Hanover and Elm Grove on Brighton and Hove (Green Defence)
Last Local Election (2011): Greens 23, Con 18, Lab 13 (No Overall Control, Greens short by 5)

Ward Result (Emboldened denotes elected)

Name of party	First Candidate	Second Candidate	Third Candidate
Green Party	2,861	2,800	2,576
Labour	1,662	1,661	1,606
Conservatives	499	441	434
Liberal Democrats	189	159	140
TUSC	156

When Caroline Lucas was elected as the MP for Brighton, Pavilion at the general election in 2010, it marked the culmination of an 18 year project for the Greens. Back in 1992 when the Greens first field a candidate in the constituency they only managed to poll 963 votes (2%) and lost their deposit. The 1997 general election wasn’t that much better (1,249 votes / 3%) and they were beaten by the Referendum Party. However at the 2001 general election, they had a very good result polling 3,806 votes (9%) scoring a 6% increase (bigger than the Lib Dem increase in the same seat). Sensing that something was happening, they had a good feeling about the local elections in 2003 and whilst Labour won the most seats, the Greens won six. This forward momentum was more than carried on at the 2005 general election when the Greens polled 9,571 votes (22%) and were represented for the first time ever on a national election broadcast as a party in their own right on a constituency declaration. Whatever was in the air before was now rampant and this was demonstrated at the 2007 local elections when Labour suffered 11 losses with the Conservatives picking up six seats and the Greens picking up five). Caroline Lucas (who had been elected as an MEP for three elections in a row) announced in 2009 that she would stand as the Green candidate for Brighton, Pavilion at the next election and so when the election was called, the Greens rallied into action and produced a result that had never been seen in Britain before. Green GAIN from Labour and in doing so because the first directly elected Green Member of Parliament in the history of the UK, but did the Greens rest on their laurels? They most certainly did not and in the 2011 elections to the council made a staggering 11 gains (eight from the Conservatives, two from the Liberal Democrats and one from the Independents) to become the largest party on the council and to make Brighton and Hove the first council ever to have the Greens as the largest party. Since then they have managed to pick up a seat from the Conservatives in Rochford, lose one to them in Scarborough, hold one on Malvern Hills, gain another seat from the Conservatives on St. Edmundsbury, hold another one on Norwich and in the recent county elections make 5 net gains (taking their county total to 24) and poll an average of 8% of the vote. Strange then that UKIP (who have yet to win a parliamentary seat) have been getting all the attention when in reality it should be the Greens. Perhaps Brighton needs to remind the media who it is that has the biggest number of MP’s at Westminster outside the mainstream political structure?

Sleaford, Holdingham on North Kesteven (Ind Defence)
Last Local Election (2011): Con 27, Ind 13, Lib Dem 3 (Conservative majority of 11)
Ward Result: Independent 470 (64%), Con 254 (36%)

North Kesteven is a fairly unassuming council area reflective of the rural area that it covers. Predominately Conservative (who gained control in 2007) with a smattering of Independents as you would expect in an area that sits in the middle of the Lincolnshire wolds. However, as we saw in the local elections in May, UKIP are more than a force in Lincolnshire (and having made sixteen gains in those local elections including winning most of the wards in next door Boston it would be a brave person not to rule out a shock UKIP win here.

Caerhun on Conwy (Con Defence)
Last Local Election (2012): Ind 19, Con 13, Plaid 12, Lab 10, Lib Dem 5 (No Overall Control, Independents short by 14)
Ward Result: Con 352 (41%), Ind 346 (40%), Plaid 168 (19%)

Conwy (or to give it it’s proper name when it was first created in 1995, Aberconwy and Colwyn) was always going to be a battleground. The parliamentary constituency of Conwy (a three marginal in 1992) gave a clue as to what to expect in the 1995 local elections and that was indeed borne out by the result (Lab 18, Lib Dem 18, Ind 13, Con 9, Plaid 2) and even though it was Labour that won the seat fairly convincingly in 1997 the council was still a battleground, however at the time of the next elections in 1999 Conwy council and Conwy constituency broke apart in a way never before seen. Whilst Conwy council remained in a state of No Overall Control (Lab 18, Ind 15, Lib Dem 14, Plaid 7, Con 5), Plaid Cymru gained the constituency in the first Assembly elections from literally nowhere. Although not reflected in the 2001 general (except though Plaid’s vote share rocketing up), Labour was determined to win the seat back at the Assembly elections in 2003 (which they did, but only just) however in the local elections the following year, Labour suffered more losses (Ind 19, Con 12, Lab 12, Plaid 10, Lib Dem 6). Conwy (or Aberconwy as it became known) is still a battleground but this time between the Conservatives and Labour at Westminster and the Conservatives and Plaid at the Assembly level but as is always the case at the local level in Wales, Independents should not be discounted at any cost.

% Votes Cast on Conwy Council

Name of party	Local Elections   2004	Local Elections   2008	Local Elections   2012
Independents	29%	27%	29%
Labour	23%	10%	14%
Conservatives	22%	37%	33%
Liberal Democrats	14%	11%	10%
Plaid Cymru	12%	12%	13%
BNP	0%	1%
Greens		1%
UKIP			0%
Others			1%