2011 West Oxfordshire District Council election

Map of the results of the 2011 West Oxfordshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue and Labour in red. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2011.

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

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 44
• Liberal Democrats 4
• Labour 1 ^[2]

Background

After the 2010 West Oxfordshire District Council election the Conservatives controlled the council with 40 councillors, compared to seven for the Liberal Democrats and one each for Labour and an Independent. ^[3] 16 seats were contested in 2011, with three Conservative cabinet members, Mark Booty, Richard Langridge and Warwick Robinson, defending seats, as well as the Liberal Democrat group leader Richard Andrews. ^[4]

A total of 55 candidates stood for election, with 19 for the five seats in Witney alone. ^[4] Both the Conservatives and the Green Party put up a full slate of 16 candidates, while Labour had 11 candidates, the Liberal Democrats 10 and there were two independents. ^[4]

Election result

The Conservatives increased their control of the council, gaining four seats to have 44 councillors. ^{[5] [6]} Three of the Conservative gains came at the expense of the Liberal Democrats who dropped to four seats on the council, ^{[5] [6]} with the Liberal Democrat group leader Richard Andrews in Eynsham and Cassington being one of those who were defeated at the election. ^[7] The other Liberal Democrat defeats came in Carterton South were Peter Madden lost his seat to Conservative Michael Brennan and in Charlbury and Finstock, where Michael Breakell had stepped down as a councillor at the election. ^[7]

The fourth Conservative gain came in Stonesfield and Tackley where Charles Cottrell-Dormer won the seat as a Conservative, after having previously represented the ward as an independent. ^[7] Meanwhile, Labour remained with one seat after Eve Coles held Chipping Norton for the party and Duncan Enright came second in Witney East with 1,006 votes, compared to 1,131 for Conservative Sian Davies. ^[7] Overall 11 of the 13 sitting councillors who stood again were re-elected and average turnout at the election was 45.9%. ^[8]

West Oxfordshire local election result 2011 ^[8]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	15	4	0	+4	93.8	55.0	14,365	-4.1%
	Labour	1	0	0	0	6.3	17.4	4,532	+7.1%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	13.4	3,499	+10.6%
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	3	-3	0	11.0	2,880	-15.6%
	Independent	0	0	1	-1	0	3.2	843	+2.0%

Ward results

Alvescot and Filkins ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ross McFarlane	565	73.9
	Green	Alma Tumilowicz	200	26.1
Majority			365	47.8
Turnout			765	52.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bampton and Clanfield ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Booty	1,053	71.8	-4.2
	Green	Maurice Fantato	413	28.2	+28.2
Majority			640	43.7	-8.2
Turnout			1,466	51.1	-24.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Carterton North East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman MacRae	799	66.6	-0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Biggs	226	18.8	-14.5
	Green	Fredrick Cousins	174	14.5	+14.5
Majority			573	47.8	+14.3
Turnout			1,199	32.0	-32.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Carterton North West ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Handley	928	72.6	+2.3
	Green	Rosanna Taylor	351	27.4	+13.2
Majority			577	45.1	-9.7
Turnout			1,279	40.9	-30.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Carterton South ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Brennan	893	69.3	-8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Madden	184	14.3	-7.7
	Labour	William Tumbridge	129	10.0	+10.0
	Green	John-Patrick Stacey	83	6.4	+6.4
Majority			709	55.0	-0.9
Turnout			1,289	40.9	-27.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Charlbury and Finstock ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hywel Davies	716	40.8	-1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Leffman	677	38.5	-19.5
	Labour	Lesley Algar	199	11.3	+11.3
	Green	Celia Kerslake	165	9.4	+9.4
Majority			39	2.3
Turnout			1,757	59.3	+7.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Chipping Norton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Evelyn Coles	881	36.6	-2.8
	Conservative	David Lydiat	833	34.7	-12.6
	Independent	Susan Bartholomew	537	22.3	+22.3
	Green	Catherine Hickman	94	3.9	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Epps	59	2.5	-10.7
Majority			48	1.9
Turnout			2,404	52.0	-19.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Eynsham and Cassington ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Kelland	872	37.9	-5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Andrews	831	36.1	-20.6
	Labour	Merilyn Davies	399	17.4	+17.4
	Green	Susan MacDonald	197	8.6	+8.6
Majority			41	1.8
Turnout			2,299	50.6	-24.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Warwick Robinson	1,009	66.6
	Labour	Frances Ashworth	197	13.0
	Green	Andrew Wright	160	10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Workman	149	9.8
Majority			812	53.6
Turnout			1,515	49.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kingham, Rollright and Enstone ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Beaney	1,088	68.7
	Labour	Charles Watson	279	17.6
	Green	Kevin Hickman	217	13.7
Majority			809	51.1
Turnout			1,584	51.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stonesfield and Tackley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Cottrell-Dormer	1,077	61.2	-8.3
	Green	Susan Turnbull	423	24.0	-6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Baggaley	259	14.7	+14.7
Majority			654	37.2	-1.7
Turnout			1,759	56.0	+15.2
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Witney Central ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Dorward	813	51.1	-11.7
	Labour	Andrew Coles	572	36.0	+13.7
	Green	Jonathan Strode	205	12.9	+4.9
Majority			241	15.2	-25.3
Turnout			1,590	41.4	+8.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Witney East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sian Davies	1,131	44.6	-10.9
	Labour	Duncan Enright	1,006	39.6	+20.8
	Green	Kate Griffin	241	9.5	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rose Beadle	160	6.3	-12.5
Majority			125	4.9	-31.8
Turnout			2,538	44.4	-26.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Witney North ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Langridge	798	53.8	-0.3
	Green	Brigitte Hickman	261	17.6	-11.0
	Labour	Alfred Fullah	214	14.4	+14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Smith	210	14.2	-3.0
Majority			537	36.2	+10.7
Turnout			1,483	47.5	+12.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Witney South ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alvin Adams	922	48.1	-7.3
	Labour	Michael Enright	398	20.8	+3.5
	Independent	James Robertshaw	306	16.0	+16.0
	Green	Andrew King	166	8.7	-1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Olive Minett	125	6.5	-10.9
Majority			524	27.3	-10.7
Turnout			1,917	41.1	-26.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Witney West ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Eaglestone	868	68.1	-7.2
	Labour	David Wesson	258	20.2	+5.6
	Green	Paul Creighton	149	11.7	+1.7
Majority			610	47.8	-12.9
Turnout			1,275	40.6	+10.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
2. "Local authority elections: England". The Guardian . NewsBank. 7 May 2011.
3. "West Oxfordshire". BBC News Online. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
4. Jennings, Tom (5 April 2011). "224 people will fight for 168 seats in May". Witney Gazette. NewsBank.
5. "Conservatives take control of Vale of White Horse from Lib Dems". BBC News Online. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
6. "Elections 2011: West Oxfordshire". Banbury Guardian . 6 May 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
7. Jennings, Tom (6 May 2011). "Elections: West Oxfordshire Lib Dems vow to battle on after disappointment". Oxford Mail . NewsBank.
8. "West Oxfordshire District Council Election Results 2011 - 2015" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.