2011 South Norfolk District Council election

The elections to South Norfolk District Council were held on Thursday 5 May 2011 along with various other local elections around England, elections to the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly, and a referendum on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote electoral system for elections to the House of Commons. All 46 council seats were up for election. The previous council was controlled by the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats being the only opposition.

2011 South Norfolk District Council election

5 May 2011
All 46 seats 24 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 39 56.0% 7 37.0% Seats won 38 8 Seat change 1 1 Percentage 57.2% 29.3% Swing 2.1% 9.9%
Map showing the winning party in each ward
Party before election Conservative Elected Party Conservative

Both main parties had websites detailing their local manifesto pledges: Conservative pledges and record; Liberal Democrat manifesto and candidates.

Composition of council seats before election

Party		Seats (2007 election)	Seats (March 2011)
	Conservative	39	37
	Liberal Democrats	7	7
Vacant		-	2

Candidates by party

46 / 46 14 / 46 4 / 46

42 / 46 9 / 46 2 / 46

In this election, there were a total of 117 candidates contesting the 46 council seats. 25 Conservative councillors and 6 Liberal Democrat councillors were standing in the seats they held before the election. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats fielded candidates in every ward, but the Liberal Democrats were unable to nominate candidates for every vacancy - a total of 46 Conservatives and 42 Liberal Democrats.

Out of the parties which are not represented on the district council, Labour stood 14 candidates, the Green Party 9 and UKIP 4. There were two independent candidates: Ingo Wagenknecht in Rockland ward and Jessica Austin in Wicklewood ward.

In 17 seats there was a straight fight between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Election results: overview

South Norfolk Local Election Result 2011

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	38	0	1	-1	82.6	57.2	33,647	+2.1%
	Liberal Democrats	8	1	0	+1	17.4	29.3	17,223	-9.9%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	7.9	4,672	+5.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	3.9	2,313	+1.2%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.4	823	+1.1%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	159	-0.1%
Total		46						58,837

The election saw 38 seats won by the Conservatives and 8 won by the Liberal Democrats - a gain of one seat for the Liberal Democrats. They won the seat for Forncett Ward, which had been vacant since the death of the Conservative councillor Hedley Smith in January 2011. The successful Liberal Democrat was previously the member for the ward from 2003 to 2007 defeated in 2007. Overall the Liberal Democrats polled a lower vote-share in South Norfolk overall. Their vote-share dropped by almost 10%, with half of the votes going to Labour and the rest to the Conservatives, the Green Party and UKIP.

Labour and the Greens attained a higher vote-share, with Labour overtaking the Greens as the third-largest party in terms of votes, but were unable to win any seats. Labour became the second-largest party in 8 wards: Bunwell, Cringleford, Dickleburgh, Rockland, Wymondham Northfields, Wymondham Rustens and Wymondham Town and Wicklewood - their best performance being 27.7% in Bunwell. The Greens came second in three wards Mulbarton, Hingham & Deopham and Thurlton pushing the Lib Dems into third place in those wards (all wards held by the Lib Dems in 2003). In Cringleford and Wymondham Rustens the Lib Dems finished in 4th place behind Labour and the Greens. UKIP managed to come second in Scole ward, with 17.41%.

Results by ward

Candidates in bold were elected. Candidates marked with an asterisk were councillors in the same ward from 2007-2011.

Abbey ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Abbey ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Savage*	678	67.4
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Smith	328	32.6
Majority			350	34.8
Turnout			1006	45.69
	Conservative hold		Swing

Beck Vale ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Beck Vale ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Tilcock*	491	52.7
	Liberal Democrats	Kerri Worral	441	47.3
Majority			50	5.4
Turnout			932	53.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bressingham and Burston ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Bressingham and Burston ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Weeks*	787	73.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Camm	290	26.9
Majority			497	46.2
Turnout			1077	49.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brooke ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Brooke ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Fuller*	855	74.1
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Tryggvason	299	25.9
Majority			556	48.2
Turnout			1154	55.52
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bunwell ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Bunwell ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Spratt*	691	61.4
	Labour	Nigel Crouch	312	27.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rodney Myall	123	10.9
Majority			379	33.7
Turnout			1126	53.18
	Conservative hold		Swing

Chedgrave and Thurton ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Chedgrave and Thurton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Blake*	600	57.4
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Arnold	244	23.3
	UKIP	Ronald Murphy	202	19.3
Majority			356	34.1
Turnout			1046	50.49
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cringleford ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Cringleford ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Kemp*	1089	31.8
	Conservative	Garry Wheatley*	1036	30.3
	Labour	Victoria Smillie	362	10.6
	Green	Jan Kitchener	359	10.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Peterson	323	9.4
	Green	Robert Pell	253	7.4
Turnout			3422	51.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cromwells ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Cromwells ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Ward*	461	54.4
	Liberal Democrats	Melvyn Elias	387	45.6
Majority			74	8.8
Turnout			848	44.25
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dickleburgh ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Dickleburgh ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Wilby*	762	74.1
	Labour	Pamela Reekie	144	14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Seeman	122	11.9
Majority			618	60.1
Turnout			1028	46.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

Diss ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Diss ward
(3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glyn Walden*	1251	21.8
	Conservative	Tony Palmer*	1220	21.2
	Conservative	Keith Kiddie	1078	18.8
	Liberal Democrats	Fiona Wenman	669	11.6
	Labour	Trevor Clark	574	10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Wenman	563	9.8
	UKIP	Evan Heasley	391	6.8
Turnout			5746	39.57
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ditchingham and Broome ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Ditchingham and Broome ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Allen*	561	60.8
	Conservative	Sam Carter	361	39.2
Majority			200	21.6
Turnout			922	49.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Earsham ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Earsham ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Murray Gray*	623	66.3
	Conservative	Jethro Elsden	317	33.7
Majority			306	32.6
Turnout			940	47.95
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Easton ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Easton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Dewsbury*	791	78.4
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Bedford	218	21.6
Majority			573	56.8
Turnout			1009	49.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

