2008 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election

The 2008 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council in West Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Background

Before the election there was disagreement among commentators about how safe Wakefield council was for Labour. The Daily Telegraph felt Labour would struggle to remain in control, but the Yorkshire Post believed it would remain safe for Labour.^[3]^[4]

Wakefield council joined with other councils from Yorkshire to run a television advertising campaign in an attempt to increase turnout.^[5]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives make 7 gains, all but one from Labour, and come up only one seat short of depriving Labour of their majority.^[6] Altogether Labour lost 8 seats including 2 to independents, while the Liberal Democrats lost their only seat that was being contested in Ossett to the Conservatives.^[7] Labour losses included the mayor, Allan Garbutt, and the cabinet member for children and young people, Trevor Izon, in Pontefract South.^[7] Overall turnout was 32.28%.^[8]

The Conservatives said that their victories were due both to the unpopularity of the national Labour government and due to the Labour council behaving in an arrogant way.^[7] The results were seen by the Conservatives as an encouraging sign of how they would perform at the next general election in the Wakefield constituencies.^[7] Meanwhile, Labour put their defeats down to national issues such as the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax and immigration.^[7]

Wakefield Local Election Result 2008^[8]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	11	7	0	+7	50.0	34.3	28,506	+4.3%
Labour	8	0	8	-8	36.4	35.1	29,168	-3.9%
Independent	3	2	0	+2	13.6	12.0	9,978	+1.8%
Liberal Democrats	0	0	1	-1	0	8.8	7,319	-1.3%
BNP	0	0	0	0	0	7.9	6,567	-0.4%
Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	1,024	-0.2%
Socialist Alternative	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	352	+0.1%
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	145	+0.0%
British Voice	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	142	-0.2%

Ward results

Ackworth, North Elmsall and Upton^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Molloy	1,653	43.2	+13.5
	Labour	Allan Garbutt	1,466	38.3	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Arthur	709	18.5	+4.1
Majority			187	4.9
Turnout			3,828
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Airedale and Ferry Fryston^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Phelps	1,401	46.7	−10.5
	BNP	Stephen Rogerson	628	20.9	+2.2
	Conservative	Mellisa Wan Omer	540	18.0	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Kirby	430	14.3	+2.9
Majority			773	25.8	−12.7
Turnout			2,999
	Labour hold		Swing

Altofts and Whitwood^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Box	1,316	37.4	−10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Burch	827	23.5	+4.4
	Conservative	Gordon Tennant	793	22.5	+6.7
	BNP	Dawn Byrom	585	16.6	−0.2
Majority			489	13.9	−15.2
Turnout			3,521
	Labour hold		Swing

Castleford Central and Glasshoughton^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark Burns-Williamson	1,775	54.1	−9.3
	BNP	Rita Robinson	854	26.1	+3.4
	Conservative	Eamonn Mullins	649	19.8	+6.0
Majority			921	28.0	−12.7
Turnout			3,278
	Labour hold		Swing

Crofton, Ryhill and Walton^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Lodge	1,783	40.4	+6.3
	Labour	Albert Manifield	1,730	39.2	−6.9
	BNP	Dean Crossland	902	20.4	+0.6
Majority			53	1.2
Turnout			4,415
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Featherstone^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Kay Binnersley	1,974	45.8	+4.3
	Labour	Dick Taylor	1,872	43.4	+4.9
	Conservative	Michael Ledgard	464	10.8	+5.5
Majority			102	2.4	−0.6
Turnout			4,310
	Independent hold		Swing

Hemsworth (2)^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Ian Womersley	1,695
	Labour	Glyn Lloyd	1,288
	Labour	Sandra Pickin	1,203
	Independent	John Evans	663
	Independent	Maurice Kent	503
	BNP	Jeanette Womack	400
	Conservative	Christian l'Anson	371
	Conservative	Rebecca Mullins	329
Turnout			2,986
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Horbury and South Ossett^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Jesty	1,845	40.1	−2.6
	Labour	Janet Holmes	1,657	36.0	−2.0
	Independent	Susan Armitage	576	12.5	+12.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Rowland	522	11.3	−8.0
Majority			188	4.1	−0.6
Turnout			4,600
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Knottingley^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Stokes	1,417	56.7	−4.8
	Conservative	Tom Dixon	1,081	43.3	+23.5
Majority			336	13.4	−28.3
Turnout			2,498
	Labour hold		Swing

Normanton^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barry Smith	1,037	31.8	−8.2
	Conservative	Richard Wakefield	784	24.0	+12.4
	Independent	Graeme Milner	699	21.4	−3.5
	BNP	Adam Frazer	520	15.9	−0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Smith	221	6.8	−0.7
Majority			253	7.8	−7.3
Turnout			3,261
	Labour hold		Swing

