2008 Purbeck District Council election

Results of the 2008 Purbeck District Council election

Elections to Purbeck District Council were held on 1 May 2008. Nine of the twenty-four seats on the council were up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. ^[1] Overall turnout was 44.86%. ^[2]

A big issue in the election was housing with much criticism of plans to build over five thousand homes in the district by 2026. ^[3] The nominations for the election saw an unusual event when Liberal Democrat candidate Alexandra Brenton signed the nomination papers for her friend and Labour Party candidate Selby Bennett. ^[4] Two seats were contested in Lytchett Matravers after Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Peacock stood down in February. ^[5]

The results saw the Liberal Democrat party gained Wareham and Wool wards from the Conservative Party to pull level on the council. The Conservative party took Swanage South from Liberal Democrat Colin Bright who had defected from the Conservatives the previous month. ^[6]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 11
• Liberal Democrat 11
• Independent 2

Election result

Purbeck Local Election Result 2008

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	5	2	1	+1	55.6	45.6	6,174	+3.8%
	Conservative	4	1	2	-1	44.4	47.3	6,399	+8.7%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.8	653	-2.3%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	304	-3.2%

Ward results

Lytchett Matravers (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Colvey	785
	Conservative	David Cross	729
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandra Brenton	715
	Conservative	Colin Gibb	692
	Labour	James Selby Bennett	50
Turnout			2,971	52.7	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lytchett Minster and Upton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Starr	692	57.6	−4.1
	Conservative	Simon Williams	509	42.4	+4.1
Majority			183	15.2	−8.2
Turnout			1,201	39.1	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

1. "Tories gain seats and Labour lose". BBC Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
2. "Purbeck District council". Purbeck District Council. Archived from the original on 2 March 2001. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
3. "Purbeck: no control". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
4. "Lib Dem signs for Labour 'friend'". BBC Online. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
5. "Housing the big issue for Purbeck electors". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
6. "Tories lose Purbeck council". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

• 2008 Purbeck election result
• Declaration of Results of Polls – District and Town Council Elections held on 1 May 2008 ^{[ permanent dead link ]}

Lytchett Minster and Upton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Johns	829	65.3	+15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Howlett	391	30.8	−19.7
	Labour	Ruth Cade	50	3.9	+3.9

v t e Council elections in Dorset
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	2019 2023
Dorset Council	2019 2024
Dorset County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Bournemouth Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Christchurch Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
East Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
North Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Poole Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Purbeck District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Abolished
West Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes