2011 Cambridge City Council election

2011 Cambridge City Council election
16: plus by-election; 22 seats needed for a majority
	Winner of each seat at the 2011 Cambridge City Council election

Last updated August 22, 2025

Elections for Cambridge City Council (in Cambridge, England) were held on Thursday 5 May 2011. As the council is elected by thirds, one seat in each of the wards was up for election, with the exception of Cherry Hinton ward where two seats were up for election due to the early retirement of Councillor Stuart Newbold. The vote took place alongside the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum and a Cambridgeshire County Council by-election for Arbury ward.

Results summary

The election result shown geographically. Cambelexresult.png — The election result shown geographically.

2011 Cambridge City Council election^[1]^[2]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	6	4	40.0	19	25	59.5	9,844	25.4	-10.0
	Labour	9	4	60.0	5	14	33.3	13,762	35.5	+12.1
	Green	0		0.0	2	2	4.8	6,045	15.6	-0.9
	Independent	0		0.0	1	1	2.4	138	0.4	N/A
	Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	8,326	21.5	-1.7
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	455	1.2	+0.1
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	193	0.5	+0.1

This result has the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Party		Previous council	New council
	Liberal Democrats	29	25
	Labour	10	14
	Green	2	2
	Independent	1	1
	Conservatives	0	0
	Trade Unionist & Socialist	0	0
	UKIP	0	0
Total		42	42
Working majority		16	8

The Liberal Democrats retained control of the council, albeit with a reduced majority.

Ward results

Note: in results where, in previous elections, two seats were up for election the party share of the vote is based on an average for those candidates who stood for that particular party in the election.

Changes in party vote is in comparison with the 2010 Cambridge City Council election results.^[3]

Abbey ward

Councillor Caroline Hart was defending her Abbey seat for the Labour Party.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Abbey ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Caroline Hart	1,057	41.8	+19.0
	Green	Brett Hughes	796	31.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Craig Thomas	414	16.4	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Brown	260	10.3	−16.9
Majority			261	10.3
Rejected ballots			22
Turnout			2,527	37.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

Arbury ward

Councillor Alan Levy was defending his Arbury seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Arbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carina O'Reilly	1,310	40.5	+13.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Levy	1,015	31.4	−7.5
	Conservative	Ali Meftah	448	13.8	−5.5
	Green	Stephen Lawrence	377	11.6	−3.2
	UKIP	Albert Watts	87	2.7	+2.7
Majority			295	9.1
Rejected ballots			35
Turnout			3,237	47.8
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+10.5

Castle ward

Councillor Tania Zmura retired her seat. Philip Tucker was aiming to retain the vacated seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Castle ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Tucker	973	33.6	−11.1
	Labour	Ashley Walsh	728	25.2	+9.8
	Conservative	Philip Salway	620	21.4	−0.4
	Green	Jack Toye	572	19.8	+1.8
Majority			254	8.4
Rejected ballots			67
Turnout			2,893	43.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-10.5

Cherry Hinton ward

Due to the retirement of Labour Party Councillor Stuart Newbold, two seats were up for election. Councillor Russ McPherson was defending his seat for the Labour Party.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Cherry Hinton ward (two seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark Ashton	1,525	51.5	+13.1
	Labour	Russ McPherson	1,464	49.4	+11.0
	Conservative	Anthony Turnham	880	29.7	+0.3
	Conservative	Timothy Haire	865	29.2	−0.2
	Green	Jane Esgate	304	10.3	+2.5
	Green	Neil Ford	267	9.0	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Edkins	246	8.3	−16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Ryan	205	6.9	−17.5
Majority			584	19.7
Rejected ballots			19
Turnout			5,756	45.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.5

Coleridge ward

Councillor Jeremy Benstead was defending his Coleridge seat for the Labour Party.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Coleridge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jeremy Benstead	1,346	46.9	+14.6
	Conservative	Andrew Bower	869	30.3	+1.9
	Green	Valerie Hopkins	368	12.8	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Yates	285	9.9	−15.6
Majority			477	16.6
Rejected ballots			27
Turnout			2,868	45.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.4

