2008 Swindon Borough Council election

The 2008 Swindon Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2008 to elect members of Swindon Unitary Council in Wiltshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2008 Swindon council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2008.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Campaign

Several unusual events attracted attention during the campaign with one of the Labour candidates, James Grant, having to withdraw a campaign leaflet after it was sent out with his name spelt wrongly as Jim Gant.[3] In another incident a yorkshire terrier was reported as having received a polling card for the election,[4] with his owner being faced with being charged with supplying false electoral information and as a result had to write a letter of apology.[5] Meanwhile, Swindon council got a look-alike of Captain Jack Sparrow to hand out balloons and leaflets on the election in an attempt to increase interest in the election.[6]

Election result

The results saw each party end with the same number of seats as before the election with the Conservatives remaining in control with 43 seats.[2] The Conservatives gained one seat from Labour in Park ward but Labour also took a seat back from the Conservatives in Central ward.[7] In total 15 councillors were re-elected with Labour staying on 12 seats, the Liberal Democrats 3 and 1 independent.[2]

Swindon Local Election Result 2008[8][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 17 1 1 0 77.3 54.8 25,109 +8.0%
  Labour 4 1 1 0 18.2 25.3 11,567 -3.6%
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 0 0 4.5 14.5 6,644 +1.3%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 5.0 2,301 +1.3%
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 181 +0.1%

