2008 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Rochdale Council in Greater Manchester, England were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election. The Liberal Democrats stayed in control of the council after gaining seats in Balderstone and Kirkholt, and North Heywood from the Labour party but losing East Middleton back to Labour.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Election result

Rochdale Local Election Result 2007
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Liberal Democrats	11	2	1	+1	50.0	36.1	18,572	-2.4
Labour	5	1	2	-1	40.0	31.3	16,109	-4.4
Conservative	4	0	0	+0	10.0	30.5	15,701	+5.2
BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	421	+0.8
Independent	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	637	+0.7

Ward Results

Balderstone and Kirkholt ward

Balderstone and Kirkholt ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Colclough	821	36.7%	−8.7
	Labour	Darren Pedley	760	33.9%	−6.2
	Conservative	Ian Duckworth	658	29.4%	+14.9
Majority			61	2.7	−2.6
Turnout			2,239
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Bamford ward

Bamford ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Gartside	1,766	56.2	+11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Shafiq	988	31.4	−13.8
	Labour	Ben "Timmy Howard" Robertson	388	12.3	+2.5
Majority			778	24.8
Turnout			3,142
	Conservative hold		Swing

Castleton ward

Castleton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Flynn	1,386	55.7	+2.2
	Labour	Jean Hornby	637	25.6	+3.5
	Conservative	Ronnie Crossley	467	18.8	−4.6
Majority			749	30.0	−1.4
Turnout			2,490
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Central Rochdale ward

Central Rochdale ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Zulfiqar Ali	1,869	51.9	+11.9
	Labour	Daalat Ali	1,422	39.5	−11.6
	Conservative	Roger Howarth	309	8.6	−0.3
Majority			447	12.4
Turnout			3,600
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

East Middleton ward

East Middleton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Boriss	1,030	48.0	+1.1
	Conservative	John Cardus	625	29.1	+10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Cooper	492	22.9	−11.2
Majority			405	18.9	+6.0
Turnout			2,147
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Healey ward

Healey ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Bailey	1,214	45.7%	−4.4
	Conservative	Andrew Neilson	920	34.6%	+5.1
	Labour	Phillip Bethell	525	19.7%	−0.7
Majority			294	11.1%	−9.6
Turnout			2,659
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hopwood Hall ward

Hopwood Hall ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linda Robinson	1,325	53.7	−7.7
	Conservative	Keith Taylor	761	30.8	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Boota	382	15.5	+5.0
Majority			564	22.8	−10.5
Turnout			2,468
	Labour hold		Swing

Kingsway ward

Kingsway ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Clayton	1,245	46.5%	+1.8
	Labour	Tom Stott	1,116	41.7%	+0.7
	Conservative	Phil Grantham	314	11.7%	−2.0
Majority			129	4.8	+1.6
Turnout			2,675
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Littleborough Lakeside ward

Littleborough Lakeside ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Evans	1,086	44.8	+3.4
	Conservative	Andrew Jones	1001	41.3	+2.8
	Labour	John Hartley	335	13.8	−6.3
Majority			85	3.5	+0.6
Turnout			2,422
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milkstone and Deeplish ward

Milkstone and Deeplish ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Sharif	1,872	53.7	+7.3
	Labour	Ghulam Shahzad	796	22.9	−25.6
	Independent	Javed Iqbal	637	18.3	+18.3
	Conservative	Sue Pawson	178	5.1	+0.0
Majority			1,076	30.8
Turnout			3,483
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milnrow and Newhey ward

Milnrow and Newhey ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Davidson	1,193	48.2	−9.4
	Conservative	Michael Butler	663	26.8	−0.7
	Labour	Debbie Abrahams	620	25.0	+10.1
Majority			530	21.4	−8.7
Turnout			2,476
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Norden ward

Norden ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gartside	1,450	48.0	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Hilary Rodgers	874	28.9	−14.1
	BNP	Peter Greenwood	421	13.9	+13.9
	Labour	Anthony Bennett	278	9.2	−1.7
Majority			576	19.0	+15.9
Turnout			3,023
	Conservative hold		Swing

North Heywood ward

North Heywood ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Bruce	936	44.8	+1.3
	Labour	Susan Coates	799	38.3	−2.4
	Conservative	Darren Bayman	353	16.9	+1.1
Majority			137	6.6	+3.8
Turnout			2,088
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

North Middleton ward

North Middleton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maureen Rowbotham	746	42.3	−9.1
	Conservative	David Harris	537	30.4	−0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Rhoda Morley	481	27.3	+9.5
Majority			209	11.8	−8.8
Turnout			1,764
	Labour hold		Swing

Smallbridge and Firgrove ward

Smallbridge and Firgrove ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Ashworth	1,053	45.7	+1.8
	Labour	Amna Mir	841	36.5	−1.6
	Conservative	Len Branton	412	17.9	−0.2
Majority			212	9.2	+3.5
Turnout			2,306
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

South Middleton ward

South Middleton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Fitzsimons	1,713	58.4	+15.4
	Labour	John Orford	993	33.8	−11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Lever	228	7.8	−4.4
Majority			720	24.6
Turnout			2,934
	Conservative hold		Swing

Spotland and Falinge ward

Spotland and Falinge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Todd	1,304	44.9	−10.1
	Labour	Surinder Biant	1,151	39.6	+6.6
	Conservative	Steven Scholes	452	15.5	+3.6
Majority			153	5.3	−16.7
Turnout			2,907
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wardle and West Littleborough ward

Wardle and West Littleborough ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ashley Dearnley	2,157	80.4	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly	264	9.8	−9.4
	Labour	Mike Radanovic	263	9.8	−3.2
Majority			1,893	70.5	+21.9
Turnout			2,684	30.1%	8.8%
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Heywood ward

West Heywood ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Lambert	1,087	53.3	−2.7
	Conservative	John Kershaw	541	26.5	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	George Kinder	410	20.1	−1.6
Majority			546	26.8	−6.9
Turnout			2,038
	Labour hold		Swing

West Middleton ward

West Middleton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lil Murphy	997	52.6	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Terry Smith	474	25.0	−8.4
	Conservative	Dave Pawson	424	22.4	+7.5
Majority			523	27.6	+9.3
Turnout			1,895
	Labour hold		Swing

References

^ "Night of joy for Lib Dems". Rochdale Observer. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.

[joy-1] "Night of joy for Lib Dems". Rochdale Observer. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.

[1]