2019 Bedford Borough Council election

The 2019 Bedford Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Bedford Borough Council in England.

2019 Bedford Borough Council election

2 May 2019
All 40 seats to Bedford Borough Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   LD Con Lab Leader Wendy Rider Stephen Moon Sue Oliver Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour Leader's seat Brickhill Great Barford Kempston North Last election 9 seats, 19.4% 15 seats, 39.7% 14 seats, 27.5% Seats won 15 11 11 Seat change 6 4 3 Popular vote 22,326 23,010 20,325 Percentage 30.3% 31.3% 27.6% Swing 10.9% 8.4% 0.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Grn Ind Leader none Pat Olney Party Green Independent Leader's seat N/A Oakley (did not re-stand) Last election 0 seats, 5.5% 2 seats, 1.8% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 4,716 2,691 Percentage 6.4% 3.7% Swing 0.9% 1.9%
Map showing the winner in each ward for the 2019 Bedford Borough Council election
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control (Lib Dem - Lab - Ind Coalition)

Bedford Borough Council has been under no overall control since 2010. The Conservatives defended fifteen seats, Labour defended fourteen, the Liberal Democrats defended nine and independent councillors defended two seats. Bedford is run by the directly elected Mayor of Bedford, who has been Liberal Democrat Dave Hodgson since 2009.

Background

Bedford Borough Council held local elections on 2 May 2019 along with councils across England as part of the 2019 local elections. The council elects its members in all-out elections, with all its councillors up for election every four years. Councillors defending their seats in this election were previously elected in 2015. In that election, fifteen Conservative councillors, fourteen Labour councillors, nine Labour councillors and two independent councillors were elected.

The same day Dave Hodgson (Liberal Democrat) was re-elected mayor in the 2019 Bedford Mayoral election.

Summary

Election result

2019 Bedford Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	40	15	6	0	6	37.5	30.3	22,326	+10.9
	Conservative	38	11	0	4	4	27.5	31.3	23,010	–8.4
	Labour	39	11	1	4	3	27.5	27.6	20,325	–0.1
	Green	15	2	2	0	2	5.0	6.4	4,716	+0.9
	Independent	3	1	0	1	1	2.5	3.7	2,691	+1.9
	UKIP	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.5	394	–4.5
	Renew	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	161	N/A

Council composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

15	14	9	2
Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrats	Ind

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

15	11	11	2	1
Liberal Democrat	Labour	Conservative	Green	Ind

Ward results

Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).

Brickhill

Brickhill (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Rider*	1,756	61.5	+21.1
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Royden*	1,756	61.5	+16.0
	Conservative	Nigel Haughton	524	18.4	−8.0
	Conservative	Matt Stanbra	404	14.2	−4.9
	Labour	Cathrine Ward	317	11.1	−5.5
	Labour	Sudesh Rani	291	10.2	−6.0
	Green	Tim Retout	253	8.9	+0.7
Majority
Turnout				43.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bromham and Biddenham

Bromham and Biddenham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Rigby*	1,607	64.2	−8.4
	Conservative	Jon Gambold*	1,565	62.5	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Samuel Matthews	450	18.0	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stelios Mores	386	15.4	+3.8
	Labour	Gordon Charlton	307	12.3	−5.8
	Labour	Ollie Charlton	288	11.5	−5.5
Majority
Turnout				43.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Castle

Castle (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Lucy Bywater	957	45.0	+29.2
	Green	Ben Foley	732	34.4	+22.9
	Labour	Luigi Reale*	690	32.4	+7.3
	Labour	Louise Whatham	507	23.8	+3.3
	Conservative	Karen Boyes	416	19.6	−9.1
	Conservative	Robert Rigby	340	16.0	−6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lorna Marchant	145	6.8	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Wood	91	4.3	+0.2
Majority			42
Turnout				33.5	−26.5
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing
	Green gain from Labour		Swing

