2004 Bedford Borough Council election

The 2004 Bedford Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Bedford Borough Council in England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

Results were seen as a setback for elected Mayor Frank Branston, as councillors who had defected to his Better Bedford Party such as Patrick Naughton in Goldington were defeated.^[2]

Prior to the election, one councillor left the Conservative group to sit as an independent.^{[citation needed]}

Summary

Election result

2004 Bedford Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	5	1	27.8	11	16	29.6	11,488	32.3	+3.6
	Labour	6	2	33.3	9	15	27.8	8,170	23.0	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	5	1	27.8	8	13	24.1	9,867	27.7	+3.3
	Better Bedford Party	1	1	5.6	5	6	11.1	3,008	8.5	–10.3
	Independent	1	1	5.6	3	4	7.4	603	1.7	–6.1
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,661	4.7	N/A
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	523	1.5	N/A
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	227	0.6	–0.1
	The Consensus	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	16	<0.1	N/A

Ward results

^[3]

Brickhill

Brickhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew McConnell*	1,584	48.2	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Fitzpatrick	1,377	41.9	+2.0
	Labour	Rebecca Chowdhury	211	6.4	−5.3
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Nicholas Pape	117	3.6	N/A
Majority			207	6.3
Turnout			3,289	49.9
Registered electors			6,598
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bromham

Bromham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Ashby	1,582	66.4	−7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Stelios Mores	432	18.1	+1.9
	Labour	Yanina Jones	248	10.4	−1.9
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Sarah Taylor	122	5.1	N/A
Majority			1,150	48.2
Turnout			2,384	40.7
Registered electors			5,864
	Conservative hold		Swing

Castle

Castle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Better Bedford Party	Peter Chiswell*	1,127	44.3	+2.3
	Labour	Jane Caldwell	624	24.5	−15.3
	Liberal Democrats	Pierrette Lob-Levyt	324	12.7	+1.5
	Conservative	Michael Williams	303	11.9	−30.1
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Glenn Farrar	105	4.1	N/A
	Green	Saul Keyworth	62	2.4	N/A
Majority			503	19.8
Turnout			2,545	41.8
Registered electors			6,092
	Better Bedford Party gain from Conservative		Swing

Cauldwell

Cauldwell
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Randolph Charles*	937	51.8	−9.4
	Conservative	Katherine Stacey	393	21.7	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Bentham	327	18.1	+2.9
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Janet Bartram	153	8.5	N/A
Majority			544	30.1
Turnout			1,810	30.5
Registered electors			5,929
	Labour hold		Swing

Clapham

Clapham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mollie Foster*	603	37.1	−23.3
	Conservative	Frederick Sparrow	525	32.3	−28.1
	Labour	Terence Carroll	230	14.1	−3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Lawson	202	12.4	+4.1
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Paul Dempsey	66	4.1	N/A
Majority			78	4.8
Turnout			1,626	38.1
Registered electors			4,263
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

De Parys

De Parys
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tarsem Paul	748	42.7	−0.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Ryan*	648	37.0	−8.1
	Better Bedford Party	Michael Mawson	178	10.2	N/A
	Labour	Marilyn Leask	140	8.0	−2.6
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Deba Choudhury	36	2.1	N/A
Majority			100	5.7
Turnout			1,750	42.8
Registered electors			4,086
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Eastcotts

Eastcotts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christine McHugh*	569	61.5	+7.1
	Conservative	Paul Chetcuti	267	28.9	−10.5
	Labour	Franca Garrick	47	5.1	−1.1
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Vivian Suter	42	4.5	N/A
Majority			302	32.6
Turnout			925	43.3
Registered electors			2,137
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Goldington

Goldington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Merryman	1,076	44.8	−15.3
	Better Bedford Party	Patrick Naughton*	661	27.5	−32.6
	Labour	Timothy Caswell	313	13.0	−9.0
	Conservative	Alan Cassan	303	12.6	±0.0
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Francesca Ariano	33	1.4	N/A
	The Consensus	Dirk Bruere	16	0.7	N/A
Majority			415	17.3
Turnout			2,402	37.7
Registered electors			6,370
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Great Barford

