2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election

Map of the results of the 2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2008.

The 2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Huntingdonshire District Council in Cambridgeshire, 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 38
• Liberal Democrats 12
• Independent 2 ^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 39 seats, compared to 11 Liberal Democrats and 2 independents. ^[3] 18 seats were contested at the election by a total of 69 candidates, with the Conservatives defending 14 of the seats. ^{[3] [4]}

Among the councillors who were defending seats were the Conservative leader of the council, Ian Bates, in The Hemingfords ward, and the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Peter Downes in Brampton. ^[3] Ian Bates was challenged by an independent candidate, Maxine Hay, who had become a road safety campaigner after her son was killed after being hit by a car, with the Liberal Democrat candidate for the seat withdrawing in her favour. ^[5]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of 1 seat to move to 12 councillors at the expense of the Conservatives who remained in control of the council with 38 seats. ^[6] The Liberal Democrats gained seats in Buckden and Huntingdon East from the Conservatives, but lost a seat back to them in St Neots Eaton Socon. ^[6]

Huntingdonshire local election result 2008 ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	13	1	2	-1	72.2	52.7	16,920	-5.2%
	Liberal Democrats	4	2	1	+1	22.2	29.9	9,593	-1.5%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	5.6	5.2	1,681	+5.2%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	6.1	1,948	-2.0%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	5.6	1,796	+5.0%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.6	181	-0.4%

Ward results

Brampton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Downes	1,415	57.3	+6.5
	Conservative	Keith Stukins	1,007	40.8	-5.3
	Labour	Patrick Kadewere	49	2.0	-1.2
Majority			408	16.5	+11.8
Turnout			2,471	52.2	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Buckden ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Terry Clough	795	59.4	+20.1
	Conservative	Alan Barber	514	38.4	-18.4
	Labour	Thelma Lomax	30	2.2	-1.7
Majority			281	21.0	N/A
Turnout			1,339	52.9	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Godmanchester ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Godley	872	46.7	-3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Wilson	841	45.0	+2.2
	UKIP	Shirley Reeve	79	4.2	+4.2
	Labour	Ann Beevor	76	4.1	-2.5
Majority			31	1.7	-6.0
Turnout			1,868	40.9	-2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Huntingdon East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Shellens	1,239	47.3	+9.6
	Conservative	Malcolm Lyons	1,016	38.8	-10.3
	Labour	Ruth Pugh	154	5.9	-2.0
	UKIP	Derek Norman	145	5.5	+5.5
	Green	Angela Mander-Jones	64	2.4	-2.8
Majority			223	8.5	N/A
Turnout			2,618	38.9	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Huntingdon North ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeff Dutton	473	47.2	+11.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Morgan	300	29.9	-7.8
	Labour	David King	147	14.7	-5.6
	UKIP	Peter Ashcroft	83	8.3	+8.3
Majority			173	17.3
Turnout			1,003	26.1	-1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Little Paxton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Churchill	806	69.1	-0.9
	Independent	Frank Owens	196	16.8	+16.8
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Cummings	65	5.6	-17.9
	Labour	Chrissy Ellarby	51	4.4	-2.1
	Green	Sarah Boulton	49	4.2	+4.2
Majority			610	52.3	+5.8
Turnout			1,167	48.0	-0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ramsey ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip Swales	957	46.2	-11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Hollis	564	27.2	-7.1
	UKIP	Peter Reeve	452	21.8	+21.8
	Labour	Susan Coomey	100	4.8	-2.9
Majority			393	19.0	-4.8
Turnout			2,073	32.5	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sawtry ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dick Tuplin	1,023	53.1	+1.6
	Conservative	Vivienne McGuire	824	42.8	+7.9
	Labour	Kevin Goddard	79	4.1	+0.3
Majority			199	10.3	-6.2
Turnout			1,926	38.8	+0.9
	Independent hold		Swing

Somersham ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Criswell	1,123	63.4	-2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Hulme	502	28.3	+0.3
	UKIP	Julian Fairweather	80	4.5	+4.5
	Labour	Mary Howell	66	3.7	-2.3
Majority			621	35.1	-3.0
Turnout			1,771	39.3	+1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Ives East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jason Ablewhite	864	55.2	-3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Waters	321	20.5	-9.7
	UKIP	Michael Horwood	276	17.6	+17.6
	Labour	Angela Richards	105	6.7	-4.9
Majority			543	34.7	+6.6
Turnout			1,566	31.3	+6.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Ives South ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Davies	1,231	65.8	+10.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Hodge	483	25.8	-10.2
	Labour	John Watson	156	8.3	-0.1
Majority			748	40.0	+20.5
Turnout			1,870	40.0	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Ives West ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julie Dew	464	43.1	-7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Saunderson	381	35.4	-6.3
	UKIP	Margaret King	168	15.6	+15.6
	Labour	Ros Trayner	63	5.9	-2.1
Majority			83	7.7	-0.9
Turnout			1,076	49.0	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Neots Eaton Ford ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Farrer	1,132	61.1	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Franks	562	30.3	-8.1
	Labour	David Brown	92	5.0	-0.6
	Green	Karen How	68	3.7	+3.7
Majority			570	30.7	+13.1
Turnout			1,854	34.8	-2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Neots Eaton Socon ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mandy Thomas	911	57.5	+10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Giles	620	39.2	-8.3
	Labour	Carole Hitchings	52	3.3	-2.5
Majority			291	18.4	N/A
Turnout			1,583	37.8	+3.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

