2003 Torridge District Council election

The 2003 Torridge District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Torridge District Council in Devon, England. The whole council was up for election after boundary changes and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]^[2]

Election result

A newly formed group called the Community Alliance gained 9 seats on the council and they were among 17 new councillors on the council.^[3]^[4] Among the gains for the Community Alliance were 3 seats in Northam ward, a seat in Bideford South from Labour and a gain from an independent in Westward Ho!.^[2] None of the candidates for the Community Alliance were sitting councillors and the group said it aimed to "keep party politics out of local government".^[2]

Meanwhile, Labour lost both their 2 seats on the council, while the Conservatives and Greens regained 1 seat each.^[2] 8 councillors were elected without facing any opposition, but this was down from 9 at the 1999 election and 13 in 1995.^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 38.4%, up from 36.1% in 1999.^[6]

Torridge local election result 2003^[2]^[7]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Independent	17		47.2	27.3	6,849	-7.7%
Community Alliance Independent	9	+9	25.0	32.4	8,109	+32.4%
Liberal Democrats	7		19.4	25.6	6,409	-11.5%
Conservative	1	+1	2.8	4.6	1,165	+3.5%
Green	1	+1	2.8	3.4	845	-3.1%
UKIP	1	+1	2.8	1.7	427	+1.7%
Labour	0	-2	0	5.0	1,257	-15.2%

Ward results

Appledore (2 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Leonard Ford	506
	UKIP	Andrew Eastman	427
	Independent	Philip Waters	421
	Community Alliance Independent	Jeremy Bell	402
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Langbridge	141
Turnout			1,897	47.9

Bideford East (3 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Community Alliance Independent	Stephen Clarke	653
	Community Alliance Independent	William Isaac	516
	Independent	Pamela Paddon	482
	Community Alliance Independent	Andrew Powell	461
	Liberal Democrats	Noel Deakes	293
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Birchmore	284
	Liberal Democrats	David Nicholson	161
	Labour	Anne Brenton	158
	Labour	Lynda Dark	144
	Labour	Sarah Lovera	87
Turnout			3,239	32.2

Bideford North (3 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Peter Christie	633
	Liberal Democrats	Hugo Barton	632
	Community Alliance Independent	Alasdair Gould	488
	Independent	Christopher Leather	486
	Liberal Democrats	John Hadfield	426
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Osborne	338
	Conservative	Graham Jones	336
Turnout			3,339	34.8

Bideford South (3 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Mervyn Lane	494
	Community Alliance Independent	Sonia Bushby	424
	Liberal Democrats	David Daniel	354
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Inch	344
	Community Alliance Independent	David Ratcliff	310
	Labour	David Brenton	309
	Community Alliance Independent	Elliot Gould	309
	Labour	Ian Hopkins	131
	Labour	Walter Hill-Paul	106
Turnout			2,781	28.6

Broadheath^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Frank Howard	unopposed

Clinton^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Philip Collins	228	34.2
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Copp	179	26.8
	Conservative	Roy Watts	179	26.8
	Independent	Brian Stacey	81	12.1
Majority			49	7.3
Turnout			667	55.1

Clovelly Bay^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Royston Johns	unopposed

Coham Bridge^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Broyd	294	56.1
	Community Alliance Independent	Richard Deane	230	43.9
Majority			64	12.2
Turnout			524	42.6

Forest^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Christine March	unopposed

Hartland and Bradworthy (2 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Pillman	unopposed
	Independent	Trevor Sillifant	unopposed

Holsworthy (2 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Desmond Shadrick	784
	Independent	John Allen	581
	Conservative	Coral Broyd	356
Turnout			1,721	40.5

Kenwith^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Community Alliance Independent	Hugh Bone	263	52.6
	Independent	Anthony Collins	237	47.4
Majority			26	5.2
Turnout			500	39.4

Monkleigh and Littleham^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Geoffrey Boundy	unopposed

Northam (3 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Community Alliance Independent	Alan Eastwood	941
	Community Alliance Independent	Edward Davies	926
	Community Alliance Independent	Paul Sturges	850
	Independent	Richard Bradford	640
	Independent	Anthony Barnes	525
	Labour	Sheila Bloomfield	322
Turnout			4,204	40.0

Orchard Hill^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Susan Mounce	285	52.9
	Community Alliance Independent	Matthew Richards	254	47.1
Majority			31	5.8
Turnout			539	40.8

Shebbear and Langtree^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Allin Bewes	389	63.3
	Community Alliance Independent	Richard Clark	226	36.7
Majority			163	26.5
Turnout			615	47.6

