2014 Harlow District Council election

The 2014 Harlow District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

2014 Harlow District Council election
← 2012 22 May 2014 2015 →

12 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council
17 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative UKIP
Seats before 20 13 0
Seats won 4 3 5
Seats after 17 11 5
Seat change Decrease3 Decrease2 Increase5
Popular vote 7,564 6,238 7,768
Percentage 33.4% 27.5% 34.3%

Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2014 Harlow District Council elections.

Council control before election

Labour

Council control after election

Labour

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

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At the last election in 2012 Labour gained control of Harlow Council from the Conservative Party and finished with 20 councillors compared to 13 for the Conservatives.[3] The Conservative group was reduced in May 2013 when Great Parndon councillor Joshua Jolles resigned from the party to sit as an independent, after being unhappy with having to follow national Conservative policies.[4] Joshua Jolles would go on to found a political party, the Harlow Independent Party, which stood candidates at the 2014 Harlow Council elections.[5]

A total of 47 candidates stood at the election,[1] including full slates from the Conservatives, Labour and UK Independence Party, along with 7 candidates from the Liberal Democrats, 3 from the Harlow Independent Party and 1 other independent.[6] An extra seat was contested in Mark Hall ward after Labour councillor Paul Schroder resigned from the council in April 2014.[7] Another 3 councillors stood down at the election, Mike Garnett, Guy Mitchinson and Paul Sztumpf, while Mark Wilkinson stepped down as council leader at the election.[8]

Election result

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Labour remained in control of Harlow council, but with only a 1-seat majority after the UK Independence Party gained 5 seats.[9][10] The UK Independence Party gains in Bush Fair, Great Parndon, Mark Hall and Staple Tye included taking 3 seats from Labour, 1 from the Conservatives and 1 from the Harlow Independent Party.[11][12] Meanwhile, Labour retained 4 seats and the Conservatives kept 3 seats to leave Labour with 17 councillors, compared to 11 Conservatives and 5 for the UK Independence Party.[12] Overall turnout at the election was 33.5%.[13]

Following the election Jon Clempner was chosen as the leader of the Labour group and became the new council leader.[14][15]

Harlow local election result 2014[2][13]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  UKIP 5 5 0  5 41.7 34.3 7,768  33.0
  Labour 4 0 3  3 33.3 33.4 7,564  18.7
  Conservative 3 0 1  1 25.0 27.5 6,238  10.5
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0   0 3.0 687  4.9
  Harlow Independent Party 0 0 1  1 0 1.4 321  1.4
  Independent 0 0 0   0 0.3 68  0.5

Ward results

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Bush Fair

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Location of Bush Fair ward
Bush Fair[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UKIP Dan Long 744 38.2
Labour Daniella Pritchard 694 35.7
Conservative Ash Malik 326 16.8
Liberal Democrats Christopher Robins 102 5.2
Harlow Independent Party Bob McKenzie 80 4.1
Majority 50 2.5
Turnout 1,946 33.4 +5.4
UKIP gain from Labour Swing

Church Langley

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Location of Church Langley ward
Church Langley[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tony Hall 964 45.5 −19.8
UKIP Mark Gough 739 34.9 +34.9
Labour Ken Lawrie 417 19.7 −9.7
Majority 225 10.6 −25.2
Turnout 2,120 33.1 +8.8
Conservative hold Swing

Great Parndon

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Location of Great Parndon ward
Great Parndon[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UKIP Terry Spooner 674 33.2 +33.2
Conservative Clive Souter 598 29.4 −18.4
Labour Karen Clempner 596 29.3 −16.9
Harlow Independent Party Joshua Jolles 165 8.1 +8.1
Majority 76 3.8
Turnout 2,033 39.0 +7.4
UKIP gain from Independent Swing

Harlow Common

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Location of Harlow Common ward
Harlow Common[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maggie Hulcoop 700 36.6 −14.7
UKIP Sam Stopplecamp 674 35.3 +35.3
Conservative John Steer 417 21.8 −14.4
Independent Gary Roberts 68 3.6 −4.9
Liberal Democrats Kuzna Jackson 51 2.7 −1.4
Majority 26 1.4 −13.7
Turnout 1,910 33.8 +2.1
Labour hold Swing

Little Parndon and Hare Street

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Location of Little Parndon and Hare Street ward
Little Parndon and Hare Street[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Durcan 879 43.9 −20.0
UKIP Harry Saunders 680 34.0 +34.0
Conservative Shona Johnson 442 22.1 −8.2
Majority 199 9.9 −23.7
Turnout 2,001 31.9 +3.5
Labour hold Swing

Mark Hall (2 seats)

