2007 Rother District Council election

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Map of the results of the 2007 Rother District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in light grey.

The 2007 Rother District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Rother District Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Background[edit]

At the last election in 2003 the Conservatives retained control of the council with 25 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 8, Labour had 3 and there were 2 independents.[2] However, by the time of the 2007 election the Liberal Democrat group had been reduced to 6 councillors, while 2 of the 3 Labour councillors, Helen and Keith Bridger, had left the Labour party in December 2006 and stood at the election as independents.[3] Meanwhile, the Conservative leader of the council Graham Gubby stood down at the election.[3]

Election result[edit]

The Conservatives increased their majority on the council after making a net gain of 2 seats to have 28 of the 38 councillors.[4][5] The Conservatives narrowly defeated Liberal Democrat councillor John Kemp in Crowhurst by 2 votes after 3 recounts,[6] while also taking out the only Labour councillor Samuel Souster in Rye.[5] This meant Rother was one of more than 10 councils in which Labour lost their last presence on the council in the 2007 local elections.[7]

The Liberal Democrats also gained 2 seats to have 8 councillors, after defeating Conservative councillors in Bexhill St Michael's and Battle Town ward.[5] Meanwhile, the independents were reduced from 5 to 2 councillors,[4] with Keith and Helen Bridger being defeated in Bexhill Sidley, while Eric Armstrong lost in Bexhill Old Town.[6]

Following the election Conservative Carl Maynard became the new leader of the council.[8]

Rother local election result 2007[9][10]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 28 4 2 +2 73.7 59.7 27,840 +2.2%
  Liberal Democrats 8 3 1 +2 21.1 27.2 12,670 -3.0%
  Independent 2 0 3 -3 5.3 6.0 2,784 +1.7%
  Labour 0 0 1 -1 0 6.6 3,071 -1.4%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 252 +0.5%

Ward results[edit]

Battle Town (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Kathryn Field 892
Liberal Democrats Kevin Dixon 759
Conservative Paula Fisher 649
Conservative Bob White 532
Labour John Gately 165
Turnout 2,997 42.6 +5.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Bexhill Central (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Ensor 672
Conservative Joy Hughes 667
Liberal Democrats Neil Francis 420
Labour Maurice Watson 252
Turnout 2,011 33.7 +1.7
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Bexhill Collington (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ronald Dyason 1,159
Conservative Christopher Starnes 1,158
Liberal Democrats Barbara Warburton 497
Turnout 2,814 44.4 +1.2
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Bexhill Kewhurst (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brian Kentfield 1,237
Conservative Martin Kenward 1,096
Liberal Democrats Joseph Ammoun 468
Turnout 2,801 42.3 +0.6
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Bexhill Old Town (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Stuart Wood 454
Liberal Democrats Frances Winterborn 419
Conservative Richard Carroll 351
Conservative Annabelle West 332
Independent Eric Armstrong 295
Labour Mark Sivyer 135
Turnout 1,986 37.3 +5.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent Swing
Bexhill Sackville (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Deirdre Williams 660
Conservative Keith Standring 642
Liberal Democrats Jill Forster 564
Liberal Democrats Nick Hollington 533
Independent Peter Webb 200
Labour Abdullah Khan 114
Turnout 2,713 40.9 +7.3
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Bexhill Sidley (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jim Carroll 489
Conservative Robert Wheeler 425
Independent Keith Bridger 415
Independent Helen Bridger 402
Labour Philipa Coughlan 252
Labour Stephanie Webb 225
Liberal Democrats Brett Mclean 192
Turnout 2,400
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Bexhill St Marks (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joanne Gadd 1,136
Conservative Patrick Douart 990
Liberal Democrats Rachel Hills 605
Labour John Heasman 133
Turnout 2,864 44.7 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Bexhill St Michaels (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Charles Clark 787
Liberal Democrats Martyn Forster 565
Conservative Peter Fairhurst 493
Turnout 1,845 36.2 +5.6
Independent hold Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Bexhill St Stephens (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bridget George 722
Conservative Paul Lendon 690
Liberal Democrats Molly Webb 381
Liberal Democrats John Zipperlen 340
Labour Dominic Coughlan 211
Turnout 2,344 36.3 -2.5
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Brede Valley (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Johnson 905
Conservative Carl Maynard 873
Liberal Democrats John Smith 459
Liberal Democrats Frances James 431
Labour Mark Kenward 127
Turnout 2,795 40.6 +2.6
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Crowhurst[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Angharad Davies 416 46.3 +10.3
Liberal Democrats John Kemp 414 46.1 -9.4
Labour Tim MacPherson 69 7.7 -0.8
Majority 2 0.2
Turnout 899
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Darwell (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Vereker 1,072
Independent Wendy Miers 685
Liberal Democrats Tom Sayer 469
Turnout 2,226 42.0 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing
Independent hold Swing
Eastern Rother (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Osborne 970
Conservative Nick Ramus 939
Liberal Democrats Nicholas Cleveland-Stevens 394
Labour Jan Mears 350
Turnout 2,653 44.2 +4.1
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Ewhurst and Sedlescombe[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tony Ganly 657 66.4 -1.1
Liberal Democrats Stephen Hardy 332 33.6 +1.1
Majority 325 32.9 -2.1
Turnout 989 49.5 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Marsham (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robin Patten 1,120
Conservative Roger Bird 1,063
Labour Nicholas Warren 264
Turnout 2,447 45.5 -2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Rother Levels (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Martin Mooney 1,006
Conservative Ron Parren 1,000
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Als 492
Labour Marie Hodgson 199
Turnout 2,697 43.1 +8.6
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Rye (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sonia Holmes 691
Conservative David Russell 684
Labour Samuel Souster 575
Turnout 1,950 43.7 -0.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Salehurst (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sue Prochak 857
Liberal Democrats George Hearn 668
Conservative Graham Browne 661
Conservative Geoffrey Goodsell 578
Turnout 2,764 45.8 +3.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Ticehurst and Etchingham (2 seats)[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Elliston 993
Conservative Ian Jenkins 803
Liberal Democrats Trevor Seemann 374
Green Don Nicholls 252
Turnout 2,422 41.1 +2.5
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