Tamarside^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Broad	unopposed

Three Moors^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Patricia Ferguson	unopposed

Torrington (3 seats)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Margaret Brown	645
	Independent	Richard Bond	424
	Liberal Democrats	John Rawlinson	376
	Liberal Democrats	William Brook	364
	Independent	Richard Rumbold	254
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Freeland	243
	Green	Cathrine Simmons	212
Turnout			2,518	27.8

Two Rivers^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Morrish	253	43.5
	Independent	William Tanton	154	26.5
	Liberal Democrats	Maurice Ridd	101	17.4
	Community Alliance Independent	Patrick Adams	74	12.7
Majority			99	17.0
Turnout			582	46.9

Waldon^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Robert Hicks	332	69.3
	Community Alliance Independent	Roger Vanstone	147	30.7
Majority			185	38.6
Turnout			479	39.1

Westward Ho!^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Community Alliance Independent	Timothy Williams	428	57.6
	Independent	Thomas Barclay	315	42.4
Majority			113	15.2
Turnout			743	45.6

Winkleigh^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Cowle	506	71.0
	Community Alliance Independent	Paul Camilleri	207	29.0
Majority			299	41.9
Turnout			713	47.9

By-elections between 2003 and 2007

Bideford South

A by-election was held in Bideford South on 4 December 2003 after the former leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Mervyn Lane, resigned from the council due to ill health.^[8]

Bideford South by-election 4 December 2003^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Inch	244	44.4	+4.1
	Independent	Chris Leather	177	32.2	+32.2
	Community Alliance	Shirley Hagley	128	23.3	−11.3
Majority			67	12.2
Turnout			549	15.2	−13.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Westward Ho!

Westward Ho! by-election 4 November 2004^[9]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Roger Tisdale	257	37.1	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Hadfield	226	32.6	+32.6
	Conservative	Anthony Collins	149	21.5	+21.5
	Independent	Hugh Brading	61	8.8	+8.8
Majority			31	4.5
Turnout			693	41.2	−4.4
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

Tamarside

Independent Kenneth James won a by-election in Tamarside on 14 July 2005 after the death of councillor Richard Broad.^[12]

Tamarside by-election 14 July 2005^[9]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Kenneth James	167	45.2
	Conservative	Coral Broyd	143	38.7
	Independent	Arthur Stewart	59	16.0
Majority			24	6.5
Turnout			369	29.6
	Independent hold		Swing

Northam

Conservative Sam Robinson won a by-election in Northam on 23 November 2006 after the resignation of councillor Alan Eastwood.^[14]

Northam by-election 23 November 2006^[9]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Robinson	556	57.3	+57.3
	Green	Miranda Cox	414	42.7	+42.7
Majority			142	14.6
Turnout			970	21.6	−18.4
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

References

^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Community party in nine-seat haul". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 3 May 2003.
^ "It's all change in". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
^ "Bullying 'endemic' in council". BBC News Online. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ "For 34 Candidates, It'S No Contest". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
^ Churchill, Laura (21 April 2011). "What lies ahead for 'improved' council?". North Devon Journal. NewsBank.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x "Full District Council Election Results - 1 May 2003". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
^ ^a ^b "South Devon". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 19 November 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ "Labour loses council seat to Socialist". guardian.co.uk. 5 December 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ "Westward Ho! District By-Election Result - 4th Nov 2004". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ "Air ambulance staff bailed". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 20 July 2005.
^ "Tamarside District By-Election Results - 14 July 2005". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Northam". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 28 November 2006.
^ "District By-Election Results 23 November 2006". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}

[vote2003-1] "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

[haul-2] "Community party in nine-seat haul". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 3 May 2003.

[change-3] "It's all change in". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.

[endemic-4] "Bullying 'endemic' in council". BBC News Online. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

[contest-5] "For 34 Candidates, It'S No Contest". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.

[improved-6] Churchill, Laura (21 April 2011). "What lies ahead for 'improved' council?". North Devon Journal. NewsBank.

[results-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x "Full District Council Election Results - 1 May 2003". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

[south-8] "South Devon". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 19 November 2003.

[byelection-9] "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

[socialist-10] "Labour loses council seat to Socialist". guardian.co.uk. 5 December 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

[westwardjudicial-11] "Westward Ho! District By-Election Result - 4th Nov 2004". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

[bailed-12] "Air ambulance staff bailed". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 20 July 2005.

[tamarside-13] "Tamarside District By-Election Results - 14 July 2005". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}

[14] "Northam". Western Morning News. NewsBank. 28 November 2006.

[15] "District By-Election Results 23 November 2006". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 26 June 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]