Cauldwell

Cauldwell (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Abu Sultan	1,033	50.2	+0.3
	Labour	Fouzia Zamir	970	47.1	+3.0
	Conservative	Mohammed Islam	527	25.6	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jacob Bale	342	16.6	+10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Joy Winder	294	14.3	+10.0
	Green	Kim Haskins	284	13.8	+7.3
Majority
Turnout				29.0
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Clapham

Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Walker*	723	63.6	+14.1
	Labour	Lynne Wady	175	15.4	−6.8
	Renew	Eric Cooper	161	14.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Rutherford	77	6.8	+2.1
Majority
Turnout				33.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

De Parys

De Parys (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Vann*	1,178	58.1	+26.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Sawyer*	1,125	55.5	+24.4
	Conservative	Robin Illingworth	510	25.1	−3.8
	Conservative	Andrea Spice	456	22.5	−6.7
	Labour	Conny Smith	244	12.0	−5.7
	Labour	Laurence Turner	209	10.3	−5.4
Majority
Turnout				40.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Eastcotts

Eastcotts

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah-Jayne Gallagher*	676	62.4	+14.8
	Conservative	Sam Ancliff	215	19.9	−12.1
	Labour	Mansoor Nasir	192	17.7	−2.7
Majority
Turnout			1,083	31.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Elstow and Stewartby

Elstow and Stewartby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Hill*	1,062	79.5	+32.9
	Conservative	Jade Ancliff	157	11.8	−16.2
	Labour	Anne Saunders	117	8.8	−8.8
Majority
Turnout				36.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Goldington

Goldington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Caswell	882	37.3	+12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christine McHugh	871	36.8	+14.2
	Labour	Anthony Forth*	805	34.1	+0.7
	Labour	Jade Uko*	726	30.7	+5.9
	Conservative	Jenny Hedworth	277	11.7	−12.7
	Conservative	Philip Merryman	264	11.2	−3.4
	UKIP	Adrian Haynes	202	8.5	−8.6
	Green	Philippa Fleming	133	5.6	±0.0
	Green	Jennifer Foley	122	5.2	N/A
Majority
Turnout				33.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Great Barford

Great Barford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Moon*	1,392	56.4	−2.9
	Conservative	Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant	1,090	44.2	−6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Carlton	591	23.9	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Fitzpatrick	554	22.4	+8.0
	Green	Tobias Waltham	368	14.9	−1.5
	Labour	Pauline Webb	222	9.0	N/A
	Labour	Silas Wady	178	7.2	N/A
Majority
Turnout				38.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpur

Harpur (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colleen Atkins*	1,217	57.4	−3.5
	Labour	Louise Jackson*	1,022	48.2	+3.5
	Independent	David Allen	395	18.6	+9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Marion Zebedee-Topham	337	15.9	+8.3
	Conservative	Jason Whaley	285	13.4	−12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandra Williams	252	11.9	+6.0
	Conservative	Phoebe Kirk-Fraiser	250	11.8	−6.6
Majority
Turnout				34.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Harrold

Harrold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Foster*	1,054	67.7	−6.9
	Green	Gary Lloyd	311	20.0	+4.0
	Labour	John Dawson	102	6.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Norton	91	5.8	−3.6
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kempston Central and East

Kempston Central and East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kay Burley	879	53.9	+22.5
	Labour	Mohammed Nawaz*	807	49.5	+15.9
	Conservative	Richard Hyde	533	32.7	−4.3
	Conservative	Liam Rees	399	24.5	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Hannah Farthing	180	11.0	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Sarika Shah	125	7.7	+2.9
Majority
Turnout				31.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Kempston North

Kempston North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Oliver*	498	47.3	+0.2
	Conservative	Kathy Stone	423	40.2	−3.6
	Green	Alison Parker	83	7.9	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	George Flaxman	48	4.6	+2.0
Majority
Turnout				36.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Kempston Rural

Kempston Rural

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Weir	860	42.7	−27.4
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Gallagher	736	36.6	+25.0
	Labour	Ashley Frith	251	12.5	−5.8
	Green	Ann Hagen	166	8.2	N/A
Majority
Turnout				34.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kempston South

