2004 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election

The 2004 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Stratford-on-Avon District Council in Warwickshire, 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 30
• Liberal Democrat 20
• Independent 3 ^[2]

Background

19 of the 53 seats on the council were contested in the election. ^[3] The Conservatives were defending 11 of the seats and this was seen as giving the Liberal Democrats a chance at taking over control of the council, ^[3] which had a one-seat Conservative majority before the election. ^[4] Meanwhile, Labour had their only remaining council seat up for election in Southam ward, leading to the possibility that they could fail to be represented on the council after the election. ^[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives strengthen their majority on the council up to 7 seats. ^[5] They gained 4 seats in Harbury, Southam, Stratford Guild and Hathaway and Wellesbourne wards and only suffered 1 loss to the Liberal Democrats in Studley. ^[5] While the Liberal Democrats lost ground as a result, the defeat in Southam meant Labour was no longer represented on the council. ^{[6] [7]}

The Conservatives said they were pleased with the results, that saw them win almost half of the vote, and which they put down to a strong positive campaign. ^[8] Overall turnout in the election was higher than the national average at 43.5%. ^[9]

Stratford-on-Avon Local Election Result 2004 ^{[2] [10]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	14	4	1	+3	73.7	49.9	14,264	+10.3%
	Liberal Democrats	4	1	3	-2	21.1	39.2	11,192	-6.3%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	5.3	6.2	1,780	-4.3%
	Labour	0	0	1	-1	0	4.7	1,347	+0.6%

Ward results

Alcester ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Clifford Meade	1,054	57.6	-1.7
	Conservative	Maurice Abney-Hastings	665	36.4	-4.3
	Labour	Matthew Stephens	110	6.0	+6.0
Majority			389	21.3	+2.7
Turnout			1,829	39.8	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Aston Cantlow ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Lawrence	479	61.1	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Shahid Juned	305	38.9	-6.0
Majority			174	22.2	+12.0
Turnout			784	52.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bardon ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Winterburn	435	64.9	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Insoll	235	35.1	+3.8
Majority			200	29.9	+1.0
Turnout			670	43.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bidford and Salford ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Kim James	997	56.0	+56.0
	Independent	John Sandle	783	44.0	+44.0
Majority			214	12.0
Turnout			1,780	36.0	+8.5
	Independent hold		Swing

Burton Dassett ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Jackson	536	65.8	-4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Evans	279	34.2	+4.4
Majority			257	31.5	-8.9
Turnout			815	49.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Claverdon ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Harrison	625	73.3	-8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanne Lowe	228	26.7	+8.5
Majority			397	46.5	-17.1
Turnout			853	47.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ettington ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Isobel Seccombe	578	65.4	+9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Brabyn	306	34.6	-9.8
Majority			272	30.8	+19.6
Turnout			884	49.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harbury ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Dally	847	52.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Booth	770	47.6
Majority			77	4.8
Turnout			1,617	43.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Henley ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Thirlwell	1,052	70.3	+12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Edwards	444	29.7	-12.4
Majority			608	40.6	+24.8
Turnout			1,496	43.4	+10.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kineton ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Higgs	920	58.9	+6.7
	Conservative	Richard Hurley	643	41.1	-6.7
Majority			277	17.7	+13.2
Turnout			1,563	47.2	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Shipston ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trevor Russell	897	53.6	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Troup	778	46.4	-10.7
Majority			119	7.2
Turnout			1,675	45.3	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southam ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Appleton	774	47.3	+5.2
	Labour	James Taylor	632	38.7	-2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Ritchie	229	14.0	-2.6
Majority			142	8.7	+7.9
Turnout			1,635	33.2	+1.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Stratford Alveston ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynda Organ	1,162	56.7	+13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Joan McFarlane	886	43.3	+6.3
Majority			276	13.5	+6.8
Turnout			2,048	49.1	+7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stratford Avenue and New Town ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Juliet Short	939	52.3	+27.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Tredwell	684	38.1	+2.3
	Labour	Karen Parnell	172	9.6	+5.6
Majority			255	14.2
Turnout			1,795	36.4	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stratford Guild and Hathaway ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Perry	1,169	49.9	+18.6
	Liberal Democrats	William Dowling	981	41.8	+4.2
	Labour	Doreen Wright	195	8.3	+0.9
Majority			188	8.1
Turnout			2,345	43.2	+5.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Stratford Mount Pleasant ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Bates	756	62.9	+2.3
	Conservative	Laura Main	359	29.9	+29.9
	Labour	Ewan Wainwright	86	7.2	+2.6
Majority			397	33.1	+7.3
Turnout			1,201	36.4	-1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Studley ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Beaman	972	50.5	-7.7
	Conservative	William McCarthy	802	41.6	-0.2
	Labour	Michael Gerrard	152	7.9	+7.9
Majority			170	8.8	-7.6
Turnout			1,926	42.2	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Tanworth ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Flower	1,037	81.7
	Liberal Democrats	Karyl Rees	233	18.3
Majority			804	63.3
Turnout			1,270	41.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wellesbourne ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anita MacAulay	1,265	52.8	+17.8
	Liberal Democrats	Priscilla Cook	1,132	47.2	+6.4
Majority			133	5.5
Turnout			2,397	45.7	+6.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

References

1. "Stratford-On-Avon council". BBC News Online . Retrieved 26 March 2010.
2. "Ballot box". The Times . 12 June 2004. p. 26.
3. "Politics on a knife edge ; Stratford District Council, Local council elections, June 10th: Candidates". Coventry Evening Telegraph . 18 May 2004. p. 39.
4. Dale, Paul (8 June 2004). "Election Nominations 2004: All eyes on Super Thursday". Birmingham Post . p. 24.
5. "Tories increase power in county". Coventry Evening Telegraph . 12 June 2004. p. 1.
6. "Labour wiped off the map in Stratford". Coventry Evening Telegraph . 12 June 2004.
7. "Labour knocked out of Stratford". The Courier. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
8. Probert, Sarah (12 June 2004). "Council Elections: Stratford: Increased majority sees party's grip tighten". Birmingham Post . p. 5.
9. "Election results for Stratford District Council". BBC News Online . 11 June 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
10. "District Council Election Results". Stratford-on-Avon District Council. Archived from the original on 3 November 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2010.