2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Eastbourne Borough Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats controlled the council with 20 seats, compared to 7 for the Conservatives, after taking control at the 2007 election. ^[2] A total of 94 candidates stood for the 27 seats on the council being contested, while 10 sitting councillors stood down at the election, 8 Liberal Democrats and 2 Conservatives. ^[2] Important seats for control of the council were expected to be Old Town and Sovereign, as well as Hampden Park and Upperton. ^[2]

Local issues at the election included plans for the redevelopment of the town centre, which was supported across parties, and calls to improve Eastbourne's transport links. ^[3] However, with the Liberal Democrats in government nationally together with the Conservatives, national government decisions, such as the increase in tuition fees, were also an issue during the election. ^[3]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats remained in control of the council with 15 seats, but lost 5 seats to the Conservatives. ^{[4] [5]} The Conservatives gained all 3 seats in Sovereign ward and also took the 2 seats the Liberal Democrats had been defending in Upperton. ^[5] This took the Conservatives to 12 councillors, ^[6] but the Liberal Democrats held on to all 3 seats in Old Town ward after a recount, to keep a 3-seat council majority. ^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 44.17%, ^[7] compared to 42.26% in 2007. ^[8]

Eastbourne local election result 2011 ^{[7] [9]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	15	0	5	-5	55.6	39.4	13,341	-5.6
	Conservative	12	5	0	+5	44.4	38.0	12,893	-0.5
	Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	10.6	3,590	+1.7
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	10.4	3,515	+5.2
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.2	404	-1.2
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	160	N/A

Ward results

Devonshire (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Bannister	1,529
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Stanley	1,304
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Wallis	1,273
	Conservative	Margaret Parker	672
	Conservative	Sandra Elkin	666
	Conservative	Grant Sanders	580
	Labour	Steven Clark	412
	Labour	Richard Goude	345
	Labour	Jean Winstone	337
	Green	Linda Wintle	295
	Green	Bill Palethorpe	256
	Independent	Keith Gell	160
Turnout			7,829	34.5	+0.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hampden Park (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Hearn	1,394
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Murray	1,266
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Thompson	1,225
	Conservative	Caroline Ansell	692
	Conservative	Kate Glover	672
	Conservative	Sam Chapman	643
	Labour	Dave Brinson	470
	Labour	Jake Lambert	418
	Labour	Gerry Stonestreet	344
	Green	Leslie Dalton	255
	Green	Ivor Hueting	220
	Green	Rob Sier	166
Turnout			7,765	40.1	+8.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Langney (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Shuttleworth	1,434
	Liberal Democrats	Harun Miah	1,328
	Liberal Democrats	Troy Tester	1,282
	Conservative	Tony Freebody	726
	Conservative	John Glover	720
	Conservative	Jan Jenkins	705
	Labour	Lee Comfort	278
	Green	Christine Quarrington	270
	Labour	Sean Meekings	258
	Labour	Roy Noble	218
Turnout			7,219	34.4	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Meads (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Taylor	2,239
	Conservative	David Elkin	2,232
	Conservative	Nigel Goodyear	2,126
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Banner	797
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Fisher	766
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Ticehurst	734
	Green	Harry Boys	414
	Labour	Jean Couture	411
	UKIP	Ian Cameron	404
	Labour	Dennis Scard	373
	Green	Dorothy Forsyth	361
	Labour	Manek Jaffer	349
Turnout			11,206	51.4	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Old Town (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Carolyn Heaps	2,432
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Coles	1,934
	Liberal Democrats	John Ungar	1,738
	Conservative	Anne Angel	1,726
	Conservative	Vivienne De Havilland-Geraghty	1,350
	Conservative	Danielle Perry	1,193
	Green	Pippa Oliphant	631
	Labour	Helen Key	418
	Labour	Paul Richards	374
	Labour	Sarah Richards	340
Turnout			12,136	53.4	-1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ratton (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Belsey	2,357
	Conservative	Sandie Howlett	2,076
	Conservative	Colin Murdoch	1,991
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Beckmann	999
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Howarth	984
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Rodohan	908
	Green	Nancy Dalton	523
	Labour	Christopher Hall	471
	Labour	James Nolan	394
	Labour	Helen Sedgwick	360
Turnout			11,063	53.1	+4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Anthony's (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Tutt	2,169
	Liberal Democrats	Jon Harris	1,929
	Liberal Democrats	Gill Mattock	1,913
	Conservative	Nick Ansell	846
	Conservative	Simon Herbert	759
	Conservative	Robert Borland	752
	Labour	Jackie Ferguson	383
	Labour	David Salmon	348
	Labour	Ian Culshaw	332
	Green	Hugh Norris	287
Turnout			9,718	43.8	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Sovereign (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Ede	1,904
	Conservative	Patrick Warner	1,767
	Conservative	Gordon Jenkins	1,745
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Salsbury	1,193
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Holt	1,169
	Liberal Democrats	Grace Loseby	1,106
	Green	Jocelyn McCarthy	488
	Labour	Sharon Wentworth	359
Turnout			9,731	40.6	+1.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Upperton (3 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Liddiard	1,731
	Conservative	Annabelle West	1,707
	Conservative	Alun Cooke	1,694
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Hough	1,394
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Rodohan	1,378
	Liberal Democrats	Hilary Lewis	1,324
	Green	Kenneth Webb	427
	Labour	Margaret Barr	313
	Labour	Lucette Davies	305
	Labour	Elizabeth Goude	304
Turnout			10,577	46.4	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

By-elections between 2011 and 2015

A by-election was held in Meads on 31 May 2012 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Nigel Goodyear. ^[10] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Caroline Ansell with a majority of 1,318 votes over Liberal Democrat Gerard Thompson. ^[10]

Meads by-election 31 May 2012 ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Ansell	1,783	59.6	+7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gerard Thompson	465	15.5	-3.2
	Labour	Dennis Scard	323	10.8	+1.2
	UKIP	Ian Cameron	322	10.8	+1.3
	Independent	Keith Gell	100	3.3	+3.3
Majority			1,318	44.1
Turnout			2,993	39	-12
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
2. "Council elections: Follow our live blog for minute by minute coverage". Eastbourne Herald . 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
3. Stewart, Louise (21 April 2011). "Eastbourne's local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 22 December 2011.
4. Travers, Tony (7 May 2011). "Expert view Lib Dem collapse good news for Cameron". The Guardian . p. 5.
5. "Eastbourne council elections results". Eastbourne Herald . 6 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
6. "Liberal Democrats hold Eastbourne with cut majority". BBC News Online. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
7. "Election Results 2011". Eastbourne Borough Council. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
8. "Election Results 2007". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
9. "Local authority elections: England". The Guardian . 7 May 2011. p. 30.
10. "Carolien wins Meads for Conservatives". Eastbourne Herald . 1 June 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2015.