2007 Christchurch Borough Council election

The 2007 Christchurch Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Christchurch Borough Council in Dorset, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2007 Christchurch Borough Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in grey.

Background

After the last election in 2003 the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 14 councillors, compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 2 independents.[2] This majority increased when both of the Liberal Democrat councillors for Portfield, Susan Darch and Lillian Jefferis, defected to the Conservatives.[3] However the Liberal Democrats regained one of the seats in a by-election on 5 May 2005 after the resignation of Susan Darch from the council and at the same time picked up a seat in Jumpers ward, which had formerly been held by an independent councillor.[3]

63 candidates stood in 2007 for the 24 seats on the council, with Conservative candidates for every seat.[4] The Liberal Democrats had 19 candidates, with at least one in all 11 wards, while six independents stood for election.[5] After 16 years without a seat on the council, Labour stood 11 candidates in 2007, one in each ward, and the UK Independence Party had three candidates.[4]

Only one councillor stood down at the election, Kevin Dingley from North Highcliffe and Walkford ward.[5]

Election result

The Conservatives majority on the council was strengthened after they won 17 of the 24 seats on the council.[6] This was at the expense of the Liberal Democrats who lost half of their seats on the council to fall to four councillors.[7] Meanwhile, independents picked up two seats to have three councillors.[7]

The Conservatives gained seats from the Liberal Democrats in Purewell and Stanpit, but they did lose a seat back in Portfield.[7] In Jumpers ward, independent Fred Neale picked up a seat, while independent Julie Petrie also gained a seat, topping the poll in Grange ward.[7][8] The second seat in Grange had Conservative Denise Jones and Liberal Democrat John Freeman both finish with 374 votes.[8] The winner of this seat was chosen by drawing a name out of a hat and Conservative Denise Jones gained the seat from the Liberal Democrat after she was given one more vote, as her name was chosen.[8]

Christchurch local election result 2007[6][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 17 3 1 +2 70.8 61.0 22,022 +5.7%
  Liberal Democrats 4 1 5 -4 16.7 25.7 9,278 -6.0%
  Independent 3 2 0 +2 12.5 6.1 2,220 -1.4%
  Labour 0 0 0 0 0 4.3 1,549 -0.8%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 2.9 1,051 +2.5%

Ward results
Burton and Winkton (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Flagg 972
Conservative Colin Jamieson 944
Liberal Democrats Dexter Davies 424
Liberal Democrats John Blunden 371
Labour Michael Woods 95
Turnout 2,806 44.7 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Grange (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Julie Petrie 412
Conservative Denise Jones 375
Liberal Democrats John Freeman 374
Liberal Democrats Ian Nichols 359
Independent Jason Perry 345
Conservative Trevor Watts 297
Labour Vera Hill 118
Turnout 2,280 33.4 +6.7
Independent gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Highcliffe (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Myra Mawbey 1,310
Conservative John Lofts 1,153
Liberal Democrats Gillian Pitt 391
Labour Carol Wilcox 168
Turnout 3,022 54.0 +3.7
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Jumpers (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Colin Bungey 597
Independent Frederick Neale 484
Conservative Tavis Fox 409
Conservative Lisle Smith 378
Liberal Democrats Jason Viney 352
Liberal Democrats Stephen Humphrey 292
Labour Robert Deeks 61
Turnout 2,573 43.0 +4.1
Independent hold Swing
Independent gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Mudeford and Friars Cliff (3 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Josephine Spencer 1,638
Conservative Michael Duckworth 1,575
Conservative Eric Spreadbury 1,464
Liberal Democrats Christopher Legg 507
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Lodge 477
Labour James Brennan 290
Turnout 5,951 49.9 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
North Highcliffe and Walkford (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Sally Derham Wilkes 1,117
Conservative Nicholas Geary 1,004
Liberal Democrats Debby Broomfield 415
Labour Simon Trim 179
Turnout 2,715 51.3 +7.0
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Portfield (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats David Davies 465
Liberal Democrats David Vick 457
Conservative Lillian Jefferis 397
Conservative Maurne Wilson 339
Independent Carol Flynn 212
Independent Linda Hammond 170
Labour Abdulhaye Qureshi 67
Turnout 2,107 36.0 -0.5
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Purewell and Stanpit (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Raymond Nottage 810
Conservative Lucy Filer 804
Liberal Democrats Christine Payne 715
Liberal Democrats Alan Wright 654
Labour Matthew Hepple 93
Turnout 3,076 47.2 +6.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
St Catherine's and Hurn (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Susan Spittle 957
Conservative David Fox 919
Liberal Democrats Maria Drummond 362
Liberal Democrats John Campbell 355
UKIP John Reid 306
UKIP David Williams 260
Labour James Bewley 100
Turnout 3,259 55.5 +12.8
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Town Centre (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Peter Hall 956
Liberal Democrats Brett Bader 863
Conservative Malcolm Mawbey 513
Conservative John Newman 506
Labour George Gregory 93
Turnout 2,931 46.6 +0.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
West Highcliffe (3 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Alan Griffiths 1,428
Conservative Patricia Jamieson 1,426
Conservative David Jones 1,287
Liberal Democrats Martyn Hurll 489
UKIP Philip Glover 485
Labour Robert Maskell 285
Turnout 5,400 46.1 +4.9
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

By-elections between 2007 and 2011

A by-election was held in Portfield on 16 July 2009 after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor David Vick due to poor health.[10] The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Christine Payne with a one-vote majority over Conservative Lisle Smith.[11]

Portfield by-election 16 July 2009[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Christine Payne 279 34.4 -1.1
Conservative Lisle Smith 278 34.3 +4.0
Independent Christopher Neale 156 19.2 -9.9
UKIP Kenneth Johnson 98 12.1 +12.1
Majority 1 0.1
Turnout 811 25.4 -11.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
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References
  1. "Christchurch". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  2. "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  3. "Tributes flooding in for 'wonderful' councillor". Dorset Echo. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. "Residents say 'bring in some new ideas'". Bournemouth Daily Echo. NewsBank. 28 April 2007.
  5. "Electioneers keep it all in the family". Bournemouth Daily Echo. NewsBank. 5 April 2007.
  6. "Results - Election 2007". The Times. NewsBank. 5 May 2007. p. 83.
  7. "Conservatives' grip now even stronger". Bournemouth Daily Echo. NewsBank. 4 May 2007.
  8. "Name out of a hat result". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  9. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Christchurch Borough Council. dorsetforyou.com. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  10. "Polls open in by-election". Bournemouth Daily Echo. NewsBank. 15 July 2009.
  11. "One vote secures election win". Cornish Guardian. NewsBank. 24 July 2009. p. 3.
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