
Then in 2011, the Lib Dems lost control of the council, fuelling speculation that Clegg may have to vacate Sheffield and look elsewhere for a seat.
However, the result in Fulwood shows the Lib Dems retain a highly resilient campaign machine and the chances of a "Portillo moment" at the next general election are receding.
So much so that on Thursday Clegg advertised for a new parliamentary assistant and has recently recruited a well-regarded activist as his local press secretary. He looks like a man hunkering down for a fight.
Labour last week began its process to find a candidate to stand against Clegg in 2015. Despite fighting talk that a good campaign focusing on Clegg's "betrayal" could unseat the Lib Dem Leader, the result in Fulwood offers a psephological clue that rumours of the party's political demise in their northern redoubts like Sheffield may be exaggerated.
* *Kevin Meagher* (@KevinPMeagher) is an associate editor of Labour Uncut, a contributor to Left Foot Forward, and a communications consultant Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 hours ago.
The Liberal Democrats may have had mixed electoral fortunes across the country, but in a crucial council byelection in the Sheffield suburb of Fulwood the party's performance was more assured.
Fulwood is the quintessential 'leafy suburb' and lies right in the heart of the Sheffield Hallam constituency of the deputy prime minister and Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg.
A third of families here live in detached houses; nearly a fifth of these have five or more bedrooms (the national average is less than 5%). This is not, it is fair to say, the Sheffield of The Full Monty.
Despite spirited campaigns by both Labour and the Conservatives, the seat remained solidly Lib Dem on Thursday night. Cliff Woodcroft, a 63-year-old community campaigner who lives in the ward, cruised to a comfortable victory, gaining 1,400 more votes than Labour's Olivia Blake, who leapfrogged the Tories' Vonny Watts into second place.
The Lib Dems actually gained about 400 more votes than their 2012 total, on a virtually identical turnout. No-one will be more relieved by this impressive win than Clegg. Since he held his Sheffield Hallam seat in the balmy days of 2010 with a comfortable 15,000 majority, he has faced a torrid time locally.
First came the formation of the coalition in a city that remains overwhelmingly red, politically. Then there was the government's fateful decision to rescind a loan guarantee to Sheffield Forgemasters followed by Clegg's decision to renounce his manifesto commitment and vote to increase university tuition fees to £9,000 a year.
In a seat with a huge student population, a visit to Clegg's constituency office became a rite of passage for student protestors, while the Forgemasters decision rekindled raw memories from the 1980s about industrial areas being left high and dry.
Then in 2011, the Lib Dems lost control of the council, fuelling speculation that Clegg may have to vacate Sheffield and look elsewhere for a seat.
However, the result in Fulwood shows the Lib Dems retain a highly resilient campaign machine and the chances of a "Portillo moment" at the next general election are receding.
So much so that on Thursday Clegg advertised for a new parliamentary assistant and has recently recruited a well-regarded activist as his local press secretary. He looks like a man hunkering down for a fight.
Labour last week began its process to find a candidate to stand against Clegg in 2015. Despite fighting talk that a good campaign focusing on Clegg's "betrayal" could unseat the Lib Dem Leader, the result in Fulwood offers a psephological clue that rumours of the party's political demise in their northern redoubts like Sheffield may be exaggerated.
* *Kevin Meagher* (@KevinPMeagher) is an associate editor of Labour Uncut, a contributor to Left Foot Forward, and a communications consultant Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 hours ago.