Ossett^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terry Brown	1,709	37.9	+12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Goodair	1,694	37.6	+1.1
	Labour	David Watts	1,105	24.5	+0.2
Majority			15	0.3
Turnout			4,508
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Pontefract North^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Thomas	1,352	40.8	−6.4
	Labour	Jack Kershaw	1,323	39.9	−12.9
	Independent	Bob Evison	398	12.0	+12.0
	Green	Rennie Smith	240	7.2	+7.2
Majority			29	0.9
Turnout			3,313
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Pontefract South^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Crowther	2,340	48.8	−1.0
	Labour	Trevor Izon	1,801	37.6	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Rush	650	13.6	+0.8
Majority			539	11.2	−1.2
Turnout			4,791
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

South Elmsall and South Kirkby^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Wilf Benson	2,248	56.5	+1.5
	Labour	Mollie Wright	1,342	33.7	−0.8
	Conservative	Allan Crouch	389	9.8	−0.7
Majority			906	22.8	+2.3
Turnout			3,979
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Stanley and Outwood East^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Wilson	1,392	36.9	+6.6
	Labour	Charles Keith	1,112	29.5	−6.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Evans	661	17.5	−0.7
	BNP	Loraine Frazer	608	16.1	+0.5
Majority			280	7.4
Turnout			3,773
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Wakefield East^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ros Lund	1,478	44.8	−1.8
	Conservative	Mark Pickard	1,022	31.0	+8.5
	BNP	Robert Arnold	447	13.5	+1.9
	Socialist Alternative	Michael Griffiths	352	10.7	+3.7
Majority			456	13.8	−10.3
Turnout			3,299
	Labour hold		Swing

Wakefield North^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elizabeth Rhodes	1,177	34.7	−1.9
	Conservative	Graham Ridler	1,140	33.6	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Tennant	468	13.8	−4.0
	BNP	Graham Thewlis-Hardy	458	13.5	+1.7
	UKIP	Keith Wells	145	4.3	+0.0
Majority			37	1.1	−7.7
Turnout			3,388
	Labour hold		Swing

Wakefield Rural^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Colley	2,837	62.0	+9.6
	Labour	Tony Richardson	1,108	24.2	−2.5
	Green	Miriam Hawkins	628	13.7	−0.5
Majority			1,729	37.8	+12.1
Turnout			4,573
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wakefield South^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Hopkins	1,725	40.0	−1.6
	Independent	Norman Hazell	1,222	28.4	+8.3
	Labour	Simon Young	672	15.6	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Nuthall	369	8.6	+1.4
	BNP	John Aveyard	321	7.4	+2.9
Majority			503	11.6	−9.9
Turnout			4,309
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wakefield West^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Walker	2,479	60.2	+5.3
	Labour	Matthew Morley	738	17.9	−3.2
	BNP	Neville Poynton	348	8.5	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Morgan	252	6.1	−3.0
	Green	Brian Else	156	3.8	−3.1
	British Voice	Norman Tate	142	3.5	−4.6
Majority			1,741	42.3	+8.5
Turnout			4,115
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wrenthorpe and Outwood West^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annemarie Glover	1,829	45.8	+5.9
	Labour	Martyn Johnson	1,150	28.8	−6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Dodd	516	12.9	+0.5
	BNP	Grant Rowe	496	12.4	+0.2
Majority			679	17.0	+12.7
Turnout			3,991
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "Wakefield". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45. ISSN 0261-3077.
^ Porter, Andrew (28 April 2008). "Cameron takes aim at Brown with election target of 40pc". The Daily Telegraph. p. 8. ISSN 0307-1235.
^ "Voters give their verdict at the ballot box". Yorkshire Post. 1 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.
^ "Persuading voters to make their mark". Wakefield Express. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^ "Misery for Labour as cracks appear in bastions". Yorkshire Post. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Jubilant Tories claim city is turning blue". Yorkshire Post. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "Local Election Results May 2008". Wakefield Council. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u "Local Elections: Wakefield results". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2 May 2008. ISSN 0963-2255.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u "Wakefield Council elections - final results". Wakefield Express. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2009.

[change-1] "Wakefield". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2009.

[national-2] "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45. ISSN 0261-3077.

[cameron-3] Porter, Andrew (28 April 2008). "Cameron takes aim at Brown with election target of 40pc". The Daily Telegraph. p. 8. ISSN 0307-1235.

[verdict-4] "Voters give their verdict at the ballot box". Yorkshire Post. 1 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.

[mark-5] "Persuading voters to make their mark". Wakefield Express. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2009.

[bastions-6] "Misery for Labour as cracks appear in bastions". Yorkshire Post. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.

[jubilant-7] "Jubilant Tories claim city is turning blue". Yorkshire Post. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "Local Election Results May 2008". Wakefield Council. Retrieved 19 December 2009.

[wakefield-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u "Local Elections: Wakefield results". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2 May 2008. ISSN 0963-2255.

[final-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u "Wakefield Council elections - final results". Wakefield Express. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2009.

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