By-elections between 2007 and 2011[edit]

Bexhill Collington[edit]

A by-election was held in Bexhill Collington on 12 June 2008 after the death of Conservative councillor Ron Dyason.[11][12] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Gillian Wheeler with a majority of 677 votes over the Liberal Democrats.[12]

Bexhill Collington by-election 12 June 2008[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gillian Wheeler 893 75.2 +5.1
Liberal Democrats Christine Purdy 216 18.2 -11.8
Labour Nicholas Coughlan 78 6.6 +6.6
Majority 677 57.0
Turnout 1,187 31.8 -12.6
Conservative hold Swing

Bexhill Sackville[edit]

A by-election was held in Bexhill Sackville on 3 July 2008 after Conservative councillor Keith Standring resigned from the council.[15][16] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Richard Carroll with a majority of 80 votes over the Liberal Democrats.[16][17]

Bexhill Sackville by-election 3 July 2008[13][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Carroll 571 49.4 +6.5
Liberal Democrats Peter Webb 491 42.5 +5.8
Labour Paul Theaker 93 8.1 +0.6
Majority 80 6.9
Turnout 1,155 31.5 -9.4
Conservative hold Swing

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Rother". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Marzouk, Lawrence (27 April 2007). "Tories look to stay in control of Rother". The Argus. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Tories boost majority in Rother". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Local elections results across Sussex". The Argus. 5 May 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Tories increase their strength overall as Labour wiped out". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  7. ^ Woodward, Will (5 May 2007). "Labour: Left struggles to maintain toehold on rural and suburban councils". The Guardian. NewsBank.
  8. ^ "New leaders of Rother are crowned". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Results - Election 2007". The Times. NewsBank. 5 May 2007. p. 83.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "District Election Results". Rother District Council. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Former Rother Council Chairman Ron Dyason Dies". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Election success for Conservatives". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Bexhill Collington Ward". Rother District Council. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  15. ^ "Bexhill BNP members' names leaked on to internet". Mid Sussex Times. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  16. ^ a b c "Bexhill Sackville Ward". Rother District Council. 3 July 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  17. ^ Land, Jon (4 July 2008). "Tories gain in East London in latest council by-elections". 24dash.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.