Kempston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carl Meader*	1,000	83.5	+14.2
	Conservative	Barry Ryan	157	13.1	−12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Conrad Longmore	41	3.4	+0.9
Majority
Turnout				37.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Kempston West

Kempston West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Valentine	631	52.1	+9.5
	Conservative	Matt McCarthy	493	40.7	+7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Bipinchandra Shah	87	7.2	+2.8
Majority
Turnout				31.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Kingsbrook

Kingsbrook (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Solomon	840	41.6	+16.2
	Liberal Democrats	Dean Crofts	830	41.1	+20.4
	Labour	James Saunders*	700	34.7	−5.6
	Labour	Wendie Harvey	583	28.9	+5.5
	Conservative	Martine Moon	256	12.7	−2.6
	Green	Isabelle Sykes	204	10.1	+3.4
Majority
Turnout				30.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newnham

Newnham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Hilde Hendrickx	894	35.8	+18.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Sampson	795	31.9	+15.5
	Conservative	John Mingay*	751	30.1	−8.4
	Conservative	Alison Crook	687	27.5	−1.5
	Labour	Shane Kelly	421	16.9	−7.9
	Labour	Ceciliah Chigwada	414	16.6	−2.4
	Green	Richard Baker	387	15.5	+7.2
	Green	Brant Tilds	249	10.0	+4.9
Majority
Turnout				43.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Oakley

Oakley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jon Abbott	887	57.7	+54.1
	Conservative	Andrew Senior	575	37.4	−2.0
	Labour	Ian Bagueley	76	4.9	−1.7
Majority
Turnout				52.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Putnoe

Putnoe (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Headley*	1,731	63.9	+18.6
	Liberal Democrats	Max Royden	1,351	49.8	+14.3
	Conservative	Dawn Allen	724	26.7	−5.9
	Conservative	Mike Seamarks	526	19.4	−5.5
	Labour	Lila Begum	238	8.8	−4.4
	Labour Co-op	Graham Tranquada	216	8.0	−4.0
	Green	Kate Retout	203	7.5	+1.3
Majority
Turnout				45.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Queens Park

Queens Park (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nesreen Akhtar	1,507	48.8	−5.0
	Labour	Mohammed Masud*	1,291	41.8	−8.0
	Independent	Taru Miah	1,290	41.7	N/A
	Conservative	Abdul Ahmed	392	12.7	−20.2
	Green	Hannah Jones	264	8.5	+0.8
	Conservative	June Kuria	199	6.4	−18.8
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Pattison	108	3.5	−0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Trengrove	96	3.1	+0.3
Majority
Turnout				49.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Riseley

Riseley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Towler*	823	60.5	+2.5
	Labour	Martyn Wady	352	25.9	+14.6
	Liberal Democrats	Liam Martin-Day	185	13.6	+6.8
Majority
Turnout				50.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sharnbrook

Sharnbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Doug McMurdo*	1,006	64.1	+21.6
	Conservative	Martin Quince	403	25.7	−10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Bernadette Walsh-Mason	91	5.8	+1.8
	Labour	Paul Barton	69	4.4	−6.5
Majority
Turnout				49.9
	Independent hold		Swing

Wilshamstead

Wilshamstead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graeme Coombes*	992	73.8	+1.0
	Labour	Saqhib Ali	212	15.8	−0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Smith	140	10.4	−0.4
Majority
Turnout				34.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wootton

Wootton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Wheeler*	861	57.1	+16.2
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Stephens	273	18.1	−2.0
	UKIP	Bill Hall	192	12.7	−8.8
	Labour	Adrien Breadmore	181	12.0	+1.8
Majority
Turnout				32.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wyboston

Wyboston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Wootton*	900	71.5	−2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Eyre	359	28.5	+14.1
Majority
Turnout				42.1
	Conservative hold		Swing