2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election

2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
all 60 seats to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council; 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	37%
Council control before election; Conservative Party (UK);	Council control after election ; Conservative Party (UK);

The 2008 Basingstoke and Deane Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in Hampshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the 2007 election.^[1] The Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.^[2]

Background

After the last election in 2007 the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 31 of the 60 seats.^[3] However the Conservatives would lose their majority after defeat by the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in Baughurst in January 2008 left the Conservatives with exactly half o the seats.^[4]

The whole council was contested in 2008 instead of the usual third, after changes were made to the boundaries.^[5] The changes included abolishing Calleva ward and creating a Bramley and Sherfield ward.^[5] Tadley North was split in two, Burghclere was merged with Highclere and St Mary Bourne and the number of seats in Winklebury ward was reduced by one.^[5]^[6]

Councillors standing down at the election included Gwen Richardson and Erica Shaw, while former Labour group leader David Potter and the former Conservative council leader from the 1980s and 1990s, Stephen Reid, attempted to return to the council.^[6] Meanwhile, Independent councillor David Leeks, stood for the Conservatives after joining the party.^[6]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives gain a 10-seat majority on the council after winning 35 of the 60 seats.^[7] This was compared to 14 Liberal Democrat, 9 Labour and 2 independent councillors.^[2] Among those defeated in the election was the leader of the Labour group on the council, Gary Watts, who lost in South Ham^[2] and the mayor Warwick Lovegrove.^[7] The former leader of the council Stephen Reid returned to the council in Buckskin, defeating a former mayor Tony Jones.^[7] Overall turnout in the election was 37%.^[8]

Following the election Conservative Andrew Finney became the new leader of the council succeeding John Leek.^[9]^[10]

Basingstoke and Deane Local Election Result 2008^[8]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	35	+5	58.3	56.8	51,638	+2.4%
Liberal Democrats	14	-2	23.3	25.7	23,403	+2.1%
Labour	9	-2	15.0	15.1	13,770	-3.3%
Independent	2	-1	3.3	2.2	2,037	-1.5%
Green	0	0	0	0.1	86	+0.1%

Ward results

Basing (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sven Godesen	1,962
	Conservative	Stephen Marks	1,821
	Conservative	Onnalee Cubitt	1,725
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Read	1,161
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Read	1,042
	Liberal Democrats	Anna Archibald	928
	Labour	Julie Johnson	149
Turnout			8,788	49

Baughurst and Tadley North (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Bound	953
	Conservative	Graham Round	887
	Liberal Democrats	Warwick Lovegrove	864
	Labour	David Carr	126
Turnout			2,830	41

Bramley and Sherfield (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Rhydian Vaughan	1,091
	Conservative	Ranil Jayawardena	1,063
	Liberal Democrats	Elaine Cameron	230
	Liberal Democrats	Janice Spalding	189
	Labour	Faye Jones	113
Turnout			2,686	39

Brighton Hill North (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Rowland	689
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Gurden	675
	Conservative	Roy Hall-Lacy	285
	Conservative	Zoe Wheddon	259
	Labour	Criss Connor	117
	Labour	Colin Regan	116
Turnout			2,141	29

Brighton Hill South (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Harkess	578
	Liberal Democrats	John Barnes	524
	Conservative	John Holley	390
	Conservative	Matt Wheddon	362
	Labour	Elizabeth Regan	187
	Labour	Steve Rothman	143
Turnout			2,184	29

Brookvale and Kings Furlong (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Doris Jones	834
	Liberal Democrats	John Shaw	818
	Conservative	Darcy Jones	306
	Conservative	John Loveys Jervoise	267
	Labour	Pauline Courtenay	142
	Labour	Philip Courtenay	130
Turnout			2,497	31

Buckskin (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stephen Reid	680
	Conservative	Robert Taylor	678
	Labour	Tony Jones	437
	Labour	Gill Gleeson	429
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Jones	152
Turnout			2,376	33

Burghclere, Highclere and St Mary Bourne (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	James Lewin	1,452
	Conservative	Horace Mitchell	1,370
	Liberal Democrats	Pauleen Malone	295
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Davies	285
	Labour	Romilla Arber	115
Turnout			3,517	44

Chineham (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Elaine Still	1,212
	Independent	Martin Biermann	1,129
	Conservative	John Downes	1,013
	Conservative	Hayley Eachus	878
	Liberal Democrats	Liam Elvish	271
	Liberal Democrats	Sheena Grassi	170
	Labour	Eddie Davey	151
Turnout			4,824	33

East Woodhay^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Clive Sanders	770	85.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lucy Sloane Williams	128	14.3
Majority			642	71.4
Turnout			898	41

Eastrop (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Parker	660
	Liberal Democrats	Gavin James	542
	Conservative	Ronald Collins	280
	Conservative	Rebecca Downes	271
	Labour	Phil Howe	128
	Labour	Eileen Cavanagh	122
	Green	Matthew Pinto	86
Turnout			2,089	32

Grove (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Hussey	1,187
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Day	1,045
	Conservative	Stephen McConnell	602
	Conservative	Nalin Jayawardena	546
	Labour	Hema Krishan	90
	Labour	David Potter	80
Turnout			3,550	42

Hatch Warren and Beggarwood (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Dan Putty	1,291
	Conservative	Philip Heath	1,254
	Conservative	Harold Robinson	1,245
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Day	354
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Amesbury	237
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Mitchell	235
	Labour	Dawn Watts	189
	Labour	Mike Stockwell	123
	Labour	Upali Wickremeratne	113
Turnout			5,041	28