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Location of Mark Hall ward
Mark Hall (2 seats)[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UKIP Jerry Crawford 662 35.7
UKIP Janet Doyle 646 34.9
Labour Sheila Sullivan 602 32.5
Labour Danny Purton 599 32.3
Conservative Emily Cross 346 18.7
Conservative Jane Steer 346 18.7
Liberal Democrats Lesley Rideout 137 7.4
Liberal Democrats Robert Thurston 124 6.7
Turnout 1,853 34.3 +3.8
UKIP gain from Labour Swing
UKIP gain from Labour Swing

Netteswell

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Location of Netteswell ward
Netteswell[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Danvers 739 41.6 −13.8
UKIP Patsy Long 548 30.9 +30.9
Conservative Jim Pailing 401 22.6 −13.8
Liberal Democrats Christopher Millington 87 4.9 −3.2
Majority 191 10.8 −8.2
Turnout 1,775 31.5 +4.8
Labour hold Swing

Old Harlow

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Location of Old Harlow ward
Old Harlow[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joel Charles 918 42.1 −9.5
Labour Tom Newens 602 27.6 −15.0
UKIP Steven Witt 557 25.6 +25.6
Liberal Democrats Mary Wiltshire 102 4.7 −1.1
Majority 316 14.5 +5.5
Turnout 2,179 37.6 +4.4
Conservative hold Swing

Staple Tye

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Location of Staple Tye ward
Staple Tye[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UKIP Bill Pryor 538 35.5 +35.5
Labour John Strachan 477 31.4 −19.5
Conservative Stevie Souter 342 22.5 −12.3
Liberal Democrats Ian Jackson 84 5.5 −8.8
Harlow Independent Party Zulqar Cheema 76 5.0 +5.0
Majority 61 4.1
Turnout 1,517 28.3 +4.0
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing

Sumners and Kingsmoor

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Location of Summers and Kingsmoor ward
Sumners and Kingsmoor[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Churchill 686 36.7 −12.4
UKIP Alexander Addison 628 33.6 +33.6
Labour Efua Koi-Larbi 553 29.6 −15.0
Majority 58 3.1 −1.5
Turnout 1,867 33.7 +8.0
Conservative hold Swing

Toddbrook

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Location of Toddbrook ward
Toddbrook[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rod Truan 706 38.5 −15.7
UKIP Peter Buss 678 36.9 +36.9
Conservative Michael Hardware 452 24.6 −14.7
Majority 28 1.5 −13.4
Turnout 1,836 31.9 +2.7
Labour hold Swing

By-elections between 2014 and 2015

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A by-election was held in Mark Hall ward on 12 February 2015 following the resignation of UK Independence Party councillor Jerry Crawford due to illness.[16] The seat was gained for Labour by Danny Purton with a majority of 233 votes over UK Independence Party candidate Mark Gough, increasing the number of Labour councillors to 18, compared to 11 Conservatives and 4 for the UK Independence Party.[13][17]

Mark Hall by-election 12 February 2015[13][17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Danny Purton 586 42.6 +8.2
UKIP Mark Gough 353 25.7 −12.2
Conservative Jane Steer 334 24.3 +4.5
Green Murray Sackwild 55 4.0 +4.0
Liberal Democrats Lesley Rideout 47 3.4 −4.4
Majority 233 16.9
Turnout 1,375 26.4 −7.9
Labour gain from UKIP Swing +10.1

References

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  1. ^ a b "Harlow". BBC News Online. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Results Elections 2014". The Times. NewsBank. 24 May 2014. pp. 88–89.
  3. ^ "Vote 2012". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Veteran Harlow councillor Joshua Jolles resigns from Conservatives". Harlow Star. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. ^ "New political party announced for Harlow". Your Harlow. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Candidates declared for Harlow Council elections". Your Harlow. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Absentee Labour councillor steps down". Your Harlow. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Glowing tributes paid to outgoing councillors". Your Harlow. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  9. ^ Hope, Christopher; Turner, Camilla (23 May 2014). "Farage hails himself 'honorary Essex man' on victory tour - Ukip leader pulls pint for cameramen as he says party success shows its message was "resonating" among Conservative and Labour voters". The Daily Telegraph. NewsBank.
  10. ^ "Labour hold Harlow but only by the smallest margin". ITV News. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Elections 2014 Essex: Conservatives lose control of four councils". BBC News Online. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. ^ a b "UKIP win five seats on Harlow Council as Labour retain overall control in local elections". Harlow Star. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Elections results - District". Harlow District Council. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Clempner elected as Labour leader in Harlow". Your Harlow. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  15. ^ "New Harlow Council leader announces new cabinet". Your Harlow. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  16. ^ "UKIP's Jerry Crawford stands down from Harlow Council due to ill health". Harlow Star. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Dramatic night as Labour regain Mark Hall ward from UKIP". Your Harlow. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  18. ^ "Harlow BC, Mark Hall - 12 February 2015". ALDC. Retrieved 13 February 2015.