Zetland Ward By Election Results: Lib Dem Gain Amid Reform Candidate Controversy as Labour Suffers Third Loss
The Zetland Ward By Election Results saw Liberal Democrat Alison Barnes win the Redcar and Cleveland council seat with just over 50% of the vote, in a contest overshadowed by the withdrawal of Reform's support for its candidate after offensive social media posts emerged. The outcome matters because it formed part of a trio of council defeats for Labour this week, highlighting a pattern of shifting local support and immediate fallout for the party and for Reform.
Zetland Ward By Election Results — turnout, tallies and campaign fallout
Alison Barnes was elected to the council following the resignation of an Independent councillor. Turnout in the ward was 26. 78%, with 886 ballot papers counted. Barnes said she was very pleased with the result and pledged to focus on potholes and grass verges.
Labour took 191 votes, roughly 22% of the total, finishing behind the winner. The Reform candidate, who remained on the ballot paper despite attempts to withdraw, received 119 votes, about 13% of the vote, and finished after the Labour candidate. Greens and Conservatives followed those tallies.
The Reform candidate had been disowned by the party after offensive social media posts emerged. Party the posts were unacceptable and that the candidate would not be allowed to sit as a party councillor if elected. The local party suspended campaigning on his behalf, and the candidate subsequently stated he had resigned his membership and stepped away from the process. There were concerns that the election might need to be re-run if the candidate had won but refused to sign the formal papers that make someone a councillor.
Barnes previously represented the ward from 2019 to 2023 before losing the seat at the last round of local elections. She said she had continued to work in the area while out of office and suggested Labour's standing locally had declined since her earlier defeat, when two Labour councillors were elected.
Wider implications: Labour loses three council seats in hat-trick of defeats
The Zetland result formed one of three by-election losses for Labour this week. Separate contests in Leicester and Caerphilly also saw non-Labour candidates take seats: the Green Party won in a Leicester ward and Plaid Cymru gained a Caerphilly ward. Collectively these outcomes mean three seats were lost by Labour and gained by other parties in a single round of contests.
The Green victory in Leicester was described by the successful candidate as breathtaking and followed a campaign the candidate characterised as positive and unifying. In Caerphilly, the Plaid Cymru candidate won a contest in a ward previously held by Labour, with the new councillor citing concerns about local council services and council tax spending as part of the campaign focus.
These three defeats form a pattern that campaign observers say increases pressure on Labour at local level and highlights the role smaller parties are playing in recent local contests. The Lib Dem gain in Zetland was framed locally around immediate service issues such as road repairs and verge maintenance, while the Reform controversy in Zetland introduced a separate dynamic that affected that ward's contest.
What’s next and what to watch
Locally, the new councillor has pledged to prioritise visible service issues that featured in the campaign. For Labour, the losses mean renewed scrutiny over vote shares and the party's ability to hold council seats in the months ahead. For Reform, the episode in Zetland raises questions about candidate vetting and the consequences of controversial social media material for local campaigns.
Recent developments indicate details may continue to evolve as councillors take their seats and parties respond to these defeats. The immediate focus in Zetland will be delivery on the local promises central to the by-election campaign and whether that translates into restored voter confidence in future elections.
