On Thursday 16th March the Cottenham by-election took place, with Frank Morris attempting to take the seat from the Lib Dems as the Conservative candidate. Cottenham ward, which includes the villages of Cottenham and Rampton, is considered one of the safest Lib Dem wards after the 2022 District Council elections. However, the Conservatives achieved a swing of almost 18% and made fantastic progress. On the other hand, the Lib Dem vote dropped by over 20% amidst continued severe anger on the doorstep about Lib Dem and Labour plans to introduce a congestion charge in Cambridge City. 

Cllr Richard Williams, Chair of SCCA, said: "We achieved a good result, with our vote share up by over 12% on the last elections in May 2022. Although the Liberal Democrats retained the seat, their vote was down by over 21%. This would not have been possible without the hours devoted to the campaign by so many members and friends from other areas. Our campaign to stop the draconian congestion charge was very well received on the doorstep.

"As we showed in Longstanton last year, where we work we can achieve good results. Thank you again to all of our volunteers and again to Frank for so ably representing the Conservative cause."

RESULT IN FULL: 

• Oliver Fisher, Green Party - 107
• Thomas Mark Hingston, Labour - 373
• Joseph Francis Morris - Conservative - 678
• Joanne Katherine Pilsworth, Independent - 52
• Eileen Margaret Wilson, Liberal Democrat - 864 - elected