Ward results
Map of the results of the 2008 Swindon council election with ward names. Coloured by party which finished top in each ward.
Abbey Meads[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Vera Tomlinson 1,836 75.9 +6.6
Labour Gerald Lawson 266 11.0 -4.9
Liberal Democrats Richard Law 226 9.3 +0.7
UKIP Robin Tingey 90 3.7 +3.7
Majority 1,570 64.9 +11.4
Turnout 2,418
Conservative hold Swing
Central[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Junab Ali 902 44.1 -3.0
Conservative Kevin Leakey 664 32.5 +3.9
Liberal Democrats Hannah Pajak 224 11.0 -2.0
UKIP Eric Bagwell 130 6.4 +6.4
Independent David Cox 125 6.1 +1.6
Majority 238 11.6 -6.9
Turnout 2,045
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
Covingham and Nythe[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Dale Heenan 1,362 57.6 +3.4
Labour Joanne Dilley 586 24.8 -2.1
UKIP Cynthia Desmond 264 11.2 -0.5
Liberal Democrats David Pajak 152 6.4 -0.8
Majority 776 32.8 +5.5
Turnout 2,364
Conservative hold Swing
Dorcan (2)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Kevin Parry 1,326
Conservative Roderick Bluh 1,292
Labour Cindy Matthews 447
Labour Samuel James 430
UKIP Robert Sheppard 294
Liberal Democrats Ellen Aylett 286
Turnout 4,075
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Eastcott[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Stanley Pajak 1,237 58.6 +19.0
Conservative Paul Gregory 496 23.5 -1.4
Labour Sarah Bush 378 17.9 -5.8
Majority 741 35.1 +20.3
Turnout 2,111
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Freshbrook and Grange Park[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Peter Greenhalgh 1,184 60.4 +11.4
Liberal Democrats Judith Peppitt 535 27.3 -1.2
Labour Jamal Miah 240 12.3 -4.4
Majority 649 33.1 +12.5
Turnout 1,959
Conservative hold Swing
Gorse Hill and Pinehurst[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ericqua Ballman 736 44.6 -0.2
Conservative Louise Gallavin 687 41.6 +16.0
Liberal Democrats Leslie Wood 229 13.9 +5.8
Majority 49 3.0 -16.3
Turnout 1,652
Labour hold Swing
Haydon Wick[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Rex Barnett 1,363 61.0
Labour John Keepin 440 19.7
UKIP Michael Stuckey 246 11.0
Liberal Democrats Tel Hudson 186 8.3
Majority 923 41.3
Turnout 2,235
Conservative hold Swing
Highworth[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Anthony Peake 1,345 62.3 +5.5
Labour Phillip Beaumont 492 22.8 -3.7
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Shorten 321 14.9 +7.9
Majority 853 39.5 +9.2
Turnout 2,158
Conservative hold Swing
Moredon[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Colin Lovell 1,110 54.4 +6.7
Labour James d'Avila 590 28.9 -6.7
UKIP Kathleen Webb 229 11.2 +2.4
Liberal Democrats Heidi Teague 111 5.4 -2.5
Majority 520 25.5 +13.4
Turnout 2,040
Conservative hold Swing
Old Town and Lawn[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Michael Bawden 2,015 64.2 +5.5
Liberal Democrats Mark Wheaver 538 17.1 +1.5
Labour Walid Meah 409 13.0 -0.4
UKIP Noel Gardner 177 5.6 +0.4
Majority 1,477 47.1 +4.0
Turnout 3,139
Conservative hold Swing
Parks (2)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Stephen Allsopp 815
Conservative Graham Cherry 746
Labour Mark Dempsey 703
Conservative Claire Ellis 628
UKIP Terence Hayward 248
Liberal Democrats Mark Grant 153
Liberal Democrats John Kurton 125
Turnout 3,418
Labour hold Swing
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Ridgeway[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Bennett 652 61.6 +6.9
Liberal Democrats Thomas Pajak 351 33.1 -2.8
Labour Mary Gladman 56 5.3 -4.1
Majority 301 28.4 +9.5
Turnout 1,059
Conservative hold Swing
Shaw and Nine Elms[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Nicholas Martin 1,291 70.5 +14.4
Liberal Democrats James Farr 333 18.2 +0.5
Labour Mohammad Talukdar 208 11.4 -5.5
Majority 958 52.3 +13.9
Turnout 1,832
Conservative hold Swing
St Margaret[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Raymond Fisher 1,337 59.2 +7.4
Labour Michael Spry 517 22.9 -5.6
UKIP Robert Feal-Martinez 217 9.6 +0.2
Liberal Democrats Ann Morgan 187 8.3 -2.0
Majority 820 36.3 +12.9
Turnout 2,258
Conservative hold Swing
St Philip[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Maire Darker 1,300 52.7 +10.8
Labour Joseph Tray 771 31.3 -9.4
UKIP Peter Thompson-Watt 232 9.4 +2.3
Liberal Democrats Ann Richards 163 6.6 +0.4
Majority 529 21.5 +20.3
Turnout 2,466
Conservative hold Swing
Toothill & Westlea[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Dwynwen Martin 961 60.7 +8.4
Labour Abdul Amin 412 26.0 +4.1
Liberal Democrats Christopher Shepherd 209 13.2 -2.7
Majority 549 34.7 +4.4
Turnout 1,582
Conservative hold Swing
Walcot[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Mavis Childs 783 46.2 +7.2
Labour Carol Heavens 648 38.3 +1.6
Liberal Democrats Kathleen McCarthy 263 15.5 +2.6
Majority 135 8.0 +5.7
Turnout 1,694
Conservative hold Swing
Western[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Grant 1,161 45.6 -3.8
Conservative Peter Heaton-Jones 990 38.9 +13.4
UKIP Gregory Heathcliffe 174 6.8 -0.5
Liberal Democrats Clive Hooper 166 6.5 -3.0
Independent Michael Morton 56 2.2 -0.1
Majority 171 6.7 -17.1
Turnout 2,547
Labour hold Swing
Wroughton and Chiseldon[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Brian Ford 1,741 63.3 +8.0
Liberal Democrats Victor Godman 649 23.6 +1.2
Labour Sandra Parsons 360 13.1 -1.7
Majority 1,092 39.7 +6.8
Turnout 2,750
Conservative hold Swing
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References
  1. "Swindon". BBC News Online. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  2. "Ups and downs but few surprises in poll results ; Across the South West election results held few surprises and little change for local authorities". Western Daily Press. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  3. Bergen, Katherine (11 April 2008). "Vote for Jim Gant". The Sun. p. 34.
  4. "A Prickly Subject". Edinburgh Evening News. 26 April 2008. p. 22.
  5. "Dog owner in vote card mix-up ; Cheeky Gavin Huckvale was facing jail yesterday after registering his pet dog to vote in today's local elections". Western Daily Press. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  6. "Captain Jack goes on the election trail". Gazette and Herald. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  7. "Swindon remains Conservative bastion". Gazette and Herald. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  8. "Local Elections 2008". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  9. "Local elections Results". The Times. 2 May 2008. p. 28.
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