2012 St Albans City and District Council election

The 2012 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest party on the council with 29 of the 58 seats.^[3] The Liberal Democrats had 23 seats, Labour had 4 seats, the Green Party had 1 seat and there was 1 Independent.^[3] Since the last election in 2011 Labour had gained a seat in Batchwood from the Liberal Democrats at a by-election in January 2012.^[4]

19 seats were contested in 2012 with both the Conservative and Labour parties having a full 19 candidates, the Liberal Democrats had 18 and the Greens had 17.^[5] There were 3 independent candidates as well, the sitting independent councillor Tony Swendell in Redbourn, the former Labour group leader Maurice MacMillan in London Colney, who had left the party a few years before over the imposition of an all-women shortlist, and Conservative councillor John Chambers, who was standing in Harpenden North as an independent after having been deselected by the Conservatives.^[5] Of the 19 seats the Conservatives were defending 9, the Liberal Democrats 8 and both the Green party and an independent were defending 1 seat.^[6]

Election result

The Labour Party gained 4 seats to have 8 councillors after taking 3 seats from the Liberal Democrats and 1 seat from the Conservatives.^[7] The Conservatives remained the largest party, while the Liberal Democrats dropped to 19 seats and both the Green Party and Independent Tony Swendell held the seats they had been defending.^[7]

St Albans local election result 2012^[2]^[8]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	8	1	1	0	42.1	37.9	14,598	-4.6%
Liberal Democrats	5	0	4	-4	26.3	25.0	9,625	-4.3%
Labour	4	4	0	+4	21.1	22.0	8,461	+2.4%
Green	1	0	0	0	5.3	8.6	3,313	+0.3%
Independent	1	0	0	0	5.3	5.6	2,164	+5.3%
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	274	+0.7%
English Democrat	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	83	+0.2%

Ward results

Ashley^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Momotaz Rahim	768	35.8	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Nik Alatortsev	702	32.7	+0.1
	Conservative	Guy Young	431	20.1	−7.8
	Green	Graham Ward	246	11.5	+2.3
Majority			66	3.1
Turnout			2,147	38	−10
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Batchwood^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malachy Pakenham	896	48.5	+7.6
	Conservative	Tim Smith	395	21.4	−5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Witherick	384	20.8	−3.6
	Green	Naomi Love	171	9.3	+7.6
Majority			501	27.1	+13.2
Turnout			1,846	34	−17
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Clarence^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher White	880	42.5	+5.2
	Conservative	Joe Hames	494	23.9	−8.9
	Labour	Matthew Wilson	383	18.5	−1.6
	Green	Jack Easton	312	15.1	+5.3
Majority			386	18.7	+14.2
Turnout			2,069	40	−24
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cunningham^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Harrison	735	39.5	−1.9
	Conservative	Jim Vessey	394	21.2	−9.8
	Labour	John Metcalf	386	20.7	−0.2
	UKIP	Michael Mason	151	8.1	+8.1
	Green	Greg Riener	113	6.1	−0.6
	English Democrat	Alan Malin	83	4.5	+4.5
Majority			341	18.3	+7.9
Turnout			1,862	38	−12
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harpenden East^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rosemary Farmer	920	53.2	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Maria Moyes	420	24.3	−0.4
	Labour	Rosemary Ross	250	14.5	+1.6
	Green	Lorna Hann	139	8.0	−0.2
Majority			500	28.9	−0.4
Turnout			1,729	32	−17
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden North^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julie Bell	806	46.9	−12.5
	Independent	John Chambers	434	25.2	+25.2
	Labour	Linda Spiri	226	13.1	−0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Burrow	170	9.9	−8.4
	Green	Lucy Eggleston	84	4.9	−3.5
Majority			372	21.6	−19.5
Turnout			1,720	32	−19
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden South^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Heritage	1,280	71.1	+3.0
	Labour	Michael Gray-Higgins	215	11.9	−0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Crofts	196	10.9	−3.1
	Green	Pete Eggleston	110	6.1	+0.2
Majority			1,065	59.1	+4.9
Turnout			1,801	34	−18
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden West^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Weaver	1,345	66.8	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Steer	280	13.9	−4.8
	Labour	Geoffrey Dignum	251	12.5	+0.4
	Green	Lydia El-Khouri	136	6.8	+1.3
Majority			1,065	52.9	+7.9
Turnout			2,012	35	−20
	Conservative hold		Swing

