2008 Harlow District Council election

2008 Harlow District Council election

←  2007 1 May 2008 2010  →
11 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour Last election 12 8 12 Seats before 13 8 11 Seats won 9 2 0 Seats after 19 8 6 Seat change 6 5 Popular vote 10,372 5,582 4,238 Percentage 50.9% 27.4% 20.8%   Fourth party   Party Independent Last election 1 Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seats after 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 53 Percentage 0.9%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2008 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Conservative

The 2008 Harlow District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, including the delayed election in Harlow Common, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 19
• Liberal Democrats 8
• Labour 6 ^[2]

Background

After the last election in 2007 both the Conservative and Labour parties had 12 seats, the Liberal Democrats had 8 and there was 1 independent councillor. ^[3] However, in October 2007 the Conservatives gained a seat from Labour in Toddbrook to move to 13 seats, while Labour dropped to 11. ^[4]

Before the election the council was run by a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, ^[5] which had held power in Harlow since 2004. ^[6] Among the councillors to stand down at the election were Liberal Democrat Su Lawton of Staple Tye ward and independent, former Conservative, John Paul Goddard of Sumners and Kingsmoor. ^[7]

The election in Harlow Common ward was delayed until 12 June 2008, ^[8] after the death of Labour councillor Gregory Peck in April 2008. ^[9]

Election result

The Conservatives gained a majority on the council after gaining 5 seats on the day of the May election, while Labour lost 4 seats. ^[10] The Conservatives took seats from Labour in Little Parndon and Hare Street and Toddbrook, from the Liberal Democrats in Netteswell and Staple Tye and from an independent in Sumners and Kingsmoor. ^[11] This meant the Conservatives took 8 of the 10 seats contested and finished the day with 18 councillors. ^[11]

Labour failed to win any seats and dropped to 6 councillors after also losing 2 seats to the Liberal Democrats. ^[11] The Liberal Democrat gains from Labour came in Bush Fair and Mark Hall wards and meant they stayed on 8 councillors. ^[11] Overall turnout at the election was 33.80%, down from 34.75% at the 2007 election. ^[8]

The delayed election in Harlow Common took place on 12 June 2008 and the Conservatives gained another seat from Labour with a majority of 331 votes. ^[6] This increased the Conservative's majority on the council to 5 seats, with them having 19 of the 33 councillors. ^[6]

Harlow local election result 2008 ^[8]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	6	0	6	81.8	50.9	10,372	5.1
	Liberal Democrats	2	2	2		18.2	20.8	4,238	0.6
	Labour	0	0	5	5	0	27.4	5,582	4.5
	UKIP	0	0	0		0	0.6	115	0.6
	Independent	0	0	1	1	0	0.3	53	0.6

The above totals include the delayed election in Harlow Common on 12 June 2008.

Ward results

Bush Fair

Location of Bush Fair ward

Bush Fair ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Manny Doku	860	41.6	+0.2
	Labour	Terry Brandon	652	31.6	-6.9
	Conservative	Michelle Dorling	554	26.8	+6.8
Majority			208	10.0	+7.1
Turnout			2,066	36.2	-0.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Church Langley

Location of Church Langley ward

Church Langley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Carter	1,366	76.4
	Labour	Ken Lawrie	259	14.5
	Liberal Democrats	Laura Rideout	164	9.2
Majority			1,107	61.9
Turnout			1,789	28.3	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Great Parndon

Location of Great Parndon ward

Great Parndon ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eddie Johnson	1,164	63.8	+8.7
	Labour	Norman Knight	478	26.2	-7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Aran Black	182	10.0	-1.3
Majority			686	37.6	+16.1
Turnout			1,824	35.2	-0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Little Parndon and Hare Street

Location of Little Parndon and Hare Street ward

Little Parndon and Hare Street ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Shona Johnson	829	48.8	+9.7
	Labour	Mike Danvers	708	41.6	-7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Kuzna Jackson	163	9.6	-2.2
Majority			121	7.2	-2.9
Turnout			1,700	31.7	-2.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Mark Hall

