By Will Cooling By-elections may capture the national imagination, but they do more harm than good, writes Will Cooling This has been a banner week for by-election fans. Not only do the voters of Kingswood and Wellingborough both go to the polls today, but Labour has spent all week desperately trying to limit the damage caused by its candidate in the forthcoming Rochdale by-election being caught repeating antisemitic conspiracies about the October 7 attacks on Israel. Like most political nerds I long have had a soft spot for by-elections, watching the whole circus of national politics temporar…