2014 Castle Point Borough Council election

The 2014 Castle Point Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Castle Point Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.[1]

Map of the results of the 2014 Castle Point Borough Council election. Canvey Island Independent Party in light grey, UK Independence Party in purple and Conservative in blue.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Background

At the last election in 2012 the Conservatives held control of the council with 25 councillors, compared to 15 for the Canvey Island Independent Party and 1 independent.[3] However, since then the UK Independence Party had won 2 Castle Point seats at the 2013 Essex County Council election and planned to stand 8 candidates at the 2014 Borough Council election.[4]

14 of the 41 seats on the council were contested at the 2014 election.[5]

Election result

The Conservatives lost their majority on the council after the UK Independence Party gained 5 seats.[6] The UK Independence Party gains came in Appleton, Cedar Hall, St George's, St Peter's and Victoria wards, with 87-year-old UK Independence Party candidate Ron Hurrell defeating the Conservative leader of the council, Pam Challis, in St Peter's ward.[2][7] Meanwhile, in the European elections that were held at the same time the UK Independence Party won 48% of the vote in Castle Point, almost double that of the Conservatives.[8]

On Canvey Island the Canvey Island Independent Party regained a seat in Canvey Island South, which they had lost to a defection.[2] The results left the Conservatives as the largest party on the council with 20 seats, while the Canvey Island Independent Party had 16 seats and the UK Independence Party had 5 seats.[2]

Following the election the Conservative group on the council chose Colin Riley as their new leader defeating the former deputy leader of the council Jeffrey Stanley by 2 votes,[9] while Alan Bayley became the leader of the UK Independence Party group.[10] Both the Canvey Island Independent Party and UK Independence Party initially proposed a coalition between all 3 parties to run the council, but following the Conservative leadership election decided against coalition and Colin Riley became the new leader of the council at the head of a Conservative minority administration.[9][10][11]

Castle Point local election result 2014[2][12]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Canvey Independent 6 1 0 +1 42.9 23.2 5,543 +2.3%
  UKIP 5 5 0 +5 35.7 26.9 6,431 +26.9%
  Conservative 3 0 5 -5 21.4 33.9 8,098 -12.9%
  Labour 0 0 0 0 0 16.0 3,822 -10.9%
  Independent 0 0 1 -1 0 0 0 -2.4%

Ward results
Appleton[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UKIP Alan Bayley 856 44.0 +44.0
Conservative Charles Mumford 728 37.4 -24.3
Labour Elliott Adair 361 18.6 -19.7
Majority 128 6.6
Turnout 1,945
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing
Boyce[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Norman Smith 927 46.1 -28.0
UKIP Robert Baillie 823 40.9 +40.9
Labour Anthony Wright 261 13.0 -12.9
Majority 104 5.2 -43.1
Turnout 2,011
Conservative hold Swing
Canvey Island Central[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Peter May 964 65.1 +1.6
Conservative Raymond Savill 324 21.9 +1.6
Labour John Payne 192 13.0 -3.2
Majority 640 43.2 +0.0
Turnout 1,480
Canvey Independent hold Swing
Canvey Island East[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Alan Acott 1,006 66.8 +18.8
Conservative Patricia Haunts 318 21.1 -2.4
Labour Margaret McArthur-Curtis 182 12.1 -0.7
Majority 688 45.7 +21.2
Turnout 1,506
Canvey Independent hold Swing
Canvey Island North[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Nigel Harvey 1,067 63.7 -1.0
Conservative Margaret Belford 325 19.4 +0.8
Labour Matthew Reilly 283 16.9 +0.2
Majority 742 44.3 -1.8
Turnout 1,675
Canvey Independent hold Swing
Canvey Island South[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Barry Palmer 1,035 62.3 +14.5
Conservative Denise Lambert 458 27.6 +2.5
Labour Michael Curham 168 10.1 -0.6
Majority 577 34.7 +11.9
Turnout 1,661
Canvey Independent gain from Independent Swing
Canvey Island West[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Jane King 636 50.1 +7.4
Conservative Jeanette Blissett 509 40.1 -9.2
Labour William Deal 124 9.8 +1.8
Majority 127 10.0
Turnout 1,269
Canvey Independent hold Swing
Canvey Island Winter Gardens[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Canvey Independent Peter Greig 835 64.3 +1.8
Conservative Jeanette Carrington 283 21.8 +0.9
Labour Katie Curtis 181 13.9 -2.7
Majority 552 42.5 +1.0
Turnout 1,299
Canvey Independent hold Swing
Cedar Hall[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UKIP Alan Hudson 897 49.4 +49.4
Conservative Colin Maclean 610 33.6 -25.1
Labour Bernard Thorne 310 17.1 -24.2
Majority 287 15.8
Turnout 1,817
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing
St George's[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UKIP Brian Wood 710 43.0 +43.0
Conservative Pamela Freeman 525 31.8 -21.9
Labour Joseph Cooke 417 25.2 -21.1
Majority 185 11.2
Turnout 1,652
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing
St. James'[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Godfrey Isaacs 886 43.9 -16.9
UKIP Michael Dixon 790 39.2 +39.2
Labour Dina Mehdi 340 16.9 -4.3
Majority 96 4.8 34.8
Turnout 2,016
Conservative hold Swing
St. Mary's[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Sheldon 771 40.3 -11.9
UKIP Michael Aubrey 726 37.9 +37.9
Labour Brian Wilson 418 21.8 -26.0
Majority 45 2.3 -2.0
Turnout 1,915
Conservative hold Swing
St. Peter's[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UKIP Ronald Hurrell 830 45.1 +45.1
Conservative Pamela Challis 680 36.9 -27.1
Labour William Emberson 331 18.0 -18.0
Majority 150 8.1
Turnout 1,841
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing
Victoria[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UKIP Paul Varker 799 44.2 +44.2
Conservative Neal Warren 754 41.7 -22.9
Labour Frederick West 254 14.1 -5.7
Majority 45 2.5
Turnout 1,807
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing

By-elections between 2014 and 2015

A by-election was held in Canvey Island East on 30 October 2014 after Canvey Island Independent Party councillor Gail Barton was removed from the council for not attending any council meetings for 8 months.[13] The UK Independence Party did not put up a candidate for the by-election, instead supporting the Canvey Island Independent Party candidate, while the Canvey Island Independents agreed to support the UK Independence Party at the 2015 general election.[14][15] However the seat was gained by independent candidate Colin Letchford with a majority of 66 votes over the Canvey Island Independent Party.[16]

Meanwhile, following the by-election, councillor Stephen Cole defected from the Canvey Island Independent Party to the Conservatives, with the agreement between the Canvey Island Independent Party and the UK Independence Party being cited as a factor in his decision.[15] This meant following the by-election and defection the Conservatives regained a one-seat majority on the council with 21 seats, compared to 14 for the Canvey Island Independent Party, 5 for the UK Independence Party and 1 independent.[15]

Canvey Island East by-election 30 October 2014[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Colin Letchford 389 39.1 +39.1
Canvey Island Independent Party John Payne 323 32.4 -34.4
Conservative Chas Mumford 208 20.9 -0.2
Labour Jackie Reilly 76 7.6 -4.5
Majority 66 6.6
Turnout 996 20.9
Independent gain from Canvey Independent Swing
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References
  1. "Castle Point". BBC News Online. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  2. Weinfass, Ian (23 May 2014). "Pam Challis loses seat as Castle Point falls from Tory control". The Echo. NewsBank.
  3. "Councillors". Castle Point Borough Council. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  4. "Can anyone halt the rise of Ukip in borough council elections?". The Echo. NewsBank. 29 April 2014.
  5. "Local Elections 2014: Castle Point". ITV News. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. Hope, Christopher; Turner, Camilla (23 May 2014). "Farage hails himself 'honorary Essex man' on victory tour - Ukip leader pulls pint for cameramen as he says party success shows its message was "resonating" among Conservative and Labour voters". The Daily Telegraph. NewsBank.
  7. Bounds, Andrew (23 May 2014). "Ukip victors cite voters' dislike of Westminster". Financial Times. NewsBank.
  8. Weinfass, Ian (28 May 2014). "UKIP to target Castle Point MP's seat". The Echo. NewsBank.
  9. Weinfass, Ian (3 June 2014). "Talks over Castle Point Council's future break down". The Echo. NewsBank.
  10. Tilley, Caroline (29 May 2014). "Council power still hanging in balance". The Echo. NewsBank.
  11. Hakim, Seema (9 June 2014). "Colin Riley is new Castle Point leader". The Echo. NewsBank.
  12. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Castle Point Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  13. Mansfield, Katie (16 September 2014). "October battle for empty Canvey seat". The Echo. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  14. Weinfass, Ian (5 June 2014). "Ukip won't stand against Canvey Independents in by-election". The Echo. NewsBank.
  15. Mansfield, Katie (5 November 2014). "Defector gives power back to Conservatives". The Echo. NewsBank.
  16. Mansfield, Katie (30 October 2014). "Independent candidate Colin Letchford wins Canvey East by-election". The Echo. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
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