2008 Wokingham Borough Council election

The 2008 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, 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 Wokingham council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2008.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 44
• Liberal Democrat 10[2]

Campaign

18 seats were contested in the election with candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, United Kingdom Independence Party, Green Party and British National Party standing.[3] The leader of the council, Conservative councillor Frank Browne, was one of a number of councillors who stood down at the election.[3] The Conservatives were defending 14 seats compared to 4 for the Liberal Democrats.[4]

The Conservatives defended their record in running the council and committed themselves to keeping a weekly bin collection, fight to keep down the number of new houses being built in the council area and continue investing in services.[4] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats criticised cuts in adult social care services and school maintenance funds and attacked a lack of democracy over proposed developments.[4] Other issues raised in the election included crime and council tax increases.[4]

Election result

The election saw only one seat change hands with the Conservatives gaining Hillside from the Liberal Democrats to remain in control of the council with 44 of the 54 seats.[5] Hillside ward had seen the former Liberal Democrat councillor, Alan Spratling, step down at the election and he was succeeded by Conservative Pauline Jorgensen, wife of another councillor for Hillside, Norman Jorgensen.[6] The election also saw the United Kingdom Independence Party overtake Labour in the number of votes won across the council to win the third most votes.[6] Overall turnout in the election was 38.23%.[7]

Following the election David Lee was elected as the new leader of the council to replace Frank Browne after he had stood down at the election.[8]

Wokingham Local Election Result 2008[7]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	15	1	0	+1	83.3	57.7	21,241	+6.2%
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	1	-1	16.7	30.5	11,218	-1.8%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	6.1	2,239	-0.4%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.8	1,781	-1.9%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	272	-0.1%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	44	+0.1%

Ward results

Bulmershe & Whitegates[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Lissaman	1,168	45.1	-5.8
	Conservative	Mohammed Younis	944	36.5	+6.9
	Labour	Gregory Bello	345	13.3	-0.9
	UKIP	Peter Jackson	131	5.1	-0.2
Majority			224	8.6	-12.7
Turnout			2,588	40.8	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Charvil[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Emma Hobbs	746	65.8	+14.8
	Liberal Democrats	Arthur Illenden	317	28.0	-14.0
	Labour	Brian Scott	51	4.5	+1.5
	UKIP	Joan Huntley	20	1.8	-2.3
Majority			429	37.8	+28.8
Turnout			1,134	50.3	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Emmbrook[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ullakarin Clark	1,521	55.8	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Malvern	788	28.9	-4.7
	UKIP	Ann Davis	289	10.6	-1.3
	Labour	Paul Sharples	128	4.7	-0.5
Majority			733	26.9	+11.3
Turnout			2,726	44.0	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Evendons[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dianne King	1,456	63.1	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy Harley	521	22.6	-1.8
	UKIP	Michael Spencer	203	8.8	-2.6
	Labour	Anthony Skuse	128	5.5	-0.9
Majority			935	40.5	+7.1
Turnout			2,308	35.2	-1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Finchampstead North[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Gore	1,420	76.2	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	James May	325	17.4	-2.5
	UKIP	Ian Gordon	118	6.3	+0.3
Majority			1,095	58.8	+7.6
Turnout			1,863	44.2	-2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Finchampstead South[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gerald Cockcroft	1,177	67.0	-1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roland Cundy	438	24.9	+5.1
	UKIP	Geoffrey Bulpitt	142	8.1	+1.7
Majority			739	42.1	-7.0
Turnout			1,757	39.9	-2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hawkedon[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Matthew Deegan	1,275	67.0	+7.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Eastwell	538	28.3	+3.4
	UKIP	David Lamb	90	4.7	+2.0
Majority			737	38.7	+3.7
Turnout			1,903	27.5	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hillside[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Pauline Jorgensen	1,449	52.5	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Hare	1,038	37.6	-2.7
	Labour	David Sharp	174	6.3	+0.9
	UKIP	Geraint Jones	99	3.6	-0.2
Majority			411	14.9	+4.7
Turnout			2,760	42.2	-0.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hurst[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Annette Drake	699	75.4	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Haydon Trott	136	14.7	-6.5
	Labour	Daniel Clifton	53	5.7	-1.5
	UKIP	Amy Thornton	39	4.2	+4.2
Majority			563	60.7	+10.3
Turnout			927	43.6	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loddon[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Phillip Challis	1,234	54.3	+12.1
	Conservative	Parvinder Batth	842	37.1	-8.4
	Labour	Alberto Troccoli	112	4.9	-2.5
	UKIP	Bernard Wakeford	84	3.7	-1.2
Majority			392	17.2
Turnout			2,272	34.9	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Maiden Erlegh[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Edmunds	1,508	58.7	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Smith	584	22.7	-3.5
	Labour	Jacqueline Rupert	206	8.0	+0.6
	Green	David Hogg	136	5.3	-0.4
	UKIP	Peter Williams	134	5.2	+0.8
Majority			924	36.0	+6.0
Turnout			2,568	35.2	-0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Norreys[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lee Gordon-Walker	1,369	59.4	+0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Bacon	446	19.3	+0.5
	UKIP	Keith Knight	257	11.1	+3.6
	Labour	Jennifer Spratley	234	10.1	-0.2
Majority			923	40.1	-0.5
Turnout			2,306	35.2	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Claire Stretton	1,330	74.5	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Alder	382	21.4	+2.6
	Labour	Stuart Crainer	73	4.1	+0.3
Majority			948	53.1	-1.6
Turnout			1,785	42.3	-4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shinfield South[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Malcolm Bryant	1,140	71.6	+19.0
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Mitchell	259	16.3	+16.3
	Green	Marjory Bisset	136	8.5	+0.6
	UKIP	Andrew Findlay	57	3.6	+0.8
Majority			881	55.3	+39.5
Turnout			1,592	32.7	-10.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Twyford[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Conway	1,441	68.3	+7.6
	Conservative	John Jarvis	560	26.5	+2.7
	Labour	Roy Mantel	65	3.1	-9.2
	UKIP	Gerald Sleep	45	2.1	-1.1
Majority			881	41.8	+4.9
Turnout			2,111	46.9	-0.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wescott[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Wyatt	929	60.2	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Vaughan	304	19.7	-3.8
	UKIP	Franklin Carstairs	164	10.6	-0.2
	Labour	John Woodward	102	6.6	+0.9
	BNP	Mark Burke	44	2.9	+2.9
Majority			625	40.5	+4.0
Turnout			1,543	37.9	-0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Winnersh[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Elizabeth Siggery	1,162	48.4	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Peffers	997	41.5	-6.2
	UKIP	Vincent Pearson	134	5.6	-0.1
	Labour	John Baker	110	4.6	+1.0
Majority			165	6.9
Turnout			2,403	36.1	-2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wokingham Without[7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Pauline Helliar-Symons	1,714	76.2	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robert May	302	13.4	-3.5
	UKIP	Graham Widdows	233	10.4	-1.1
Majority			1,412	62.8	+8.1
Turnout			2,249	37.4	-0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Wokingham". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
2. "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
3. "Parties line up for May elections". getwokingham. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
4. "Lib Dems fight with Tories to hang on to vital seats in elections". getwokingham. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
5. "Wokingham: Election news mini-feed". getwokingham. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
6. "Tories increase hold in borough". Reading Post. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
7. "Local election results". Wokingham Borough Council. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
8. "Meet the leader". getwokingham. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
9. "Wokingham Borough Council election results". Reading Chronicle. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.