2024 Watford Borough Council election

2024 Watford Borough Council election

←  2023 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2026 →
12 out of 36 seats to Watford Borough Council 19 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Jennifer Pattinson Nigel Bell Party Liberal Democrats Labour Last election 27 seats, 48.8% 9 seats, 30.8% Seats before 27 9 Seats won 11 1 Seats after 30 6 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 11,243 6,775 Percentage 48.2% 29.1% Swing 0.6% 1.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2024 Watford Borough Council election
Mayor before election Peter Taylor Liberal Democrats Mayor after election Peter Taylor Liberal Democrats

The 2024 Watford Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect members of Watford Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England. ^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections. One third of the council's seats were up for election.

Summary

The council was under Liberal Democrat majority control prior to election, and the party also held the position of the directly elected Mayor of Watford, which was not up for election in 2024. Given the size of the party's majority prior to the election, it was impossible for them to lose control at this election. In the event, the party actually increased their majority, gaining three seats from Labour. ^{[2] [3]}

Candidates by party

Liberal Democrats (12/12)

Labour Party (12/12)

Conservative Party (12/12)

Reform UK (7/12)

TUSC (3/12)

Green Party (2/12)

Heritage (1/12)

Independent (1/12)

Election result

2024 Watford Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	11	3	91.7	19	30	83.3	11,243	48.2	–0.6
	Labour	1	3	8.3	5	6	16.7	6,775	29.1	–1.7
	Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	3,612	15.5	–2.0
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,113	4.8	+2.7
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	239	1.0	+0.8
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	204	0.9	+0.5
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	68	0.3	N/A
	Heritage	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	65	0.3	±0.0

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Watford Borough Council following the close of nominations on 8 April 2024. ^[4]

Callowland

Callowland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Short	1,069	51.9	+4.2
	Labour	Dannis Watling*	829	40.3	±0.0
	Conservative	Nick Kahan	161	7.8	−4.2
Majority
Turnout			2,059	34.15
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Central

Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Summer	924	46.2	−7.4
	Labour	Mo Hakim	572	28.6	−2.7
	Conservative	Devyani Bajaj	259	12.9	+3.4
	Reform UK	David Ealey	125	6.2	+0.6
	Independent	Dennis Wharton	68	3.4	N/A
	TUSC	James O'Connor	53	2.6	N/A
Majority
Turnout			2,001	28.15
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Holywell

Holywell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nigel Bell*	1,159	60.1	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Morrison	352	18.2	−1.8
	Conservative	Danny Moseley	328	17.0	−2.3
	TUSC	Mark O'Connor	91	4.7	+1.2
Majority
Turnout			1,930	26.95
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Leggatts

Leggatts

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sham Begum	864	42.6	+8.2
	Labour	Asma Suleman	689	34.0	−11.6
	Conservative	James Fanning	350	17.3	+1.9
	Heritage	Sarah Knott	65	3.2	−0.2
	TUSC	Derek Foster	60	3.0	+1.8
Majority
Turnout			2,028	34.52
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Meriden

Meriden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Annalisa Buraglio	643	44.7	−5.1
	Labour	Keith Morgan	377	26.2	+0.3
	Conservative	Jennie Raperport	314	21.8	−2.5
	Reform UK	Ian Green	106	7.4	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,440	25.03
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Nascot

Nascot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Watkin*	1,394	59.1	+1.6
	Conservative	Stephen Woodard	422	17.9	−3.9
	Labour	Seamus Williams	385	16.3	+1.2
	Reform UK	Charlie Xie	158	6.7	+1.1
Majority
Turnout			2,359	34.66
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Oxhey

Oxhey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Clarke-Taylor*	1,267	66.1	−1.1
	Labour	Anthony Scott-Norman	231	12.0	−0.7
	Conservative	Sahil Ghuman	222	11.6	−6.1
	Reform UK	Neal Webber	100	5.2	+2.9
	Green	Shaun Howard	98	5.1	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,918	34.23
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Park

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gabriel Duduta	1,413	58.8	−1.6
	Conservative	Arijit Mukherjee	380	15.8	−3.4
	Labour	Rajinder Dhindsa	352	14.6	−1.1
	Reform UK	John Craddock	259	10.8	+6.1
Majority
Turnout			2,404	36.98
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Stanborough

Stanborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Clara Ansong	798	49.9	−8.0
	Conservative	Peter Williams	307	19.2	+1.5
	Labour	Laura Griffiths	294	18.4	+1.2
	Reform UK	Gary Ling	200	12.5	+8.5
Majority
Turnout			1,599	28.03
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Tudor

Tudor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Walford*	827	47.4	−4.9
	Labour	Ola Alade	408	23.4	+2.4
	Conservative	Carly Bishop	346	19.8	−6.9
	Reform UK	John Dowdle	165	9.5	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,746	33.30
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Vicarage

Vicarage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sohail Bashir	987	43.5	+13.7
	Labour	Sara Trebar*	907	40.0	−19.6
	Conservative	Vibhor Agarwal	232	10.2	−0.4
	Green	David Gordon	141	6.2	N/A
Majority
Turnout			2,267	37.90
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Woodside

Woodside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Saffery*	705	45.0	−5.1
	Labour	Anne Joynes	572	36.5	+5.0
	Conservative	Kingsley Owen	291	18.6	+0.2
Majority
Turnout			1,568	27.29
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

By-elections

Holywell

Holywell by-election: 1 May 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Asma Suleman	573	33.2	–26.9
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Robertson	532	30.8	+12.6
	Reform UK	David Ealey	294	17.0	N/A
	Conservative	Sanjaya Pant	180	10.4	–6.6
	Green	Jake Mitchell	126	7.3	N/A
	TUSC	Mark O'Connor	23	1.3	–3.4
Majority			41	2.4	–39.5
Turnout			1,728	23.4	–3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	19.8

Oxhey

Oxhey by-election: 1 May 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Sharpe	1,061	61.0	–5.1
	Reform UK	Michael Barrett	302	17.4	+12.2
	Conservative	Peter Williams	136	7.8	–3.8
	Labour	Sonu Masania	132	7.6	–4.4
	Green	David Gordon	99	5.7	+0.6
	TUSC	James O'Connor	10	0.6	N/A
Majority			759	43.6	–10.5
Turnout			1,740	30.6	–3.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	8.7

References

1. "Notice of Election". Watford Borough Council. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
2. "Local elections 2024: full mayoral and council results for England". The Guardian. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
3. Holmes, Bryn (3 May 2024). "Elections 2024: Labour suffer losses on Watford council as Lib Dems boost their majority their majority". My Local News. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
4. "Notice of election - Statement of Persons Nominated for May 2024 Election". Watford Borough Council. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.