London Colney (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dreda Gordon	1,162	47.1	+2.6
	Conservative	Simon Calder	912	36.9	−3.4
	Conservative	Dave Winstone	859	34.8	−5.5
	Labour	Ian Orton	813	32.9	−11.6
	Independent	Malcolm MacMillan	556	22.5	N/A
	Green	Mary Warren	197	8.0	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Vibs Nazeri	114	4.6	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Pedroz	84	3.4	−4.4
Turnout			2,469	35	−5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Marshalswick North^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Churchard	889	44.5	+3.7
	Conservative	Lyn Bolton	713	35.7	−3.4
	Labour	John Paton	239	12.0	−1.5
	Green	Rosalind Paul	155	7.8	+1.2
Majority			176	8.8	+7.1
Turnout			1,996	40	−14
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Marshalswick South^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Heidi Allen	929	39.8	−6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Melvyn Teare	651	27.9	+2.6
	Labour	Iain Grant	441	18.9	+0.7
	Green	Jill Mills	188	8.1	−1.8
	UKIP	Philip Singleton	123	5.3	+5.3
Majority			278	11.9	−9.5
Turnout			2,332	44	−14
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Park Street^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Yates	945	45.7	+5.7
	Conservative	Stella Nash	766	37.0	−4.0
	Labour	Martin McGrath	258	12.5	−1.9
	Green	Robert Barton	100	4.8	+0.2
Majority			179	8.7
Turnout			2,069	36	−12
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Redbourn^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tony Swendell	1,174	59.5	+59.5
	Conservative	Victoria Mead	624	31.6	−21.1
	Labour	Richard Windle	175	8.9	−1.1
Majority			550	27.9
Turnout			1,973	41	−12
	Independent hold		Swing

Sopwell^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Smith	881	47.1	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Axworthy	481	25.7	−0.1
	Conservative	Bruce Snell	324	17.3	−3.0
	Green	Kate Metcalf	184	9.8	+1.1
Majority			400	21.4	+2.0
Turnout			1,870	35	−13
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

St Peters^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Simon Grover	719	34.7	+7.1
	Labour	Andrew Dixon	485	23.4	+0.1
	Conservative	Paul Davies	454	21.9	−4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Needham	412	19.9	−5.3
Majority			234	11.3
Turnout			2,070	36	−11
	Green hold		Swing

St Stephen^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Gibbard	1,085	57.7	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jay Baillie	430	22.9	−3.6
	Labour	Janet Blackwell	238	12.7	+1.7
	Green	Lesley Baker	127	6.8	−0.1
Majority			655	34.8	+5.6
Turnout			1,880	36	−15
	Conservative hold		Swing

Verulam^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Fred Wartenberg	1,211	50.2	+11.7
	Conservative	Panos Ifans	776	32.2	−9.6
	Labour	Dominic Benson	213	8.8	−3.4
	Green	Margaret Grover	213	8.8	+1.2
Majority			435	18.0
Turnout			2,413	47	−14
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wheathampstead^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gill Clark	1,091	53.7	+9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jon Bareham	641	31.5	−12.2
	Labour	Gavin Ross	181	8.9	+1.8
	Green	Ian Troughton	119	5.9	+1.2
Majority			450	22.1	+21.3
Turnout			2,032	42	−17
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "St Albans". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Election results 2012: Non-Metro". The Guardian. NewsBank. 5 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Local elections 2012". BBC News Online. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
^ White, Debbie (20 January 2012). "Roma Mills wins St Albans by-election". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b Burton, Madeleine (16 April 2012). "Surprise independent candidates in St Albans Council elections". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
^ "2012 local election counting begins". St Albans & Harpenden Review. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b Mistry, Manisha (4 May 2012). "Conservatives still largest St Albans District Council party". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "3rd May 2012 District Council Election Results". St Albans City & District Council. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[vote2012-1] "St Albans". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[metro-2] "Election results 2012: Non-Metro". The Guardian. NewsBank. 5 May 2012.

[elections-3] "Local elections 2012". BBC News Online. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[roma-4] White, Debbie (20 January 2012). "Roma Mills wins St Albans by-election". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[surprise-5] Burton, Madeleine (16 April 2012). "Surprise independent candidates in St Albans Council elections". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

[counting-6] "2012 local election counting begins". St Albans & Harpenden Review. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

[largest-7] Mistry, Manisha (4 May 2012). "Conservatives still largest St Albans District Council party". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "3rd May 2012 District Council Election Results". St Albans City & District Council. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

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