2008 Weymouth and Portland Borough Council election

Results of the 2008 Weymouth and Portland Borough Council election

Elections to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in Dorset, England were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control as it has been since 1980. ^[1]

The Mayor David Harris and four other councillors stood down at the election. A further seat was vacant for Melcombe Regis after the death of a Liberal Democrat councillor. ^[2]

The election saw the Conservative Party gain 3 seats, including their first ever seat in Portland, consolidating their position as largest party on the council. However their leader Nigel Reed lost in Weymouth East to the Liberal Democrats. ^[3] The leader of the Labour Party on the council, Kate Wheller, was one of two Labour losses when she lost in Westham West. ^[4]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 16
• Liberal Democrat 12
• Labour 4
• Independent 4

Election result

Weymouth and Portland Local Election Result 2008

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	7	2	1	+1	53.8	31.5	5,332	+3.4
	Conservative	4	3	1	+2	30.8	40.3	6,824	+1.6
	Labour	1	0	2	-2	7.7	21.4	3,635	-3.5
	Independent	1	0	1	-1	7.7	5.9	1,008	+1.2
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	154	-1.2

Ward results

Littlemoor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simon Bowkett	383	58.1	+2.8
	Conservative	Ronald Peattie	276	41.9	+12.1
Majority			107	16.2	−9.3
Turnout			659	25.5	−10.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Melcombe Regis (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Farrell	625
	Conservative	Grant Leighton	605
	Conservative	Derek Model	503
	Liberal Democrats	John Liles	494
	Labour	Maria Blackwood	184
	Green	Paul McIntosh	154
	Labour	Justine Marriott	137
Turnout			2,702	29.6	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

1. "Councils set for election fever". BBC Online. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
2. "Mayor to miss election". Dorset Echo. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "Tories gain seats and Labour lose". BBC Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
4. "Tory gains in Weymouth and Portland elections". Dorset Echo. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.

• 2008 Weymouth and Portland election result
• Ward results

Preston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Mannings	1,201	48.5	+5.2
	Conservative	Dominic Lonsdale	1,157	46.8	−4.4
	Labour	Maureen Drake	116	4.7	−0.9

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