2003 Wychavon District Council election

Map of the results of the 2003 Wychavon District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Labour in red.

The 2003 Wychavon District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Wychavon District Council in Worcestershire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999 reducing the number of seats by four. ^[1] The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 33 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 10 seats, Labour had 3, there was 1 independent and 2 seats were vacant. ^[3] Boundary changes since 1999 reduced the number of wards from 36 to 32 and the number of councillors fell by four. ^[4] Although all of the seats on the council were up for election, in Norton and Whittington, and Pinvin, there was no election as there was only one candidate in each ward. ^[3]

One-third of the Conservative councillors stood down at the election, ^[3] as well as independent John Smith who had represented Pershore on Wychavon District Council from its first election in 1973. ^[5]

Election result

The Conservatives remained in control of the council after winning 31 of the 45 seats on the council. ^[4] The Liberal Democrats remained the largest opposition with 12 seats, while Labour took two seats. ^[6] Overall turnout at the election was 37.94%, almost 4% higher than at the 1999 election. ^[7]

Among the defeated candidates was the Labour leader on Worcestershire County Council, Peter Pinfield, who lost in Droitwich East. ^[4] Meanwhile, the Conservative leader of the council, Malcolm Meikle, held his seat by 39 votes and the Liberal Democrat group leader, Margaret Rowley was elected by 19 votes after recounts in both wards. ^[4] However the Conservatives did lose seats in Pershore, where the Liberal Democrats won all three seats for the ward. ^[7]

Wychavon local election result 2003 ^{[2] [8]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	31			-2	68.9	53.6	23,316	+8.0%
	Liberal Democrats	12			+2	26.7	28.3	12,316	+0.4%
	Labour	2			-2	4.4	11.1	4,841	-4.2%
	Independent	0			-2	0	6.4	2,767	-2.2%
	Green	0			0	0	0.7	285	+0.0%

Ward results

Badsey ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sonya Ealey	321	50.7
	Conservative	Reginald Jakeman	312	49.3
Majority			9	1.4
Turnout			633	30.1

Bengeworth (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Jennings	514
	Conservative	Emma Stokes	421
	Labour	Stephen Selby	319
	Independent	Albert Booth	312
Turnout			1,566	28.9

Bowbrook ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandra Rowley	471	51.0
	Conservative	Christopher Hartwright	452	49.0
Majority			19	2.1
Turnout			923	47.9

Bredon ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adrian Hardman	487	63.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanette Way	218	28.4
	Labour	Peter Kelson	62	8.1
Majority			269	35.1
Turnout			767	38.9

Bretforton and Offenham ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	George Bourne	409	67.0
	Conservative	Patrick Clifford	201	33.0
Majority			208	34.1
Turnout			610	30.3

Broadway and Wickhamford (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Folkes	964
	Conservative	David Noyes	774
	Liberal Democrats	Carolyn Harford	343
Turnout			2,081	32.7

Dodderhill ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Judith Pearce	393	69.1
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Prior	176	30.9
Majority			217	38.1
Turnout			569	32.2

Drakes Broughton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Middlebrough	417	58.8
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Wilkinson	292	41.2
Majority			125	17.6
Turnout			709	37.5

Droitwich Central ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Gopsill	238	37.4
	Labour	Eve Freer	235	36.9
	Conservative	Glenise Noyes	164	25.7
Majority			3	0.5
Turnout			637	30.2

Droitwich East (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Barratt	788
	Conservative	Pamela Davey	716
	Labour	Peter Pinfield	691
	Labour	Sheila Neary	667
Turnout			2,862	35.3

Droitwich South East (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eileen Hope	730
	Conservative	Donald Lawley	645
	Independent	Ronald Waters	487
	Labour	Bill Baker	286
	Labour	Jon Baker	264
Turnout			2,412	33.8

Droitwich South West (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Spencer	497
	Conservative	Maureen Lawley	476
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Carter	391
	Independent	Claude Heeley	358
	Labour	John Cook	324
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela Jackson-Smith	282
	Labour	Sheila Seabourne	278
Turnout			2,606	34.6

