2010 Great Yarmouth Borough Council election

The 2010 Great Yarmouth Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Great Yarmouth Borough Council in Norfolk, 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 2010 Great Yarmouth council election. Conservatives in blue and Labour in red. Wards in grey were not contested in 2010.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 24
• Labour 15[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives held control of the council with 24 seats, compared to 15 for Labour.[3] 14 seats were contested at the election with both the Conservative and Labour parties defending 7 seats.[4] Claydon ward had 2 seats up for election after Labour councillor Dick Barker died in February 2010.[4][5] Both the Conservative and Labour parties contested all 14 seats, while there were also 5 Liberal Democrats and 2 independent candidates.[5]

With the council election being held at the same time as the general election, local issues including the outer harbour, an additional river crossing and local regeneration, were mixed with national issues during the campaign.[5]

Election result

The Conservatives remained in control of the council, with the political balance on the council staying the same.[4] The Conservatives gained a seat in Caister South from Labour, but lost one back to Labour in Yarmouth North.[4]

In Yarmouth North both candidates tied on 1,034 votes each after four recounts.[4] As a result, a pack of playing cards was used to determine the result.[6] The Conservative candidate, Bob Peck, drew a three and Labour's Charlie Marsden then drew a seven.[6][7] Therefore, Labour were allocated one more vote and gained the seat from the Conservatives.[4]

Great Yarmouth Local Election Result 2010[2][8]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	7	1	1	0	50.0	49.4	18,085	-5.3%
	Labour	7	1	1	0	50.0	42.5	15,544	+8.2%
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	6.2	2,276	+0.1%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	1.9	691	+1.9%

Ward results

Bradwell North[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Graham Plant	1,801	55.8	+8.8
	Labour	Hilary Wainwright	1,427	44.2	+0.2
Majority			374	11.6	+8.6
Turnout			3,228	65.3	+32.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bradwell South & Hopton[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Mike Butcher	1,925	58.9	+10.9
	Labour	Barbara Wright	1,344	41.1	+21.9
Majority			581	17.8	-7.7
Turnout			3,269	65.4	+21.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Caister North[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tony Smith	1,212	51.0	-4.3
	Labour	Nick Dack	739	31.1	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Dyer	427	18.0	+3.4
Majority			473	19.9	-5.4
Turnout			2,378	65.4	+33.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Caister South[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ronald Hanton	1,049	44.6	-5.0
	Labour	Patrick Hacon	905	38.5	-11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Rod Cole	399	17.0	+17.0
Majority			144	6.1
Turnout			2,353	68.1	+31.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Central & Northgate[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Mike Castle	1,256	44.4	+1.3
	Conservative	Tom Garrod	1,089	38.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Dean	484	17.1	+7.9
Majority			167	5.9	+0.7
Turnout			2,829	50.6	+23.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Claydon (2)[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Coleen Walker	1,512
	Labour	Bernard Williamson	1,429
	Conservative	Bob Scott	1,259
	Conservative	Matthew Smith	1,222
Turnout			5,422	54.8	+26.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

East Flegg[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Shirley Weymouth	1,549	57.6	-9.3
	Labour	Caroline Mynett	589	21.9	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Pam Mayhew	550	20.5	+4.8
Majority			960	35.7	-13.8
Turnout			2,688	70.1	+33.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gorleston[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Burroughs	1,687	63.9	-12.7
	Labour	Katie James	954	36.1	+12.7
Majority			733	27.8	-25.4
Turnout			2,641
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lothingland[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Barry Stone	1,750	64.2	-8.3
	Labour	Chris Williamson	974	35.8	+8.3
Majority			776	28.5	-16.5
Turnout			2,724	64.6	+34.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Magdalen[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Trevor Wainwright	1,535	50.7	+2.7
	Conservative	Carl Smith	1,127	37.3	-14.7
	Independent	Margaret McMahon-Morris	363	12.0	+12.0
Majority			408	13.5
Turnout			3,025	59.2	+28.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Nelson[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Val Pettit	1,120	48.2	+2.9
	Conservative	Malcolm Bird	875	37.7	+2.6
	Independent	Alan Sowle	328	14.1	+14.1
Majority			245	10.5	+0.3
Turnout			2,323	41.3	+22.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Southtown & Cobholm[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Holmes	725	44.0	-2.1
	Conservative	Victor Ling	506	30.7	+8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Harris	416	25.3	+14.3
Majority			219	13.3	-10.3
Turnout			1,647	44.4	+23.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Yarmouth North[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Charlie Marsden	1,035	50.0	+8.2
	Conservative	Bob Peck	1,034	50.0	-8.2
Majority			1	0
Turnout			2,068	60.8	+26.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. "Great Yarmouth". BBC News Online. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
2. "Local elections 2010". guardian.co.uk. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
3. "Countdown on to elections". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
4. "Playing card decides Yarmouth council seat". BBC News Online. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
5. "Local election candidates announced". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
6. Bingham, John (8 May 2010). "General Election 2010: councillor loses seat on draw of a card". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
7. "Luck of the draw for Labour candidate". express.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
8. "Elections - Results". Great Yarmouth Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
9. "Yarmouth council elections". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.