2003 Richmondshire District Council election

Last updated

Map of the results of the 2003 Richmondshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue, independents in light grey, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Richmondshire Independents in white and Social Democratic Party in purple. Richmondshire UK local election 2003 map.svg
Map of the results of the 2003 Richmondshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue, independents in light grey, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Richmondshire Independents in white and Social Democratic Party in purple.

The 2003 Richmondshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Richmondshire District Council in North Yorkshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999. [1] The council stayed under no overall control. [2]

Contents

Background

Before the election the council was run by the independents with support from the Conservatives, while the Liberal Democrats formed the opposition. [3] The independents were divided into two groups after the Richmondshire Independent Group split from the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors in 2001. [4]

Almost a third of the councillors stood down at the 2003 election, including a former chairperson of the council, Jane Metcalfe, and the Liberal Democrat group leader, Richard Good. [5] Other councillors who stood down included Alison Appleton, Colin Bailey, Grace Buckle, Sylvia Golding, Mike Graham, Terry Jones, Andrea Robson and Nigel Watson. [5]

A total of 56 candidates stood in 2003, with several being elected without opposition, however there were no candidates from the Labour Party. [5] The two groups of independents stood against each in several wards including Colburn, Hornby Castle and Melsonby. [5] Meanwhile, the leader of the council, John Blackie, contested the election as a Conservative after having previously led the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors. [5]

Election result

The Conservatives became the largest group on the council with 11 councillors, after gaining four seats, but without a majority. [6] Nine independents were elected, a gain of four, while the Liberal Democrats dropped two to have eight councillors. [6]

The council leader John Blackie held his seat in Hawes as a Conservative, while councillors who were defeated included Liberal Democrat Patrick Brennan in Catterick, Richmondshire Independent Helen Grant and Katherine Kerr in Richmond Central. [3] [7] Overall turnout at the election was 37.69%, down from 40.22% in 1999. [8]

Following the election Yvonne Peacock became leader of the Conservative group, Richard Dunn leader of the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors, John Harris leader of the Liberal Democrat group and Paul Cullen leader of the Richmondshire Independent Group. [4] Conservative John Blackie continued as leader of the council, defeating a challenge from the Liberal Democrat group leader John Harris. [9]

Richmondshire local election result 2003 [2] [10]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Conservative 11+432.429.13,857+0.6%
  Independent 9+426.521.52,853+1.6%
  Liberal Democrats 8-223.527.13,602-16.5%
 Richmondshire Independent Group5-714.718.62,464+18.6%
  SDP 1+12.93.7492-4.3%

Ward results

Addlebrough [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Yvonne Peacockunopposed
Barton [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Campbell Dawson28557.5
Liberal Democrats Amanda Adams21142.5
Majority 7414.9
Turnout 49648.8
Bolton Castle [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wendy Morton38472.7
Liberal Democrats John Weedon14427.3
Majority 24045.5
Turnout 52851.7
Brompton on Swale and Scorton (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Michael Heseltine559
Independent James Fryer417
Liberal Democrats Leslie Rowe298
Turnout 1,27437.7
Catterick (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SDP Anthony Pelton492
Conservative Robert Johnson326
Liberal Democrats Patrick Brennan310
Turnout 1,12837.0
Colburn (3 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Peter Wood384
Independent William Glover375
Richmondshire Independent GroupLynn Miller323
Richmondshire Independent GroupHelen Grant311
Independent Janet Kirk187
Turnout 1,58030.5
Croft [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Jane Parlour28051.4
Independent Kenneth Smith26548.6
Majority 152.8
Turnout 54553.7
Gilling West [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Richmondshire Independent GroupJohn Cronin26867.0
Conservative John Hartley13233.0
Majority 13634.0
Turnout 40041.9
Hawes and High Abbotside [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative John Blackie48787.7
Richmondshire Independent GroupClive Rudd6812.3
Majority 41975.5
Turnout 55553.0
Hipswell (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Richmondshire Independent GroupPaul Cullen149
Liberal Democrats Ann Bagley130
Conservative Melva Steckles108
Independent Betty Robertson70
Turnout 45716.7
Hornby Castle [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Richard Dunn29087.3
Richmondshire Independent GroupAndrew Munro4212.7
Majority 24874.7
Turnout 33235.3
Leyburn (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Morton423
Liberal Democrats Frances Ramsbottom238
Liberal Democrats Kathleen Weedon193
Turnout 85431.3
Lower Wensleydale [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Keith Loadmanunopposed
Melsonby [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent John Gill22656.5
Richmondshire Independent GroupTimothy Place17443.5
Majority 5213.0
Turnout 40037.4
Middleham [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Howard Thomasunopposed
Middleton Tyas [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Jill McMullon38075.1
Richmondshire Independent GroupHarold Joicey12624.9
Majority 25450.2
Turnout 50649.6
Newsham with Eppleby [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Richmondshire Independent GroupDavid Maudeunopposed
Penhill [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative George Dentunopposed
Reeth and Arkengarthdale [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Oswin Kendallunopposed
Richmond Central (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Clive World480
Liberal Democrats Sheila Clarke381
Richmondshire Independent GroupKatherine Carr368
Conservative David Johnson323
Turnout 1,55240.1
Richmond East (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats John Harris486
Richmondshire Independent GroupThomas Burrows409
Conservative Iain McDougall408
Liberal Democrats John Robinson342
Turnout 1,64545.6
Richmond West (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Linda Curranunopposed
Liberal Democrats Stuart Parsonsunopposed
Scotton (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Patricia Middlemiss204
Independent David Leadbeatter150
Liberal Democrats Karin Ecker109
Richmondshire Independent GroupMichael Kerr105
Turnout 56817.8
Swaledale [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Raymond Alderson32773.0
Richmondshire Independent GroupStephen Smethurst12127.0
Majority 20646.0
Turnout 44846.6

By-elections between 2003 and 2007

A by-election was held in Gilling West on 2 November 2006 after the resignation of independent councillor John Cronin. [11] The seat was won by independent William Heslop with a majority of 116 votes over Conservative candidate Margaret Turnbull. [11]

Gilling West by-election 2 November 2006 [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent William Heslop25864.5−2.5
Conservative Margaret Turnbull14235.5+2.5
Majority 11629.0−5.0
Turnout 40040.4−1.5
Independent hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Election results". Financial Times . NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 4.
  3. 1 2 Parsley, Steve (2 May 2003). "Conservatives pip Lib Dems to council chamber seats". The Northern Echo . NewsBank. p. 8. ISSN   2043-0442.
  4. 1 2 "New-look to chamber takes shape". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 15 May 2003.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Parsley, Steve (5 April 2003). "Council facing major changes". The Northern Echo . NewsBank. p. 6. ISSN   2043-0442.
  6. 1 2 "Conservatives 'delighted' by poll results". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 3 May 2003.
  7. ↑ Burton, Nigel (2 May 2003). "BNP fails to grab foothold in region". The Northern Echo . NewsBank. p. 1. ISSN   2043-0442.
  8. ↑ "District Council Elections". Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Familiar look to new chiefs". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 22 May 2003.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "District Council election" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 "District Council by-elections results 1973 to 2015" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Retrieved 24 August 2015.[ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.