Droitwich West (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Seabourne	473
	Labour	John Wrenn	442
	Conservative	Laurence Evans	314
	Conservative	Alan Fisher	306
Turnout			1,535	21.1

Ecckington ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Wright	507	59.1
	Liberal Democrats	Roy Chiverton	234	27.3
	Labour	Priscilla Cameron	117	13.6
Majority			273	31.8
Turnout			858	39.0

Elmley Castle and Somerville ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dorothy Mackison	558	62.3
	Liberal Democrats	Garth Raymer	338	37.7
Majority			220	24.6
Turnout			896	45.1

Evesham North (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Josephine Sandalls	461
	Conservative	Roma Kirke	436
	Labour	Robin Lunn	302
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Christie	298
	Independent	Paul Rencher	220
Turnout			1,717	28.1

Evesham South (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Cartwright	549
	Conservative	Robert Banks	504
	Liberal Democrats	Diana Brown	354
Turnout			1,407	22.9

Fladbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Meikle	558	49.3
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas McDonald	522	46.1
	Labour	Ross Hayman	52	4.6
Majority			36	3.2
Turnout			1,132	52.0

Great Hampton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Smith	420	68.4
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Martin	194	31.6
Majority			226	36.8
Turnout			614	29.8

Hartlebury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Muriel Mathews	435	77.1
	Labour	Steven Westwood	129	22.9
Majority			306	54.3
Turnout			564	26.0

Havington and Norton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clive Holt	425	58.7
	Liberal Democrats	Noel Christie	299	41.3
Majority			126	17.4
Turnout			724	35.4

Honeybourne and Pebworth ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Bean	295	47.6
	Independent	Sharon Summers	180	29.0
	Conservative	Lesley Auden	145	23.4
Majority			115	18.5
Turnout			620	32.6

Inkberrow (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Audrey Steel	1,262
	Conservative	David Lee	1,093
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Davey	632
	Liberal Democrats	Donald Aldridge	518
Turnout			3,505	41.3

Little Hampton (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Dyke	480
	Liberal Democrats	John Payne	420
	Conservative	John Stych	333
Turnout			1,233	21.5

Lovett and North Claines (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Coley	897
	Conservative	Andrew Christian-Brookes	870
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Miller	556
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Saunders	457
Turnout			2,780	35.8

Norton and Whittington ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Adams	unopposed

Ombersley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jean Dowty	539	80.6
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Cussen	130	19.4
Majority			409	61.1
Turnout			669	36.5

Pershore (3 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gaynor Amphhlett	898
	Liberal Democrats	John Grantham	785
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Tucker	731
	Conservative	Richard Hampton	654
	Conservative	Valerie Wood	607
	Conservative	Maurene Wilson	529
	Independent	Trudy Burge	455
	Independent	Raith Annis	328
	Green	David Shaw	285
	Independent	Malcolm Dalley	216
	Independent	Kenneth Rowe	211
	Labour	Susan Hayman	155
Turnout			5,854	36.3

Pinvin ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Argyle	unopposed

South Bredon Hill ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Darby	555	57.3
	Conservative	Beverley Hardman	368	38.0
	Labour	Fiona Cameron	45	4.6
Majority			187	19.3
Turnout			968	50.6

The Littletons ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Smith	532	60.0
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Martin	354	40.0
Majority			178	20.1
Turnout			886	40.5

Upton Snodsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Tucker	605	50.9
	Conservative	Linda Robinson	583	49.1
Majority			22	1.9
Turnout			1,188	55.8

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 27 April 2015.
2. "English councils - Non-metropolitan districts". The Times . NewsBank. 3 May 2003. p. 47.
3. "Tories under siege at polls". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 11 April 2003.
4. "Victory fails to bring control". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
5. "'Mr Pershore' John standing down after 56 year's service". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 10 April 2003.
6. "Local election results - Wychavon". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
7. "Tory joy at the local elections". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 8 May 2003.
8. "District Council election" (PDF). Wychavon District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.