St Neots Eynesbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Hansard	1,031	54.9	+13.7
	Liberal Democrats	Diana Collins	666	35.4	-0.6
	Labour	William O'Connor	182	9.7	+0.5
Majority			365	19.4	+14.2
Turnout			1,879	25.5	-4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

The Hemingfords ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Bates	1,412	69.1	+3.3
	Independent	Maxine Hay	462	22.6	+22.6
	Labour	Jacqueline Gilbert	168	8.2	+2.9
Majority			950	46.5	+9.7
Turnout			2,042	43.8	-1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Warboys and Bury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Ward	839	46.0	+9.2
	Conservative	Jill Travener	787	43.2	-14.8
	UKIP	Lisa Duffy	138	7.6	+7.6
	Labour	Graeme Watkins	59	3.2	-2.0
Majority			52	2.8
Turnout			1,823	38.7	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Yaxley and Farcet ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Watt	1,496	68.3	-6.6
	UKIP	Robert Brown	375	17.1	+17.1
	Labour	Margaret Cochrane	319	14.6	-10.5
Majority			1,121	51.2	+1.3
Turnout			2,190	28.5	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

Ramsey April 2009

A by-election was held in Ramsey on 2 April 2009 after the death of Conservative councillor Ross Muir. ^[9] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Andy Monk with a majority of 106 votes over Peter Reeve of the UK Independence Party. ^[9]

Ramsey by-election 2 April 2009 ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Monk	626	38.1	-8.1
	UKIP	Peter Reeve	520	31.6	+9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Mumford	432	26.3	-0.9
	Labour	Graham Watkins	67	4.1	-0.7
Majority			106	6.4	-12.6
Turnout			1,645	25.8	-6.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ramsey July 2009

A by-election was held in Ramsey on 23 July 2009 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Ray Powell. ^[11] The seat was gained for the UK Independence Party by Peter Reeve with a majority of 184 votes over the Conservative Angela Curtis. ^[11]

Ramsey by-election 23 July 2009 ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Peter Reeve	753	39.2	+7.6
	Conservative	Angela Curtis	569	29.6	-8.5
	Independent	Jeffrey Clarke	303	15.8	+15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Melanie Allgood	295	15.4	-10.9
Majority			184	9.6	N/A
Turnout			1,920	30.1	+4.3
	UKIP gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Huntingdon North

A by-election was held in Huntingdon North on 29 October 2009 after Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Kemp resigned from the council. ^[12] The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Trish Shrapnel with a majority of 30 votes over Conservative Laine Kadic, in a seat won by the Conservatives at the last council election in 2008. ^{[12] [13]}

Huntingdon North by-election 29 October 2009 ^{[12] [13] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Trish Shrapnel	243	32.6	+2.7
	Conservative	Laine Kadic	213	28.6	-18.6
	UKIP	Peter Ashcroft	167	22.4	+14.1
	Labour	Ann Beevor	123	16.5	+1.8
Majority			30	4.0
Turnout			746	19.0	-7.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Fenstanton

A by-election was held in Fenstanton on 25 February 2010 after Conservative councillor Paul Dakers resigned from the council saying that all political parties were hopeless. ^{[14] [15]} The seat was gained by Liberal Democrat Colin Saunderson from the Conservatives, with a majority of 54 votes. ^[15]

Fenstanton by-election 25 February 2010 ^{[15] [10] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Saunderson	391	51.1	+4.2
	Conservative	David O'Neill	337	44.1	-4.1
	Labour	Angela Richards	37	4.8	-0.1
Majority			54	7.0	N/A
Turnout			765	31.0	-6.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. "Huntingdonshire". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
2. "Full election results". The Guardian . The Guardian. 3 May 2008.
3. "Two leaders are seeking re-election". Peterborough Evening Telegraph . NewsBank. 10 April 2008.
4. "Sixty-nine candidates to contest HDC seats in May". Hunts Post. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
5. "Lib Dems' tactical withdrawal clears way for bid to oust HDC leader". Hunts Post. 9 April 2008.
6. "LibDems make a gain in Huntingdonshire". Peterborough Evening Telegraph . NewsBank. 2 May 2008.
7. "Results - Local elections 08". The Times . NewsBank. 3 May 2008.
8. "District Council Election" (PDF). Huntingdonshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
9. "Successful poll day for Hunts Tories". Hunts Post. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
10. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
11. "Election victory for UKIP". Cambridge News . 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
12. "Lib Dems hold seat in Huntingdon". Peterborough Telegraph . 3 November 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
13. "Lib Dems hold marginal council seat". Local Government Chronicle . 30 October 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
14. "Angry resignation of Fenstanton's district councillor". Hunts Post. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
15. "Lib Dems and Tories gain as Labour vote slips". Press Association . The Independent. 26 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
16. "Fenstanton Parish News". Fenstanton. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2014.