Craven District Council election, 2014

Map of the results of the 2014 Craven District Council election. Conservatives in blue and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2014.

The 2014 Craven District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, 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 as follows:

• Conservative 18
• Independent 9
• Liberal Democrats 2
• Vacant 1 ^[2]

Background

After the last election in 2012 the Conservatives had a 2-seat majority with 16 councillors, compared to 10 independents and 4 Liberal Democrats. ^[3] The Conservative majority was increased in 2013 when the independent councillor for Hellifield and Long Preston Chris Moorby joined the Conservatives. ^[4] By the time of the 2014 election a further seat was vacant after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Polly English, meaning that before the election the council had 17 Conservative, 9 independent and 3 Liberal Democrat councillors. ^[5]

9 seats were contested in 2014 with no candidates from the Liberal Democrats standing, even in Aire Valley with Lothersdale where the Liberal Democrat councillor for the previous 12 years, Mark Wheeler stood down at the election. ^[5] However Labour for the first time in many years put up candidates for all 9 seats contested, despite not holding any seats on the council before the election. ^[6] The Conservatives stood in 8 seats, just not standing in Sutton-in-Craven against independent councillor, Stephen Place, who was allied with the Conservatives. ^[5] Other candidates included a further two independents, including sitting councillor Philip Barrett, and one candidate from the UK Independence Party. ^[5]

Election result

Only one seat changed hands at the election with the Conservatives gaining a seat from the Liberal Democrats to have 18 councillors. ^{[7] [8]} The Conservative gain came in Aire Valley with Lothersdale where Patrick Mulligan picked up the seat vacated by Liberal Democrat Mark Wheeler to become the only new councillor after the election. ^[8] This reduced the Liberal Democrats to 2 seats on the council, while there remained 9 independents and 1 seat was vacant in Skipton West. ^[8]

Craven local election result 2014 ^{[2] [9]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	7	1	0	+1	77.8	51.6	4,816	+1.5%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	22.2	20.3	1,893	+6.1%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	24.7	2,309	+8.3%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	3.4	318	+3.4%
	Liberal Democrat	0	0	1	-1	0	0	0	-17.1%

Ward results

Aire Valley with Lothersdale ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Patrick Mulligan	738	61.9	-1.1
	Labour	Alan Hickman	455	38.1	+1.1
Majority			283	23.7	-2.2
Turnout			1,193	41.7	+8.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Bentham ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Linda Brockbank	814	69.9	+30.2
	Labour	James Black	350	30.1	+30.1
Majority			464	39.9
Turnout			1,164	22.1	-25.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gargrave and Malhamdale ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alan Sutcliffe	715	71.8	+6.2
	Labour	John Pope	281	28.2	+3.2
Majority			434	43.6	+3.0
Turnout			996	40.6	-15.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Glusburn ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Philip Barrett	726	57.5	-2.5
	UKIP	Roger Baxandall	318	25.2	+25.2
	Labour	Hazel Keirle	110	8.7	-9.0
	Conservative	Tanya Graham	109	8.6	-13.7
Majority			408	32.3	-5.4
Turnout			1,263	41.2	-2.1
	Independent hold		Swing

Hellifield and Long Preston ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Moorby	500	72.3	+24.1
	Labour	Brian Parsons	192	27.7	+27.7
Majority			308	44.5
Turnout			692	39.0	-14.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ingleton and Clapham ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Carl Lis	759	58.9	-15.8
	Independent	Anthony Macaulay	339	26.3	+26.3
	Labour	Christine Rose	191	14.8	+14.8
Majority			420	32.6	-16.8
Turnout			1,289	41.2	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Penyghent ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Welch	430	69.8	+8.5
	Labour	Katherine Lloyd	186	30.2	+30.2
Majority			244	39.6	+17.1
Turnout			616	42.9	-32.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Settle and Ribblebanks ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Staveley	751	68.2	+1.7
	Labour	Peter Madeley	350	31.8	-1.7
Majority			401	36.4	+3.3
Turnout			1,101	38.0	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sutton-In-Craven ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Stephen Place	828	81.0	+4.8
	Labour	Vivien Thompson	194	19.0	-4.8
Majority			634	62.0	+9.6
Turnout			1,022	35.2	-5.2
	Independent hold		Swing

By-elections between 2014 and 2015

A by-election was held in Skipton West on 2 July 2014 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Polly English. ^[10] The seat was gained for Labour by Peter Madeley with a majority of 42 votes over Liberal Democrat Edward Walker. ^[10] The victory meant Peter Madeley became the first Labour councillor on Craven council since 1999. ^[10]

Skipton West by-election 2 July 2014 ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Madeley	185	24.0	+3.0
	Liberal Democrat	Edward Walker	143	18.5	-18.0
	Conservative	Tim Hudson-Brunt	131	17.0	-3.5
	UKIP	Roger Baxendall	126	16.3	+16.3
	Independent	Bernard Clarke	120	15.5	-6.5
	Green	John Launder	67	8.7	+8.7
Majority			42	5.4
Turnout			772	25.3	-9.3
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

References

1. "Craven". BBC News Online . Retrieved 23 March 2015. 
2. "Results Elections 2014". The Times . NewsBank. 24 May 2014. pp. 88–89. ISSN   0140-0460. 
3. "Non-Metro". The Guardian . NewsBank. 5 May 2012. ISSN   0261-3077. 
4. "Switch by Long Preston councillor Chris Moorby branded 'morally wrong'". Craven Herald & Pioneer . 30 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015. 
5. Moore, Lindsey (1 May 2014). "No Lib Dem candidates as battle commences for seats". Craven Herald & Pioneer . NewsBank. ISSN   0961-1908. 
6. "Labour bid for Craven Council wards". Telegraph & Argus . NewsBank. 12 May 2014. ISSN   0307-3610. 
7. "Harrogate and Craven Councils remain under Conservative control". BBC News Online. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015. 
8. "Just one seat changes hands as Conservatives retain control of Craven District Council". Craven Herald & Pioneer . NewsBank. 25 May 2014. ISSN   0961-1908. 
9. "Declaration of result of poll". Craven District Council. Retrieved 23 March 2015. 
10. White, Clive (4 July 2014). "Results of triple Skipton election". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 March 2015.