Kempshott (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Anne Court	1,683
	Conservative	Rita Burgess	1,586
	Conservative	Christine Heath	1,560
	Labour	Richard Davey	278
	Liberal Democrats	Eleanor Gurden	273
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Lock	257
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Simpson	253
	Labour	Walter McCormick	251
	Labour	Nigel Wooldridge	197
Turnout			6,338	39

Kingsclere (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Cathy Osselton	1,288
	Conservative	Ken Rhatigan	1,134
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Ward	206
	Labour	Jim Gibb	186
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Watts	153
Turnout			2,967	41

Norden (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Paul Harvey	1,005
	Labour	George Hood	997
	Labour	Laura James	990
	Conservative	Keith Brant	548
	Conservative	Jim Holder	522
	Conservative	Nigel McNair Scott	510
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Renwick	244
	Liberal Democrats	Jade Doswell	225
	Liberal Democrats	Alistair Archibald	213
Turnout			5,254	30

Oakley and North Waltham (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Diane Taylor	1,299
	Conservative	Cecilia Morrison	1,284
	Conservative	Andrew Finney	1,119
	Liberal Democrats	John Burbidge-King	366
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Cooper	241
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Statham	203
	Labour	David Cavanagh	88
	Labour	Roger Bailey	80
Turnout			4,680	45

Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Baker	924
	Independent	Ian Tilbury	908
	Conservative	Marion Jones	442
	Conservative	Clare Coffey	398
	Liberal Democrats	Jacky Lessware	301
	Labour	Rick Dady	98
Turnout			3,071	46

Pamber and Silchester (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Keith Chapman	1,285
	Conservative	Marilyn Tucker	1,091
	Liberal Democrats	Marina Barnett	339
	Labour	Terry Price	206
Turnout			2,921	44

Popley East (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mary Brian	546
	Labour	Andy McCormick	535
	Conservative	Hugo Cubitt	254
	Conservative	Gordon Pirie	217
	Liberal Democrats	Cynthia Oliver	120
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Whitechurch	110
Turnout			1,782	26

Popley West (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jane Frankum	386
	Labour	Paul Frankum	345
	Conservative	Paul Miller	250
	Conservative	Christopher Aldous	232
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Harris	81
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Barnard	75
Turnout			1,369	28

Rooksdown^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Karen Cherrett	261	65.6
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Berwick-Gooding	114	28.6
	Labour	Stan Parry	23	5.8
Majority			147	37.0
Turnout			398	37

Sherborne St John^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Leek	652	79.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Wall	114	13.8
	Labour	Tony Frankum	58	7.0
Majority			538	65.3
Turnout			824	47

South Ham (3)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Gerry Traynor	1,056
	Conservative	Richard Court	1,023
	Labour	Sean Keating	941
	Conservative	Lee Jones	913
	Conservative	Roger Gardiner	911
	Labour	Gary Watts	869
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Oxlade	318
	Liberal Democrats	Madeline Hussey	249
	Liberal Democrats	Benjamin Heley	225
Turnout			6,505	35

Tadley Central^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stephen West	529	54.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Slimin	414	42.5
	Labour	Ray Curry	31	3.2
Majority			115	11.8
Turnout			974	46

Tadley South (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Leeks	1,048
	Conservative	Rob Musson	928
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hankinson	371
	Labour	Susan Dady	167
Turnout			2,514	32

Upton Grey and The Candovers^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mark Ruffell	919	91.5
	Labour	Ronald Rowe	85	8.5
Majority			834	83.0
Turnout			1,004	47

Whitchurch (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Dunlop	922
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Watts	862
	Conservative	Bill Judge	846
	Conservative	Therese Coffey	779
Turnout			3,409	46

Winklebury (2)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Rob Golding	1,097
	Conservative	Robert Donnell	1,070
	Labour	Angie Freeman	580
	Labour	Lea Jeff	572
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Whitechurch	97
	Liberal Democrats	Obi Nwasike	87
Turnout			3,503	39

References

^ "Basingstoke & Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tories seize power in Southampton". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ "Basingstoke & Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
^ Price, David Connop (25 January 2008). "Tories lose overall control of borough council". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Price, David Connop (10 April 2008). "Every single seat on council up for grabs". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Price, David Connop (7 April 2008). "Independent makes switch to join Tories". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Price, David Connop (2 May 2008). "Tory election triumph". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae "Local Election of 1st May 2008". Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
^ Price, David Connop (19 May 2008). "Cabinet appointments bring faces both familiar and new". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ Price, David Connop (8 May 2008). "Borough council leader set to go out on a high". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

Preceded by 2007 Basingstoke and Deane Council election	Basingstoke and Deane local elections	Succeeded by 2010 Basingstoke and Deane Council election

[gain-1] "Basingstoke & Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 17 July 2011.

[southampton-2] "Tories seize power in Southampton". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[hold-3] "Basingstoke & Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 17 July 2011.

[borough-4] Price, David Connop (25 January 2008). "Tories lose overall control of borough council". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[grabs-5] Price, David Connop (10 April 2008). "Every single seat on council up for grabs". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[switch-6] Price, David Connop (7 April 2008). "Independent makes switch to join Tories". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[triumph-7] Price, David Connop (2 May 2008). "Tory election triumph". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae "Local Election of 1st May 2008". Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 17 July 2011.

[familiar-9] Price, David Connop (19 May 2008). "Cabinet appointments bring faces both familiar and new". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

[high-10] Price, David Connop (8 May 2008). "Borough council leader set to go out on a high". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

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