2005 Suffolk County Council election

Elections to Suffolk County Council were held on 5 May 2005. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2001 reducing the number of seats by 5. The Conservative party gained control of the council from no overall control.[1][2]

2005 Suffolk County Council election

5 May 2005
All 75 seats in the Suffolk County Council 38 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 30 34 13 Seats won 45 22 7 Seat change 15 12 6 Popular vote 131,719 93,370 88,238 Percentage 32.9 27.8 26.3   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Green UKIP Last election 0 0 Seats won 0 0 Seat change 0 0 Popular vote 7,454 5,304 Percentage 2.2 1.6
Map of the 2005 Suffolk County Council Election result.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Conservative

The ruling Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition had become increasingly unpopular following a number of significant council tax rises. The opposition Conservatives were successful in highlighting this to their benefit.

Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour endured heavy losses to the Conservatives in rural areas, but they performed better in urban Suffolk. The Conservatives failed to gain a single seat in Ipswich and Lowestoft, for example.

Election result

2005 Suffolk Local Election Result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	45			+15	60.0	39.2	131,719	-2.8
	Labour	22			-12	29.3	27.8	93,370	-6.5
	Liberal Democrats	7			-6	9.3	26.3	88,238	+4.6
	Independent	1			-2	1.3	2.9	9,491	+1.3
	Green	0			0	0	2.2	7,454	+1.9
	UKIP	0			0	0	1.6	5,304	+1.5

Division Results

Aldeburgh and Leiston Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ronald Ward	2,091	41.1
	Labour	Joan Girling	1,671	32.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lisabeth Hoad	1,325	26.1
Majority			420	8.2
Turnout			5,087	56.0

Beccles Division (2 Councillors)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mark Bee	3,104
	Labour	John Taylor	2,757
	Labour	Alan Thwaites	2,714
	Conservative	Kenneth Sale	2,255
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Mitchell	1,280
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Mitchell	1,139
	Green	Graham Elliot	822
	Green	Liam Carroll	383
Turnout			14,454	63.7

Belstead Brook Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Pollard	1,875	43.8	-18.2
	Conservative	John Browne Cave	1,497	35.0	-3.0
	Labour	Janet Norden	909	21.2	+21.2
Majority			378	8.8	-15.2
Turnout			4,281	64.3	+2.7

Bixley Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Russell Harsant	1,972	48.8
	Labour	Martyn Green	1,051	26.0
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Jones	1,022	25.3
Majority			921	22.8
Turnout			4,045	70.6

Blackbourn Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Joanna Spicer	2,902	56.0
	Labour	Alison Fairgrieve	1,132	21.8
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Fossati	878	16.9
	UKIP	Philip Huckett	273	16.9
Majority			1,770	34.2
Turnout			5,185	77.2

Blything Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Raeburn Leighton	1,807	38.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Slater	1,539	32.4
	Labour	David Jeremy	892	18.8
	Independent	Donald Tricker	508	10.7
Majority			268	5.7
Turnout			4,746	60.7

Bosmere Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Truelove	1,640	33.1
	Conservative	John Pratt	1,453	29.4
	Labour	James Higgins	779	15.7
	Independent	Michael Turner	648	13.1
	Independent	Ian Mason	428	8.7
Majority			187	3.7
Turnout			4,948	68.5

Brandon Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Bishop	1,895	53.3
	Labour	Pamela Brown	964	27.1
	Liberal Democrats	Catriona Pilborough	464	13.1
	UKIP	John French	233	6.6
Majority			931	26.2
Turnout			3,556	55.0

Bridge Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Harold Mangar	1,567	47.8
	Conservative	Nadia Cenci	1,014	30.9
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Richardson	698	21.3
Majority			553	16.9
Turnout			3,279	53.1

Bungay Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Morris Rose	2,061	41.5
	Labour	Lynn Derges	1,361	27.4
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Curry	1,052	21.2
	Green	Lorna Kerrison	488	9.8
Majority			700	14.1
Turnout			4,962	68.8

Carlford Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Bellfield	2,828	55.8
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Barrett	1,324	26.1
	Labour	Stephen Connelly	916	18.1
Majority			1,504	29.7
Turnout			5,068	72.6

Thingoe North Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Beccy Hopfensperger[3]	2,538	51.8
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Tidman	1,076	22.0
	Labour	David Dawson	1,038	21.2
	UKIP	Maureen Chessell	248	5.1
Majority			1,462
Turnout			4,900

Thingoe South Division (1 Councillor)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Terry Clements	2,571	52.1
	Labour	Alexander Carmichael	1,088	22.1
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Bradbury	946	19.2
	UKIP	William Attwood	327	6.6
Majority			1,483
Turnout			4,932

Tower Division (2 Councillors)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	David Lockwood	3,181
	Conservative	Paul Hopfensperger[4]	2,747
	Labour	Ray Nowak	2,720
	Conservative	Robert Everitt	2,663
	Liberal Democrats	David Chappell	1,738
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Warren	1,266
	UKIP	Brian Lockwood	801
	Independent	David Nettleton	799
	UKIP	Ivan Cook	509
	Independent	Melinda Nettleton	498
	Green	Adam Stacey	455
	Green	Samantha Hunt Stacey	432
Turnout			17,809

References

1. "2005 Suffolk County Council Election Result (BBC News)".
2. "2005 Suffolk County Council Election Result (Andrew Teale, Local Elections Archive Project)".
3. "Councillor details – Suffolk County Councillor Beccy Hopfensperger - Cabinet Member for Adult Care".
4. "Councillor Paul Hopfensperger - Official Website".

• Councillor's names in bold were Elected