2011 Wealden District Council election

Map of the results of the 2011 Wealden council election. Conservatives in blue, independents in grey and Liberal Democrats in yellow.

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

Background

At the 2007 election the Conservatives retained control of Wealden council with 34 seats, compared to 12 for the Liberal Democrats, 7 independents and 2 Green party councillors. ^[2] However at a by-election in September 2008 the Liberal Democrats gained a seat from the Conservatives in Alfriston, ^[3] meaning that by 2011 there were 33 Conservatives and 13 Liberal Democrats, while the independents were split into 3 Independent Democrats and 4 Independents. ^[4]

The Conservatives were the only party with candidates for all 55 seats being contested in 35 wards ^[5] and they were guaranteed gains in Forest Row after the Green Party did not defend the seats they had won in 2007 and no other party stood in the ward. ^[4] The Liberal Democrats only put up 24 candidates, down from 35 in 2007, with the party not defending 2 seats in Crowborough, where Liberal Democrats councillors Jane Clark and Martin Prestage stood down at the election. ^[4] Meanwhile, Labour had 27 candidates, a substantial increase from only 3 in 2007. ^[4]

Election result

The Conservatives increased their majority on the council after gaining 14 seats, to have 47 of the 55 councillors. ^[6] This included winning all of the seats in Uckfield, where the party gained 4 seats from the Liberal Democrats. ^[7] The Conservative leader of the council, Bob Standley, described the results as a "ringing endorsement" of the policies of the Conservative council. ^[8] Overall turnout at the election was 49.5%, up from 38.51% in 2007. ^[9]

The Liberal Democrats lost 10 seats to only have 3 of the 13 councillors the party had held before the election. ^[8] Meanwhile, neither Labour, nor any other party, managed to win any seats, ^[6] with a spokesperson for Labour saying that Wealden was now "virtually a one party state". ^[8]

Independents won five seats, down two, ^[6] with four of those five being taken by members of the Shing family in Polegate and Willingdon, ^[10] and the final seat being won by a former mayor of Crowborough, Stephen Isted, in Crowborough Jarvis Brook. ^[8] This led to the Conservatives being criticised by anti-racism groups over comments on the party website saying that the Liberal Democrats had seen "the humiliation of the 'Shing' dynasty becoming the official opposition". ^[10]

Wealden local election result 2011 ^{[11] [12]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	47	14	0	+14	85.5	61.3	51,007	+6.7%
	Independent	5	2	4	-2	9.1	11.6	9,668	-3.4%
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	10	-10	5.5	13.5	11,249	-9.9%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	10.3	8,606	+9.7%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.7	1,447	+1.6%
	Green	0	0	2	-2	0	1.4	1,190	-4.6%
	English Democrat	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	73	-0.2%
	Motorists Equity & Unity Party	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	5	0.0%

4 Conservative candidates were unopposed at the election. ^[11]

Ward results

Alfriston ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Harris	606	51.2	-20.6
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Watkins	577	48.8	+20.6
Majority			29	2.5	-41.2
Turnout			1,183	60.1	+11.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Buxted and Maresfield (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Buck	1,485
	Conservative	Ken Ogden	1,295
	UKIP	Dan Docker	437
	Labour	David Neeves	394
Turnout			3,611	51.5	+12.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Chiddingly and East Hoathley ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barby Dashwood-Hall	865	67.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Holbrook	229	17.9	-15.9
	Labour	Jonathan Banatvala	184	14.4	N/A
Majority			638	49.8	+17.5
Turnout			1,278	51.9	+9.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cross-in-Hand/Five Ashes ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonica Fox	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crowborough East (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Carol Reynolds	1,026
	Conservative	David Larkin	950
	Labour	Christopher Harris	549
Turnout			2,525	40.3	+6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Crowborough Jarvis Brook ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Stephen Isted	330	41.8	N/A
	Conservative	Matthew Eade	261	33.1	-10.5
	Green	Colin Stocks	100	12.7	+1.3
	Labour	Roger McCarthy	98	12.4	+12.4
Majority			69	8.7
Turnout			789	40.2	+14.9
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Crowborough North (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Waller	1,464
	Conservative	Mark Weaver	1,218
	Labour	Sonja Le Vay	526
Turnout			3,208	45.6	+7.7
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crowborough St Johns ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Hollins	871	82.3	+22.9
	Labour	Nicholas Levine	187	17.7	+11.7
Majority			684	64.7	+29.3
Turnout			1,058	53.9	+13.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crowborough West (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Diane Phillips	1,387
	Conservative	Antony Quin	1,225
	Labour	Brendan Clegg	517
Turnout			3,129	48.9	+14.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Danehill/Fletching/Nutley (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roy Galley	1,593
	Conservative	Peter Roundell	1,284
	Liberal Democrats	Martha Whittle	979
	Labour	Kirsten Morris	304
Turnout			4,160	53.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