Forncett ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Forncett ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob McClenning	664	55.2
	Conservative	Barry Duffin	539	44.8
Majority			125	10.4
Turnout			1203	56.18
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Gillingham ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Gillingham ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kay Billig	613	58.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mandy Smith	438	41.7
Majority			175	16.6
Turnout			1051	47.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harleston ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Harleston ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Riches	775	27.4
	Conservative	Jeremy Savage*	666	23.5
	Liberal Democrats	Fran Pitt-Pladdy	589	20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Kuzmic	508	17.9
	Labour	David Reekie	293	10.3
Turnout			2831	42.23
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hempnall ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Hempnall ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Windrige*	719	68.6
	Liberal Democrats	Fiona McDonald Clarke	329	31.4
Majority			390	37.2
Turnout			1048	52.00
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hethersett ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Hethersett ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Bills*	1092	32.0
	Conservative	Leslie Dale*	983	28.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jacky Sutton	781	22.9
	Labour	Laura Green	555	16.3
Majority			202	5.9
Turnout			3411	46.35
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hingham and Deopham ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Hingham and Deopham ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Yvonne Bendle	729	62.6
	Green	Peter Eldridge	281	24.1
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsey Wright	154	13.2
Majority			448	38.5
Turnout			1164	50.19
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loddon ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Loddon ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Gould*	649	73.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Quarmby	236	26.7
Majority			413	46.6
Turnout			885	44.47
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mulbarton ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Mulbarton ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jon Herbert*	1018	31.5
	Conservative	Nigel Legg*	1002	31.0
	Green	Roy Walmsley	441	13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Shirley Hagger	407	12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Pitcher	367	11.3
Turnout			3235	46.59
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

New Costessey ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: New Costessey ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gerard Watt*	636	22.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jan Hardinge	633	22.1
	Conservative	Oliver Taylor	451	15.7
	Labour	Cid Gibbs	359	12.5
	Conservative	Vivienne Weeks	343	12.0
	Green	Ian Boreham	299	10.4
	Green	David Seddon	148	5.2
Turnout			2869	39.29
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newton Flotman ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Newton Flotman ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Laura Webster	536	55.6
	Liberal Democrats	Eve Domeyer	428	44.4
Majority			108	11.2
Turnout			964	47.93
	Conservative hold		Swing

Northfields ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Northfields ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joe Mooney*	716	65.4
	Labour	Douglas Underwood	286	26.1
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Dore	93	8.5
Majority			430	39.3
Turnout			1095	47.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

Old Costessey ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Old Costessey ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim East*	1116	33.6
	Liberal Democrats	Vivienne Bell*	1090	32.8
	Conservative	Caroline Savage	560	16.8
	Conservative	Ronald Smith	558	16.8
Turnout			3324	36.37
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Poringland with the Framlinghams ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Poringland with the Framlinghams ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Overton*	1244	37.7
	Conservative	Lisa Neal*	1110	33.6
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Best	480	14.5
	Labour	Nicola Fowler	467	14.1
Turnout			3301	50.22
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rockland ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Rockland ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Thomson*	693	57.7
	Labour	Joanne Bissonnet	250	20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Scott	166	13.8
	Independent	Ingo Wagenknecht	92	7.7
Majority			443	36.9
Turnout			1201	52.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roydon ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Roydon ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Goldson*	508	66.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Howling	260	33.9
Majority			248	32.2
Turnout			768	42.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rustens ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Rustens ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Foulger	436	53.2
	Labour	Sandra Underwood	185	22.6
	Green	Jo Hardy	110	13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jerry Dore	88	10.7
Majority			251	30.6
Turnout			819	41.21
	Conservative hold		Swing

Scole ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Scole ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jenny Wilby*	609	68.0
	UKIP	Roy Philpot	156	17.4
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Fookes	131	14.6
Majority			453	50.6
Turnout			896	47.50
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stoke Holy Cross ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Stoke Holy Cross ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Lewis*	635	50.3
	Conservative	Stella Rice	403	31.9
	Green	Jane Hutchings	151	12.0
	UKIP	Jeremy Kent	74	5.9
Majority			232	18.4
Turnout			1263	55.13
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Stratton ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Stratton ward
(2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terry Blowfield	962	33.5
	Conservative	Andrew Pond	709	24.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alistair Miller	479	16.7
	Labour	Janet King	374	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Linden Parker	344	12.0
Turnout			2868	40.84
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tasburgh ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Tasburgh ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Florence Ellis	636	59.8
	Liberal Democrats	Philippa Grant	428	40.2
Majority			208	19.6
Turnout			1064	55.91
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thurlton ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Thurlton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Kemp*	540	50.7
	Green	Derek West	271	25.4
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Jackson	255	23.9
Majority			269	25.3
Turnout			1066	46.87
	Conservative hold		Swing

Town ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Town ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lee Hornby	715	62.7
	Labour	Michael Crouch	277	24.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Walker	148	13.0
Majority			438	38.4
Turnout			1140	46.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wicklewood ward

South Norfolk District Council Elections 2011: Wicklewood ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Edney	665	59.6
	Labour	Dominic Roskrow	234	21.0
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Blathwayt	149	13.4
	Independent	Jessica Austin	67	6.0
Majority			431	38.6
Turnout			1115	52.05
	Conservative hold		Swing