2003 Hertsmere Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2003 Hertsmere council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2003.

The 2003 Hertsmere Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Hertsmere Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 25
• Labour 8
• Liberal Democrat 6 ^[2]

Background

Before the Conservatives ran the council with 25 seats, compared to 9 for Labour and 5 Liberal Democrats. ^[3] A total of 38 candidates contested the 13 seats that were up for election. ^[3] Both the Conservative and Labour parties stood in all 13 seats, while there were also 10 Liberal Democrats, 1 Green Party and 1 Socialist Labour Party candidates. ^[3]

Election result

The Conservatives maintained an 8-seat majority with 25 councillors, Labour dropped 1 to 8 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 1 to 6 seats. ^[4] The Conservatives gained a seat in Borehamwood Hillside by 98 votes, with Jean Heywood reclaiming a seat on the council after having lost her seat in Borehamwood Cowley Hill in 2002 standing as an independent. ^[5] However the Liberal Democrats took a seat from the Conservatives in Bushey St James. ^[5]

The count saw angry words from the Labour group leader Frank Ward, who had held his seat in Borehamwood Kenilworth by just 28 votes. Ward said "Conservative councillors have no place in Borehamwood" and "it was a campaign that was marred by vilification, smears and lies". ^[4]

Hertsmere Local Election Result 2003 ^{[2] [5] [6]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	8	1	1	0	61.5	52.8	8,887	+8.0%
	Labour	3	0	1	-1	23.1	25.4	4,273	-3.0%
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	0	+1	15.4	20.5	3,458	-1.5%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	1.1	184	+0.7%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	41	-0.3%

Ward results

Aldenham East ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Gilmore	925	79.2
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Silverman	122	10.4
	Labour	Raymond Edge	121	10.4
Majority			803	68.8
Turnout			1,168	34.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aldenham West ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Payne	728	69.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Bird	165	15.6
	Labour	Sandra Huff	162	15.4
Majority			563	53.4
Turnout			1,055	31.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Borehamwood Brookmeadow ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leon Reefe	596	56.2	-4.0
	Conservative	David McKee	338	31.9	-7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Audrey McCracken	126	11.9	+11.9
Majority			258	24.3	+3.9
Turnout			1,060	23.0	-1.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Borehamwood Cowley Hill ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Craig Adams	826	66.9	+14.0
	Conservative	Simon Rubner	224	18.2	+18.2
	Socialist Labour	James Dry	184	14.9	+9.2
Majority			602	48.8	+37.3
Turnout			1,234	21.7	-8.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Borehamwood Hillside ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jean Heywood	838	47.9	-3.9
	Labour	Catherine Ward	743	42.5	-5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Forsyth	169	9.7	+9.7
Majority			95	5.4	+1.8
Turnout			1,750	33.5	-1.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Borehamwood Kenilworth ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Ward	349	41.3
	Conservative	Hannah David	321	38.0
	Liberal Democrats	Zissis Kakoulakis	175	20.7
Majority			28	3.3
Turnout			845	20.6	-1.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Bushey Heath ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael O'Brien	865	72.4	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Kutchinski	207	17.3	-4.7
	Labour	Dinah Hoeksma	122	10.2	-0.3
Majority			658	55.1	+9.5
Turnout			1,194	23.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bushey North ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Colne	899	68.8
	Conservative	Koyes Choudhury	276	21.1
	Labour	Christine Sowerbutts	90	6.9
	Green	Ramiro Alvarado-Vega	41	3.1
Majority			623	47.7
Turnout			1,306	28.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bushey St James ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anita Gamble	966	53.2	-5.9
	Conservative	Audrey Attwood	717	39.5	+5.8
	Labour	James Sowerbutts	134	7.4	+0.3
Majority			249	13.7	-11.7
Turnout			1,817	33.0	-7.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Elstree ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Morris Bright	662	71.6	+3.0
	Labour	Paula Gregory	252	28.4	+8.5
Majority			400	43.3	-5.4
Turnout			924	26.1	-4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Potters Bar Furzefield ^{[4] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Morris	734	58.1	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Dean	280	22.2	+3.5
	Labour	James Fisher	250	19.8	-6.7
Majority			454	35.9	+7.6
Turnout			1,264	26.0	-6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Potters Bar Oakmere ^{[4] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Calcutt	953	68.9	+6.8
	Labour	Ann Harrison	431	31.1	-6.8
Majority			522	37.7	+13.5
Turnout			1,384	24.9	-7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Potters Bar Parkfield ^{[4] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Dawes	1,306	70.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Bonner	349	18.8	+6.5
	Labour	Elizabeth Savage	197	10.6	-7.1
Majority			957	51.7	-0.6
Turnout			1,852	32.0	-5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 22 October 2011.
2. "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph . 3 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
3. "Third of the seats up for grabs in borough elections". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 23 April 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
4. "Tories election win marred by outburst". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
5. "Tories win in Hillside after "dirty campaign"". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
6. "Election Results". Hertsmere Borough Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2011.