East Chesterton ward

Councillor Clare Blair was defending her East Chesterton seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: East Chesterton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerri Bird	1,133	38.4	+18.2
	Liberal Democrats	Clare Blair	912	30.9	−3.5
	Conservative	Kevin Francis	488	16.5	−5.7
	Green	Peter Pope	312	10.7	−4.4
	UKIP	Peter Burkinshaw	106	3.6	+3.6
Majority			221	7.5
Rejected ballots			32
Turnout			2,951	44.7
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+10.9

King's Hedges ward

Councillor Mike Pitt was defending his King's Hedges seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: King's Hedges ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Price	905	40.0	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Pitt	729	32.3	−4.0
	Conservative	Annette Karimi	390	17.3	−6.6
	Independent	Ian Tyes	138	6.1	+6.1
	TUSC	Martin Booth	99	4.4	+2.1
Majority			175	7.7
Rejected ballots			21
Turnout			2,261	36.9
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+7.5

Market ward

Councillor Michael Dixon retired his seat. Andrea Reiner was aiming to retain the vacated seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Market ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrea Reiner	754	28.0	−15.0
	Labour	Oliver Holbrook	665	24.7	+10.2
	Green	Alexandra Collis	651	24.2	+4.4
	Conservative	Jeremy Waller	620	23.0	+0.3
Majority			89	3.3
Rejected ballots			59
Turnout			2,690	41.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-12.6

Newnham ward

Councillor Julie Smith was defending her Newnham seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Newnham ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Smith	990	35.2	−9.7
	Labour	Richard Johnson	756	26.9	+11.3
	Conservative	Joanna Anscombe-Bell	621	22.1	−1.9
	Green	James Youd	443	15.8	+0.3
Majority			234	8.3
Rejected ballots			52
Turnout			2,810	43.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-10.5

Petersfield ward

Councillor Lucy Walker retired her Petersfield seat. Kevin Blencowe was aiming to retain the vacated seat for the Labour Party.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Petersfield ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Blencowe	1,353	48.9	+21.2
	Liberal Democrats	Zoe O'Connell	594	21.5	−11.9
	Green	Shayne Mitchell	481	17.4	−2.1
	Conservative	Shapour Meftah	340	12.3	−1.4
Majority			759	27.4
Rejected ballots			25
Turnout			2,768	49.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+16.6

Queen Edith's ward

Councillor Viki Sanders retired her Queen Edith's seat. George Pippas was aiming to retain the vacated seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Queen Edith's ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	George Pippas	1,318	41.1	−7.9
	Conservative	Vince Marino	830	25.9	−2.2
	Labour	Sue Birtles	642	20.0	+7.6
	Green	Brian Westcott	416	13.0	+5.3
Majority			488	15.2
Rejected ballots			24
Turnout			3,206	49.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-2.8

Romsey ward

Councillor Raj Shah was defending his Romsey seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Romsey ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Zoe Moghadas	996	33.3	+11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Raj Shah	870	29.1	−9.0
	Green	Jamie Gibson	411	13.7	−2.7
	Conservative	Sam Barker	360	12.0	−2.1
	TUSC	Tom Woodcock	356	11.9	+2.4
Majority			126	4.2
Rejected ballots			18
Turnout			2,993	46.0
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+10.2

Trumpington ward

Councillor Andy Blackhurst was defending his Trumpington seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: Trumpington ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Blackhurst	991	36.1	−7.1
	Conservative	John Ionides	869	31.7	+0.4
	Labour	Kenny Latunde-Dada	481	17.5	+3.3
	Green	Ceri Galloway	401	14.6	+3.3
Majority			122	4.4
Rejected ballots			24
Turnout			2,742	40.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-3.8