Location of Mark Hall ward

Mark Hall ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Macy	744	36.8	+0.3
	Conservative	Jane Steer	681	33.6	+6.0
	Labour	Sean Folan	599	29.6	-6.3
Majority			63	3.2	+2.6
Turnout			2,024	39.9	-1.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Netteswell

Location of Netteswell ward

Netteswell ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Gough	681	35.6	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Jackson	579	30.2	-1.9
	Labour	Dennis Palmer	540	28.2	-6.5
	UKIP	Daniel Balding	115	6.0	+6.0
Majority			102	5.4
Turnout			1,915	35.7	+0.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Old Harlow

Location of Old Harlow ward

Old Harlow ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Muriel Jolles	1,129	65.4	+10.9
	Labour	Paul Sztumpf	373	21.6	-0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Macneill	225	13.0	+1.1
Majority			756	43.8	+11.5
Turnout			1,727	33.9	-3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Staple Tye

Location of Staple Tye ward

Staple Tye ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Kirton	848	50.6	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Strachan	556	33.2	-3.5
	Labour	Janice Fenny	272	16.2	-4.3
Majority			292	17.4	+11.3
Turnout			1,676	32.3	+0.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Sumners and Kingsmoor

Location of Summers and Kingsmoor ward

Sumners and Kingsmoor ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Russell Perrin	1,097	65.3	+9.8
	Labour	Sue Ennifer	406	24.2	-7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Sanderson	176	10.5	-2.8
Majority			691	41.1	+16.8
Turnout			1,679	30.8	+1.7
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Toddbrook

Location of Toddbrook ward

Toddbrook ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joel Charles	1,064	56.0	+16.2
	Labour	Bob Hickey	667	35.1	-5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Watkiss	170	8.9	+2.6
Majority			397	20.9
Turnout			1,901	36.4	-1.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Harlow Common delayed election

Harlow Common ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clive Souter	959	46.6	+3.1
	Labour	Norman Knight	628	30.5	-14.5
	Liberal Democrats	James Rideout	419	20.3	+8.7
	Independent	Jim Pailing	53	2.6	+2.6
Majority			331	16.1
Turnout			2,059	37.2	-0.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

A by-election was held in Staple Tye on 30 April 2009 after councillor David Kirton was disqualified for not attending any meetings for 6 months. David Kirton had been elected as a Conservative, but was suspended from the party in October 2008 after being charged by police and was then an independent councillor. ^{[12] [13]}

The seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by John Strachan with a majority of 60 votes over the Conservatives. ^[13]

Staple Tye by-election 30 April 2009 ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Strachan	604	39.1	+5.9
	Conservative	Lorriane Caldarella	544	35.3	-15.3
	Labour	Dennis Palmer	329	21.3	+5.1
	UKIP	Daniel Balding	66	4.3	+4.3
Majority			60	3.9
Turnout			1,543	30	-2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

References

1. "Harlow". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
2. "Harlow Common Ward Election Result". Harlow District Council. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
3. "Harlow". BBC News Online. 3 May 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
4. "Harlow Council By Election Results October 2007". Harlow District Council. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
5. Andalo, Debbie (23 April 2008). "Harlow : Where else can I go?". The Guardian . NewsBank.
6. "Tories win by-election". Harlow Star. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
7. Wilkinson, Ben (31 March 2008). "Councillors to step down". Harlow Star. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
8. "Harlow Council Election Results 2008". Harlow District Council. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
9. "Harlow Council election candidates". Harlow Star. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
10. "Brown admits fall to third place amounts to 'bad night' for Labour". The Guardian . NewsBank. 2 May 2008.
11. Jensen, Isabel (2 May 2008). "Harlow: Conservatives sweep to power in "disastrous" night for Labour". Bishops Stortford Citizen. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
12. "Update: Tory party suspends councillor". Harlow Herald. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
13. "Harlow: Lib Dems narrowly beat Conservatives in Staple Tye by-election". Harlow Herald. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2015.