East Dean ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Peck	868	74.8	-6.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Edrich	293	25.2	+6.8
Majority			575	49.5	-13.7
Turnout			1,161	61.7	+10.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Forest Row (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Holloway	unopposed
	Conservative	Rowena Moore	unopposed
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing

Framfield ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Newton	873	75.9	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Graham	146	12.7	-8.8
	Labour	Elisabeth Rumbold	131	11.4	N/A
Majority			727	63.2	+12.2
Turnout			1,150	52.5	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Frant/Withyham ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Johanna Howell	1,391
	Conservative	John Padfield	1,210
	Green	Keith Obbard	708
	Labour	Nicholas Le Prevost	415
Turnout			3,724	56.4	+16.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hailsham Central and North (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Collinson	957
	Conservative	Barry Marlowe	861
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Holbrook	625
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Benier	528
	Labour	Martin Corfe	345
Turnout			3,316	42.3	+6.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hailsham East ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stuart Towner	282	45.4	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cock	145	23.3	-31.4
	Labour	Anthony Bailey	121	19.5	N/A
	English Democrat	Kevin Moore	73	11.8	N/A
Majority			137	22.1
Turnout			621	31.5	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hailsham South and West (3) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Bentley	1,252
	Conservative	Nigel Coltman	1,115
	Conservative	Chriss Triandafyllou	842
	Independent	Geoff Rowe	753
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Murrey	628
	Liberal Democrats	Eddy Powell	617
	Labour	Michelle Moore	486
Turnout			5,693	38.0	+8.9
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Hartfield ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Hardy	822	76.7	+16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Valerie Banks	250	23.3	-3.7
Majority			572	53.4	+19.7
Turnout			1,072	50.0	-2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heathfield East ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel McKeeman	705	70.2
	Independent	Bob Bowdler	299	29.8
Majority			406	40.4
Turnout			1,004	51.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heathfield North and Central (3) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dick Angel	1,763
	Conservative	Peter Newnham	1,660
	Conservative	Jan Dunk	1,646
	Labour	Gill Roles	741
Turnout			5,810	43.6	+10.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hellingly (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David White	961
	Liberal Democrats	John Blake	954
	Conservative	Kevin Balsdon	739
	Conservative	Peter Bucklitsch	647
	Labour	Louise Orbell	268
Turnout			3,569	43.8	+4.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Herstmonceux ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Long	612	61.0	-8.0
	Independent	Laurence Keeley	391	39.0	+8.0
Majority			221	22.0	-16.0
Turnout			1,003	46.3	+8.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Horam ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Stedman	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mayfield ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Redman	867	76.5	+4.2
	Labour	Patricia Robson	267	23.5	N/A
Majority			600	52.9	-5.5
Turnout			1,134	54.3	+10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ninfield and Hooe with Wartling ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pam Doodes	764	81.6	-1.5
	Labour	Ben Sturgess	172	18.4	N/A
Majority			592	63.2	-2.9
Turnout			936	48.6	+9.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pevensey and Westham (3) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dianne Dear	1,788
	Conservative	Bill Tooley	1,660
	Conservative	Lin McKeever	1,618
	UKIP	Mike Pursglove	954
	Labour	Bob Milton	697
	Labour	Robert Slater	665
Turnout			7,382	42.3	+10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Polegate North (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Oi Shing	1,017
	Liberal Democrats	Roy Martin	680
	Conservative	Edward Board	544
	Independent	John Harmer	526
	Conservative	Simon Popek	402
	Liberal Democrats	Hazel Thorn	336
	Labour	Alex Mthobi	148
Turnout			3,653	49.8	+7.0
	Independent hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Polegate South ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Daniel Shing	493	49.4	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Berry	181	18.2	-18.7
	Conservative	Wendy Alexander	152	15.2	-11.2
	Independent	Timothy Voyce	110	11.0	N/A
	UKIP	Bernie Goodwin	56	5.6	N/A
	Motorists Equity & Unity Party	Pete Sayers	5	0.5	N/A
Majority			312	31.2
Turnout			997	49.7	+8.0
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Rotherfield ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Huw Merriman	829	79.6	+1.9
	Labour	Abbie Churton	213	20.4	N/A
Majority			616	59.1	+3.7
Turnout			1,042	53.6	+10.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Uckfield Central ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claire Dowling	749	61.3	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Sparks	319	26.1	-15.9
	Labour	Jason Scott-Taggart	154	12.6	+12.6
Majority			430	35.2	+19.1
Turnout			1,222	51.3	+11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Uckfield New Town ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Helen Firth	452	48.4	+11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Hall	273	29.2	-34.2
	Labour	David Sudbery	209	22.4	N/A
Majority			179	19.2	-7.5
Turnout			934	44.8	+13.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Uckfield North (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Louise Eastwood	877
	Conservative	Michael Lunn	683
	Liberal Democrats	John Collins	498
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Whittaker	493
	Labour	Bruce Meredeen	268
Turnout			2,819	38.8	+8.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Uckfield Ridgewood ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Carvey	705	61.7	+13.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dorothy Sparks	269	23.6	-28.0
	Labour	Vanessa Setford-Smith	168	14.7	+14.7
Majority			436	38.1
Turnout			1,142	48.1	+7.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Wadhurst (2) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Standley	1,277
	Conservative	Graham Wells	1,229
	Green	Beth Martin	382
	Independent	Serena Gadd	307
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Cooper	206
	Labour	Felicity Harvest	204
	Labour	Christopher Morris	175
	Independent	Melissa Gates	146
Turnout			3,926	52.4	+14.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Willingdon (3) ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Stephen Shing	2,338
	Independent	Raymond Shing	2,151
	Conservative	Ronald Cussons	1,006
	Conservative	Douglas Murray	840
	Independent	Ray Ingram	807
	Conservative	Susan Hunt	790
	Liberal Democrats	Bonnie Beck	387
	Liberal Democrats	David Hancock	375
	Liberal Democrats	Lauren Holt	300
Turnout			8,994	56.6	-0.5
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2011 and 2015

