Zetland Ward By Election Results: Lib Dems win amid Reform controversy and wider Labour losses
The Liberal Democrats captured the Zetland ward seat in Redcar and Cleveland in a low-turnout by-election that has compounded a string of local setbacks for Labour. The Zetland Ward By Election Results matter now because the contest was shaped by a public withdrawal of support from Reform UK and forms part of a trio of council defeats for Labour this week.
Zetland Ward By Election Results — Development details
Liberal Democrat Alison Barnes was elected to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council after receiving just over 50% of the vote in the by-election called following the resignation of Independent councillor Jonny Neal. Turnout in the ward was 26. 78%, with 886 ballot papers counted. Labour polled 191 votes, around 22% of the total, and the Reform candidate, Mike Manning, received 119 votes, approximately 13%.
The contest was punctuated by controversy over social media posts unearthed on a now-deleted account linked to Manning. Reform UK removed its support for his candidacy and announced that, if elected, he would not be allowed to sit as a party councillor. Manning said he had resigned his membership and the local Reform branch suspended campaigning on his behalf; the party’s deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, described the uncovered posts as containing "sickening insults" toward Jewish and Muslim communities. Because the ballots had already been printed, Manning remained on the ballot and ultimately finished third after Labour.
Context and escalation
The by-election followed the stepping down of Jonny Neal and a return bid by Alison Barnes, who previously represented the ward from 2019 to 2023 before losing her seat in the last round of local elections. Barnes emphasized her focus on local repairs, saying she wanted to tackle potholes and improve grass verges. Her campaign pointed to consistent local engagement since losing her seat as a factor in reclaiming the position.
The Zetland outcome is part of a wider pattern this week in which Labour lost three council seats in separate by-elections across Britain. In Caerphilly’s Van ward, Plaid Cymru’s Jeff Grenfell won the seat with about 43% of the vote and a majority of 128 votes, overtaking Labour and a Reform UK candidate. In Leicester’s Stoneygate ward, Green candidate Aasiya Bora was elected with 1, 195 votes, narrowly beating Labour’s Adam Sabat, who received 1, 089 votes. Those results, together with the Redcar and Cleveland result, mean three council seats shifted away from Labour to other parties in the same round of contests.
Immediate impact
The immediate consequence in Zetland is a change of party representation on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and a restoration of Barnes to a ward she represented previously. The low turnout—26. 78%—and the fact that 886 ballot papers determined the result underscore the limited scale of voter participation that decided the seat. Reform UK’s withdrawal of active support for its candidate directly affected the contest dynamic: the party suspended local campaigning and its candidate finished behind Labour, removing the possibility of a Reform councillor taking the seat.
Across the three by-elections, Labour’s vote shares fell sharply in the contested wards, with public attention turning to leadership and party positioning ahead of further electoral tests. The three seat losses translated into immediate gains for the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens at the local level.
Forward outlook
Officials and parties are preparing for more electoral contests in the coming days. A parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton is scheduled for next week, a separate milestone that political actors and observers are treating as the next significant test. Locally, the new councillors will take up their duties on their respective councils following formal certification of the results, and party organizations will assess performance and messaging after the recent string of losses and victories.
What makes this notable is the way a single candidacy controversy altered campaigning and vote distributions in a seat decided by fewer than 900 ballots, while similar swings in other wards produced immediate turnover across three councils in one electoral cycle.
