I would like to thank @andrewteale for letting our blog reproduce his work he runs a fantastic website http://www.andrewteale.me.uk/leap/ if you have an interest in election results like myself you will find it an invaluable source of information. I hope you enjoy his reviews as much as I have done over time, here is his first for you shared through our blog.
-------
16th June 2016
VALLEY HILL, King's Lynn and West Norfolk council; caused by the death
of long-serving independent councillor Mike Tilbury at the age of 80.
One of the original King's Lynn and West Norfolk councillors from 1973,
Tilbury had served as both Leader and Mayor of the council, and it was
largely his efforts which saved the Dabbling Duck pub in Great
Massingham, which was bought by the council to prevent its conversion
into housing. For some of his time on the council Tilbury had been a
Labour figure, and he was the Labour candidate for North West Norfolk in
the 1983 general election, coming third with 19% of the vote.
In a week in which Britain has celebrated the (official) ninetieth
birthday of its monarch, it's appropriate that the only local
by-election to take place on 16th July 2016 is in a ward with royal
connections. The Valley Hill ward - answers on a postcard as to what
this name represents - is a collection of seven parishes a few miles to
the north-west of King's Lynn. Furthest inland lie Great Massingham,
home to an RAF airfield during the Second World War, and its sister
village of Little Massingham; in the centre of the ward are Congham,
Hillington, Flitcham with Appleton and Anmer, while the ward meets the
Wash coastline at Peter Black Sand near the village of Wolferton.
Until 1969 Wolferton had a railway station, a grand structure with
Tudor-style waiting rooms completely out of kilter with the rural
surroundings and sparsely-populated catchment area; the reason for this
becomes clear when you consider that Wolferton was the railhead for
Sandringham House, bought in 1862 by Queen Victoria as a residence for
the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and now
traditionally the winter home for the Queen and the Royal Family. Also
within the ward is Anmer Hall, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
and their family live when not in London.
The Royal Family might not vote, but one notable resident who will vote
in this by-election is the local MP and Congham resident Sir Henry
Bellingham, who has represented this area (with broken service) since
1983 when he defeated Tilbury and the outgoing MP Christopher
Brocklebank-Fowler, who had been the only Conservative to defect to the
SDP. Sir Henry's home ward hasn't seen much change in its last three
elections, with Mike Tilbury cruising to re-election against only Tory
opposition: at his last re-election in 2015 Tilbury won by the margin of
66-34. For a clue as to the ward's political leanings without Tilbury's
personal vote, we can look up to county level: Valley Hill is in the
Dersingham county division, where the Tories increased their majority in
2013 in what was generally a poor election for them in Norfolk. In that
year Dersingham gave 47% to the Conservatives, 28% to UKIP and 21% to
Labour.
There is no independent candidate to succeed Mike Tilbury, so this seat
is up for grabs. Probably best placed is the Conservative candidate Tim
Tilbrook, a financial advisor. Taking the other candidates
alphabetically, UKIP's Andrew Carr runs a dental company, the Green
Party's Michael de Whalley is a computer software professional who stood
here in the 2015 general election, Labour's Edward Robb gives an address
in Great Massingham and the Lib Dems' Kate Sayer is a former Hillington
parish councillor.
Parliamentary constituency: North West Norfolk
Norfolk county council division: Dersingham
May 2015 result Ind 899 C 466
May 2011 result Ind 766 C 238
May 2007 result Ind 597 C 299
May 2003 result Ind 701 C 344 Lab 97