Polegate North

A by-election was held in Polegate North on 2 August 2012 following the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Roy Martin. ^[13] The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Don Broadbent with a majority of 227 votes over an independent candidate. ^[13]

Polegate North by-election 2 August 2012 ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Don Broadbent	494	37.7	+14.3
	Independent	Joseph O'Riordan	267	20.4	-14.5
	Conservative	Edward Broad	263	20.0	+1.4
	UKIP	Bernard Goodwin	212	16.2	+16.2
	Labour	Alexius Mthobi	76	5.8	+5.8
Majority			227	17.3
Turnout			1,312	30.7	-19.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Heathfield North and Central

A by-election was held in Heathfield North and Central on 29 November 2012 after the death of Conservative councillor Peter Newnham. ^[14] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Raymond Cade with a majority of 384 votes over the UK Independence Party. ^[14]

Heathfield North and Central by-election 29 November 2012 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Raymond Cade	685	49.1	-21.3
	UKIP	Bob Bowdler	301	21.6	+21.6
	Labour	Craig Austen-White	225	16.1	-13.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Benson	184	13.2	+13.2
Majority			384	27.5
Turnout			1,395	22.8	-20.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crowborough West

A by-election was held in Crowborough West on 22 January 2015 after the death of Conservative councillor Antony Quin. ^{[15] [16]} The seat was held for the Conservatives by Simon Staveley with a majority of 138 votes over the UK Independence Party. ^[17]

Crowborough West by-election 22 January 2015 ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeannette Towey	465	58.7	-14.1
	UKIP	Simon Staveley	327	41.3	+41.3
Majority			138	17.4
Turnout			792	20.5	-28.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
2. "Wealden". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
3. "LibDems win by-election". Sussex Express. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
4. Cromie, Claire (22 April 2011). "Tories aim for total control of Wealden: Labour field more, Lib Dems fewer candidates". Kent and Sussex Courier . p. 2.
5. "Wealden District polls". Eastbourne Herald . 27 April 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
6. "Wealden District Council election - Conservatives face down Lib Dems". Sussex Express. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
7. "Tory clean sweep in Uckfield area". Uckfield News. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
8. Cromie, Claire (13 May 2011). "Tories dominate as Lib Dems suffer". Kent and Sussex Courier . p. 2.
9. "District election results - May 2007". Wealden District Council. Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
10. Cromie, Claire (13 May 2011). "Tories in trouble for 'racist' web post: Groups furious at Chinese slightTories are lambasted for racist caricature". Kent and Sussex Courier . p. 1.
11. "District Council election". Wealden District Council. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
12. "Local authority elections: England". The Guardian . 7 May 2011. p. 30.
13. "Lib Dems hold onto Polegate North - By Election". Sussex Express. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
14. "Heathfield's new district councillor named as Raymond Cade". Kent and Sussex Courier . 23 November 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
15. "Wealden member for Crowborough dies". Sussex Express. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
16. "Forthcoming Elections". Wealden District Council. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
17. "Election Results". Wealden District Council. Retrieved 29 January 2015.