2004 Craven District Council election

Map of the results of the 2004 Craven District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2004.

The 2004 Craven District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was as follows:

• Conservative 13
• Independent 11
• Liberal Democrats 6 ^[2]

Background

After the last election in 2003, the Conservatives had 11 seats, compared to 10 for independents and 9 Liberal Democrats. ^[3] However, in November 2003 an independent candidate gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats at a by-election in Bentham. ^[4]

At the 2004 election two long serving councillors stood down, Beth Graham from Settle and Ribblesbanks ward, who had been a councillor since 1976, and Peter Walbank of Grassington ward. ^[5] Candidates at the election included the first Labour Party candidate for a few years, James Black in Skipton South, while the Green Party also stood a candidate in Aire Valley with Lothersdale. ^[5]

Election result

The Conservatives gained 2 seats at the election to have 13 councillors, compared to 11 independents and 6 Liberal Democrats. ^[6] Overall turnout at the election reached 50% after being held with all postal voting, only 9% below the turnout nationally at the 2001 general election, with the high turnout leading to a delay in the counting of the results. ^[7]

Craven local election result 2004 ^{[2] [8]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	6	2	0	+2	54.5	41.6	5,549	-4.1%
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	2	-2	27.3	29.9	3,982	+5.6%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	18.2	24.9	3,318	-5.1%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.1	285	+2.1%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	1.5	204	+1.5%

Ward results

Aire Valley with Lothersdale ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Fairbank	725	52.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Manley	365	26.5
	Green	John Akroyd	285	20.7
Majority			360	26.2
Turnout			1,375	51.7	+14.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Barden Fell ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Knowles-Fitton	414	51.2	−13.0
	Independent	Cecil Hammond	302	37.3	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Moorby	93	11.5	+11.5
Majority			112	13.9	−14.5
Turnout			809	59.9	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cowling ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Alderson	374	45.1
	Independent	Alan Perrow	316	38.1
	Conservative	Geoffrey Dunn	140	16.9
Majority			58	7.0
Turnout			830	50.1
	Independent hold		Swing

Grassington ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Foster	616	73.2
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Rankine	225	26.8
Majority			391	46.5
Turnout			841	65.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ingleton and Clapham ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Ireton	1,403	81.9
	Conservative	Alex Bentley	310	18.1
Majority			1,093	63.8
Turnout			1,713	56.9
	Independent hold		Swing

Settle and Ribblebanks ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Whaites	740	50.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Graveson	726	49.5
Majority			14	1.0
Turnout			1,466	53.3	+14.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Skipton East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Jaquin	728	51.1	+24.3
	Conservative	Christopher Harbron	697	48.9	+17.4
Majority			31	2.2
Turnout			1,425	52.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Skipton North ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Whitaker	679	41.7	−14.7
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Doyle	549	33.7	−9.9
	Independent	John Kerwin-Davey	399	24.5	+24.5
Majority			130	8.0	−4.9
Turnout			1,627	59.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Skipton South ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Solloway	501	44.8	+44.8
	Conservative	Kenneth Creek	224	20.0	+4.7
	Labour	James Black	204	18.2	+18.2
	Independent	Dennis Hall	190	17.0	−40.5
Majority			277	24.8
Turnout			1,119	41.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Skipton West ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul English	795	65.3	−1.7
	Conservative	Norman Spence	423	34.7	+1.7
Majority			372	30.5	−3.5
Turnout			1,218	43.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Upper Wharfedale ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Sayer	581	63.5	+5.1
	Independent	Kenneth Luty	334	36.5	+8.2
Majority			247	27.0	−3.1
Turnout			915	61.1	+7.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2004 and 2006

Upper Wharfedale by-election 2 March 2006 ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julia Mulligan	394	54.7	−8.8
	Independent		326	45.3	+8.8
Majority			68	9.4	−17.6
Turnout			720	47.0	−14.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Craven council". BBC News Online. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
2. "Ballot box – Elections". The Times . NewsBank. 12 June 2004. p. 26.
3. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 14 March 2015.
4. "Independents win in byelection polls". The Guardian . Press Association. 14 November 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
5. "Long-serving councillors retire". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 14 May 2004.
6. White, Clive (18 June 2004). "Election shock as BNP moves in". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank.
7. Hetherington, Peter (11 June 2004). "Elections 2004: Councils report big rise in turnout in areas voting only by post: Regions Surge forces delay in count". The Guardian . NewsBank.
8. "District Council election" (PDF). Craven District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015– via Political Science Resources.
9. "Labour makes surprise byelection gain". The Guardian . Press Association. 3 March 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
10. Williamson, Howard (6 December 2006). "Leeds woman is Tories' first female candidate". Yorkshire Evening Post . Retrieved 13 March 2015.