Bedford Borough Council elections

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Bedford Borough Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Until 1 April 2009 it was a non-metropolitan district. Since 2002 it has also had a directly elected mayor.

Contents

Council elections

Non-metropolitan district elections

Unitary authority elections

Mayoral elections

Bedford held a referendum on 21 February 2002 on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor after a petition was signed by at least 5% of the electorate. The move was approved with 11,316 voting in favour and 5,357 against on a turnout of 15.5%. [6] The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 saw independent Frank Branston elected as mayor. [7]

2007

In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.

Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2007
NameParty1st Preference Votes %2nd Preference Votes¹ %Final%²
Frank Branston Better Bedford Independent 15,9663,73219,698
Nicky Attenborough Conservative 10,7102,60313,313
Christine McHugh Lib Dem 10,553N/A
Randolph Charles Labour 4,758N/A
Justina McLennan Green 1,538N/A

¹Using the Supplementary Vote system.

²Percentage figures are not officially used on the final votes, they are produced here for illustration and are calculated by the candidates final vote divided by the total of final votes.

2009

A by-election for Mayor of Bedford took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previous incumbent, Frank Branston in August 2009. [8] The election was won by the Liberal Democrat, Dave Hodgson. [8]

Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2009 [9]
NameParty1st Preference Votes %2nd Preference Votes %Final %
Dave Hodgson Liberal Democrat 9,42826.84,12713,55554.0
Parvez Akhtar Conservative 9,10525.92,43811,54346.0
Apu Bagchi Independent 7,63121.7N/A
Tony Hare Independent 4,31612.3N/A
James Valentine Labour 3,4829.9N/A
Eve Morley Green Party 1,1833.4N/A

By-election results

Kingsbrook By-Election 8 April 1999
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Dan Rogerson 1,043 53.0 +32.0
Labour Michael Webb81641.5-21.9
Conservative Janet Suter1085.5-10.1
Majority22711.5
Turnout 1,967
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Kingsbrook By-Election 10 December 2009 [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Andrew Gerard 661 49.4 +3.1
Labour James Saunders37027.6+3.5
Conservative Adam Pritchard15011.2-9.2
Independent Tony Hare856.3+6.3
Independent Patrick O'Rourke735.5+5.5
Majority29111.8
Turnout 1,33918.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kempston North By-Election 24 June 2010 [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Shan Hunt 715 52.1
Conservative Martin Quince38428.0
Liberal Democrats Ant Caprioli27219.8
Majority33124.1
Turnout 1,37133.2
Labour hold Swing
Putnoe By-Election 22 May 2014
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Rosemary Bootiman 1,364 46.3
Conservative Susan Spratt70724.0
UKIP Adrian Haynes41214.0
Labour Graham Tranquada36712.5
Green Ben Fitch943.2
Majority65722.3
Turnout 2,944
Registered electors 2,860
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Wyboston By-Election 29 June 2023
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Julie Cox 610 63.1 –12.9
Liberal Democrats Thomas Townsend32333.4+19.9
Labour Ian Nicholls343.5–7.0
Majority28729.7
Turnout 96733.8
Registered electors 2,860
Conservative hold Swing Decrease2.svg16.4

European Union Membership Referendum 2016

The electorate of Bedford Borough voted by a margin of 51.8% to 48.2% (on a 72.1% turnout) [12] to leave the European Union during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (reflecting the national picture). The Kingsbrook ward voted most heavily in favour of Leave (60.71%), while the Queen's Park ward voted most strongly for Remain (57.66%). Other areas of Bedford to favour Remain were Bromham and Biddenham, Castle, De Parys, Harpur, Kempston Rural, Newnham, Oakley and Sharnbrook. [13]

DistrictVotesProportion of votes
RemainLeaveRemainLeave
Brickhill 2,0002,09248.88%51.12%
Bromham and Biddenham 2,1381,99651.72%48.28%
Castle 1,8351,36657.33%42.67%
Cauldwell 1,3221,88041.29%58.71%
Clapham 1,2561,73142.05%57.95%
De Parys 1,6831,30256.38%43.62%
Eastcotts 1,1111,32245.66%54.34%
Elstow and Stewartby 1,4061,67745.60%54.40%
Goldington 1,5752,06243.30%56.70%
Great Barford 1,9872,28246.54%53.46%
Harpur 1,8371,39856.7943.21%
Harrold 1,2951,31649.60%50.40%
Kempston Central and East 1,6642,08044.44%55.56%
Kempston North 1,1531,40645.06%54.94%
Kempston Rural 2,0661,88952.24%47.76%
Kempston South 1,1701,62441.88%58.12%
Kempston West 1,4331,74745.06%54.94%
Kingsbrook 1,3742,12339.29%60.71%
Newnham 1,9621,63454.56%45.44%
Oakley 1,2691,15852.29%47.71%
Putnoe 1,8182,02847.27%52.73%
Queens Park 1,5731,15557.66%42.34%
Riseley 1,1731,28247.78%52.22%
Sharnbrook 1,4251,20054.29%45.71%
Wilshamstead 1,3001,66143.90%56.10%
Wootton 1,6491,89146.58%53.42%
Wyboston 1,0231,26844.65%55.35%

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References

  1. ↑ The District of North Bedfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979
  2. ↑ legislation.gov.uk - The Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  3. ↑ legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2001. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Council Elections". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  5. ↑ legislation.gov.uk - The Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2011. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Parker, Simon (22 February 2002). "Bedford wants a mayor". guardian.co.uk . London. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  7. ↑ Sherman, Jill (19 October 2002). "Maverick mayors add to Labour's embarrassment". The Times . London. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Lib Dems claim victory in Bedford mayor race". 24dash.com. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  9. ↑ "Lib Dem Dave Hodgson is the new Mayor of Bedford". Bedfordshire on Sunday. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  10. ↑ "Huge boost for Labour in latest council by-elections". 24dash.com. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  11. ↑ "Kempston North By-Election Result". Bedford Borough Council. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "EU Referendum local results - B - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "BBC EU Referendum ward level data". BBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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