2012 Cheltenham Borough Council election

The 2012 Cheltenham Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire, England. Half of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Election result

The result of the election saw the Liberal Democrats retain control of the council with no change in the number of seats they held. The Conservatives lost one seat whilst the People Against Bureaucracy group gained one.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The election saw an error by the poll clerk at St Christopher's Church polling station in Warden Hill, where voters' unique numbers were written on the reverse of ballot papers, 412 votes had to be discounted by the returning officer. Following an investigation, it was found the error did not affect the result so the election was not re-run.^[5]

Cheltenham Borough Council Election Result 2012
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Liberal Democrats	11	1	0	+1	55.0	43.0	11,739	-8.1
Conservative	7	0	2	-2	35.0	36.4	9,937	-2.1
PAB	2	1	0	+1	10.0	7.1	1,952	+2.7
Green	0	0	0	0	0	5.4	1,483	+1.8
Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.6	1,254	+2.3
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	3.5	950	N/A

Ward results

All Saints
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Jordan*	529	42.7	−9.7
	Conservative	Matthew Babbage	476	38.4	+3.8
	Labour	Diana Hale	119	9.6	+2.6
	Green	Catherine Green	115	9.3	+3.3
Majority			53	4.3	−13.5
Turnout			1,239	31	−33
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Battledown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Wall*	771	55.5	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul McCloskey	414	29.8	−18.1
	Green	Jon Stubbings	204	14.7	N/A
Majority			357	25.7	+21.5
Turnout			1,389	33	−41
	Conservative hold		Swing

Benhall and The Reddings
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacqueline Fletcher*	809	46.8	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Marcus Annfield	635	36.7	−18.2
	UKIP	Peter Bowman	284	16.4	N/A
Majority			174	10.1	−4.7
Turnout			1,728	42	−34
	Conservative hold		Swing

Charlton Kings
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Reid	854	46.4	−1.4
	Conservative	Heather McLain**	768	41.8	−3.8
	Green	Sarah Field	217	11.8	+5.2
Majority			86	4.6	+2.2
Turnout			1,925	42	−37
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Charlton Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Duncan Smith**	898	53.1	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Baker	794	46.9	−1.1
Majority			104	6.2	+2.1
Turnout			1,692	42	−36
	Conservative hold		Swing

Duncan Smith was a sitting councillor for Charlton Kings.

College
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Klara Sudbury**	864	62.0	+7.7
	Conservative	David Richardson	529	38.0	−0.4
Majority			335	24.0	+8.0
Turnout			1,393	34	−36
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Klara Sudbury was a sitting councillor for Charlton Park.

Hesters Way
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Flynn*	623	59.3	−8.8
	Conservative	Philip Woolley	237	22.5	−9.4
	Labour	Brian Hughes	191	18.2	N/A
Majority			386	36.8	+0.7
Turnout			1,051	21	−31
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Lansdown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Diggory Seacome*	569	52.1	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Baldwin	524	47.9	+4.8
Majority			45	4.2	−2.2
Turnout			1,093	26	−34
	Conservative hold		Swing

Leckhampton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Chard	761	43.4	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Pimley	678	38.7	−10.1
	UKIP	Alan Stone	172	9.8	N/A
	Green	Timothy Bonsor	141	8.0	+1.6
Majority			83	4.7	+0.7
Turnout			1,752	42	−39
	Conservative hold		Swing

Oakley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rowena Hay*	593	54.9	+8.0
	Labour	Kevin Boyle	225	20.8	+7.9
	Conservative	Mireille Weller	186	17.2	−11.2
	Green	Adrian Becker	76	7.0	N/A
Majority			368	34.1	+15.6
Turnout			1,080	25	−29
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Harman	972	55.8	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Compton	382	21.9	−20.3
	Green	Vanessa Angelo-Thompson	230	13.2	+6.4
	UKIP	Ann Coleman	158	9.1	N/A
Majority			590	33.9	+25.1
Turnout			1,742	34	−38
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pittville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAB	David Prince	713	46.1	+13.2
	Conservative	Lewis Feilder	397	25.7	−3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Ward	280	18.1	−14.6
	Green	Ian Lander	96	6.2	+1.1
	UKIP	Eric Atkinson	61	3.9	N/A
Majority			316	20.4	+20.2
Turnout			1,547	37	−32
	PAB gain from Conservative		Swing

Prestbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAB	Malcolm Stennett*	1,239	72.0	+19.0
	Conservative	Nathan Weller	263	15.3	−9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alastair Mason	218	12.7	−9.5
Majority			976	56.7	+28.5
Turnout			1,720	38	−36
	PAB hold		Swing

Springbank
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Williams	675	65.3	+3.4
	Labour	Clive Harriss	189	18.3	N/A
	Conservative	Jonathan Moffitt	170	16.4	−12.0
Majority			486	47.0	+8.2
Turnout			1,034	21	−33
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Marks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Coleman	634	51.5	−3.8
	Conservative	Andrew Coffey	267	21.7	−7.6
	Labour	Rod Gay	210	17.0	+6.4
	Green	Demelza Jones	121	9.8	+5.0
Majority			367	29.8	+3.8
Turnout			1,232	27	−32
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Pauls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Lansley	355	51.2	−13.7
	Labour	Phillip Vincent	139	20.1	N/A
	Conservative	Steve Thomas	124	17.9	−7.1
	Green	Jack Guest	75	10.8	+0.7
Majority			216	31.1	−8.9
Turnout			693	15	−29
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Peters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Rawson*	702	63.8	+3.7
	Conservative	Lucy Strachan	217	19.7	−10.5
	Labour	Robert Irons	181	16.5	+6.8
Majority			485	44.1	+14.2
Turnout			1,100	22	−33
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Swindon Village
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bernard Fisher*	835	76.1	+11.0
	Conservative	Christine Anderson	262	23.9	−11.0
Majority			573	52.2	+21.9
Turnout			1,097	25	−34
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Up Hatherley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Whyborn*	901	52.1	+6.1
	Conservative	George Askew	552	31.9	−14.1
	UKIP	George Askew	275	15.9	N/A
Majority			349	20.2	+20.2
Turnout			1,728	42	−35
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Warden Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anne Regan*	709	60.8	+15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Cindy Bexfield	249	21.4	−26.4
	Green	Adam van Coevorden	208	17.8	+11.0
Majority			460	39.4	+37.0
Turnout			1,578	36	−37
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "Local election results 2012: English councils". the Guardian. 3 May 2012.
^ "Cheltenham one of few places nationally where Lib Dems hold firm". ITV News.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS COUNTS" (PDF).
^ "Local Elections Archive Project - 2012 - Cheltenham". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ Cheltenham Borough Council. "INVESTIGATION INTO BALLOT PAPER ISSUE ERROR AT ST CHRISTOPHER'S CHURCH POLLING STATION, WARDEN HILL WARD, CHELTENHAM DURING THE MAY 2012 LOCAL ELECTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2024.

[guardian-1] "Local election results 2012: English councils". the Guardian. 3 May 2012.

[2] "Cheltenham one of few places nationally where Lib Dems hold firm". ITV News.^{[dead link‍]}

[3] "BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS COUNTS" (PDF).

[4] "Local Elections Archive Project - 2012 - Cheltenham". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[5] Cheltenham Borough Council. "INVESTIGATION INTO BALLOT PAPER ISSUE ERROR AT ST CHRISTOPHER'S CHURCH POLLING STATION, WARDEN HILL WARD, CHELTENHAM DURING THE MAY 2012 LOCAL ELECTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2024.

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