West Chesterton ward

Councillor Damien Tunnacliffe was defending his West Chesterton seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridge City Council elections 2011: West Chesterton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Damien Tunnacliffe	1,225	38.5	−1.1
	Labour	Mike Sargeant	866	27.2	+7.8
	Conservative	Robert Yeatman	577	18.1	+2.0
	Green	Stephen Lintott	513	16.1	−5.5
Majority			359	11.3
Rejected ballots			27
Turnout			3,181	52.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-4.5

Cambridgeshire County Council by-election for Arbury division

Arbury division

Following the retirement of County Councillor Rupert Moss-Eccardt, the Cambridgeshire County Council seat for Arbury was vacant. Amy Ellis was aiming to retain the seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Cambridgeshire City Council by-election 2011: Arbury division
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Sales	1,214	37.5	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Ellis	1,078	33.7	−8.3
	Conservative	Shapour Meftah	496	15.5	−0.3
	Green	Martin Bonner	411	12.8	−0.4
Majority			136	3.8	N/A
Rejected ballots			35
Turnout			3,199	47.2
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+8.6

Alternative Vote referendum result for Cambridge

Cambridge was one of the few areas of the country that voted "yes" for the Alternative Vote in the referendum held on 5 May 2011. The result was as follows:

United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 – Cambridge result
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	21,253	54.32
No	18,871	45.85
Valid votes	39,124	99.4
Invalid or blank votes	236	0.6
Total votes	39,361	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	81,273	48.43
Source:

References

↑ "Election results by wards, 5th May 2011". Cambridge City Council website. Cambridge City Council. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
↑ "Cambridge Local Elections Party Totals". Cambridge City Election Results. Colin Rosenstiel, Keith Edkins. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
↑ "Cambridge City Election Results". Cambridge City Election Results. Colin Rosenstiel & Keith Edkins. Retrieved 13 May 2011.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Election results by wards, 5th May 2011". Cambridge City Council website. Cambridge City Council. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.

[2] "Cambridge Local Elections Party Totals". Cambridge City Election Results. Colin Rosenstiel, Keith Edkins. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.

[3] "Cambridge City Election Results". Cambridge City Election Results. Colin Rosenstiel & Keith Edkins. Retrieved 13 May 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Council elections in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire 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 2021 2025
Peterborough City Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Cambridge City Council	1973 1976 1978 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
East Cambridgeshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Fenland District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Huntingdonshire District Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1973 1976 1978 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 2018 2022
South Cambridgeshire District Council	1973 1976 1978 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 2018 2022
Isle of Ely 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
Huntingdon & Peterborough County Council	1967 1970 Abolished
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	2017 2021 2025
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (2010 ←) 2011 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2012)
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bath and North East Somerset Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton & Hove Bristol Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West & Chester Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Halton Hartlepool Herefordshire Kingston upon Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Slough South Gloucestershire Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham York
District councils (England)	Allerdale Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Blaby Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Carlisle Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cherwell Chesterfield Chichester Chiltern Christchurch Chorley Colchester Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Dacorum Dartford Daventry Derbyshire Dales Dover Eastbourne East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Dorset East Hampshire East Hertfordshire Eastleigh East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eden Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gloucester Gravesham Guildford Great Yarmouth Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hart Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kettering King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lincoln Lichfield Maidstone Maldon Malvern Hills Mansfield Melton Mendip Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Mole Valley New Forest Newark and Sherwood Newcastle-under-Lyme North Devon North Dorset North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire Northampton Norwich Oadby and Wigston Pendle Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Ryedale Scarborough Sedgemoor Selby Sevenoaks Shepway South Bucks South Cambridgeshire South Derbyshire South Hams South Holland South Kesteven South Lakeland South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Somerset South Staffordshire Spelthorne St Albans St Edmundsbury Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Suffolk Coastal Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Taunton Deane Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thanet Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Warwick Watford Waveney Waverley Wealden Wellingborough Welwyn Hatfield West Devon West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Somerset Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wycombe Wyre Wyre Forest
District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Derry Down Dungannon and South Tyrone Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Mayoral elections	Bedford Leicester Mansfield Middlesbrough Torbay
Other elections	National Assembly for Wales Northern Ireland Assembly Scottish Parliament
Referendum	United Kingdom Alternative Vote Results