Great Barford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Harrison*	1,152	63.9	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Stekelis	296	16.4	+8.8
	Labour	Pauline Curl	212	11.8	−4.5
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Rita Robinson	144	8.0	N/A
Majority			856	47.5
Turnout			1,804	44.1
Registered electors			4,089
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpur

Harpur
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colleen Atkins	889	41.7	+3.0
	Conservative	Brian Dillingham*	638	29.9	−11.9
	Better Bedford Party	Alberto Thomas	285	13.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Melanie Parra-Whitehead	177	8.3	−2.7
	Green	Jennifer Foley	113	5.3	−5.2
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Brian Gibbons	32	1.5	N/A
Majority			251	11.8
Turnout			2,134	35.7
Registered electors			5,974
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Kempston East

Kempston East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Lewis	707	42.8	+1.2
	Conservative	Eileen Whitmore**	454	27.5	−18.6
	Better Bedford Party	Mary Stupple	281	17.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Joan Slater	161	9.7	+3.0
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Janet Suter	50	3.0	N/A
Majority			253	15.3
Turnout			1,653	37.4
Registered electors			4,425
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Eileen Whitmore was a sitting councillor in Bromham ward.

Kempston North

Kempston North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ray Oliver	611	43.3	−12.6
	Conservative	Mark Smith	456	32.3	−3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Gerard	161	11.4	+0.1
	Better Bedford Party	Gurminder Singh	136	9.6	N/A
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Christine Richards	48	3.4	N/A
Majority			155	11.0
Turnout			1,412	35.5
Registered electors			3,980
	Labour hold		Swing

Kempston South

Kempston South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hunt*	804	45.1	+6.1
	Conservative	Jagdish Singh	437	24.5	+10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Hill	348	19.5	+8.0
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Barbara Lowden-Smith	193	10.8	N/A
Majority			367	20.6
Turnout			1,782	31.7
Registered electors			5,615
	Labour hold		Swing

Kingsbrook

Kingsbrook
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Hodgson*	1,067	52.4	+9.8
	Labour	Elizabeth Luder	551	27.1	−13.1
	Conservative	Barbara Purbrick	280	13.8	+2.8
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Charlene Tillotson	138	6.8	N/A
Majority			516	25.3
Turnout			2,036	31.0
Registered electors			6,564
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newnham

Newnham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Whitehead	465	30.0	−0.4
	Conservative	Colin Crane*	461	29.8	−7.3
	Better Bedford Party	Edward Davey	340	22.0	N/A
	Labour	June McDonald	203	13.1	−15.4
	Green	Chris Davies	52	3.4	N/A
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Betty Stapleton	27	1.7	N/A
Majority			4	0.3
Turnout			1,548	38.4
Registered electors			4,035
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Putnoe

Putnoe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Weerasirie	1,277	43.6	+2.4
	Conservative	Peter Allen	814	27.8	+1.5
	UKIP	Mark Adkin	523	17.8	−7.5
	Labour	Charan Sekhon	211	7.2	−2.9
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Robert Wane	105	3.6	N/A
Majority			463	15.8
Turnout			2,930	44.0
Registered electors			6,659
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Queens Park

Queens Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Muhummad Khan*	1,078	57.8	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Neal Bath	348	18.6	+8.6
	Conservative	Atul Sikand	302	16.2	+31
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Roland Warder	138	7.4	N/A
Majority			730	39.1
Turnout			1,866	39.2
Registered electors			4,771
	Labour hold		Swing

Wootton

Wootton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Tait	789	47.3	+11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Murphy	612	36.7	+5.5
	Labour	Adrien Beardmore	154	9.2	−0.2
	Association of Bedfordshire Citizens	Stewart Lister	112	6.7	N/A
Majority			177	10.6
Turnout			1,667	40.5
Registered electors			4,116
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

References

^ "Results 1973 to 2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
^ "Local Elections: Bedford". BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
^ "Borough Election Results 2004". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[1] "Results 1973 to 2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

[2] "Local Elections: Bedford". BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[3] "Borough Election Results 2004". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]