Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election, 2007

The 2007 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire, 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 35
• Labour 10
• Liberal Democrat 3 ^[2]

Election result

The results saw the Conservative increase their majority after gaining 3 seats, which they described as an endorsement of their record in control of the council. ^[3] They gained 2 seats from Labour in Haldens and Hatfield South wards, while the Liberal Democrats failed to pick up any seats. ^[3] The third Conservative gain came in Howlands ward, where they defeated Green councillor Jill Weston, ^[3] who had defected from Labour in 2004. ^[4] Overall turnout in the election was 33.03%, ^[5] while dropping as low as 24% in some wards. ^[3]

Among the Conservative winners in the election were Hannah Berry and Paul Smith, who became the youngest councillors in the council's history at the ages of 18 and 20 respectively, after a recent change in the law had permitted under 21s to stand for election. ^[6]

Welwyn Hatfield Local Election Result 2007 ^{[5] [7]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	13	3	0	+3	81.3	54.6	12,161	-1.2%
	Labour	3	0	2	-2	18.8	25.1	5,592	+2.6%
	Liberal Democrat	0	0	0	0	0	16.7	3,729	-4.4%
	Green	0	0	1	-1	0	3.6	805	+3.0%

One Conservative candidate was unopposed in the election. ^[5]

Ward results

Brookmans Park & Little Heath ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stephen Boulton	1,471	81.4	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Jenny Blumsom	125	6.9	-7.2
	Green	Kevin Pressland	114	6.3	+6.3
	Labour	Cathy Watson	98	5.4	-0.1
Majority			1,346	74.5	+8.2
Turnout			1,808	40.4	-5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Haldens ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jon Beckerman	693	46.4	+4.7
	Labour	Mike Larkins	578	38.7	+4.9
	Liberal Democrat	Louise Lotz	224	15.0	-9.5
Majority			115	7.7	-0.2
Turnout			1,495	33.9	-1.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Handside ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Helen Bromley	1,194	48.7	+4.6
	Liberal Democrat	Malcolm Cowan	1,044	42.6	-2.4
	Labour	Sheila Jones	213	8.7	-2.2
Majority			150	6.1
Turnout			2,451	49.0	-1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hatfield Central ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Maureen Cook	477	38.7	-2.4
	Conservative	Doug Berry	461	37.4	+3.9
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Archer	294	23.9	-1.5
Majority			16	1.3	-6.3
Turnout			1,232	29.4	-2.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Hatfield East ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Mick Long	725	57.0	+0.9
	Labour	Constance Elliott	322	25.3	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Lis Meyland-Smith	225	17.7	-4.3
Majority			403	31.7	-2.4
Turnout			1,272	28.8	-8.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hatfield North ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Howard Morgan	920	56.2	+1.1
	Labour	Margaret White	454	27.7	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Ross	263	16.1	-1.5
Majority			466	28.5	+0.7
Turnout			1,637	24.1	-8.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hatfield South ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Paul Smith	296	43.2	+12.5
	Labour	Tony Wilder	294	42.9	-7.2
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Bain	95	13.9	-5.4
Majority			2	0.3
Turnout			685	24.5	-5.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Hatfield West ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kim Morris	608	54.0	+4.3
	Labour	Sheila Wilder	341	30.3	-4.6
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Archer	177	15.7	+0.3
Majority			267	23.7	+8.9
Turnout			1,126	25.8	-11.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hollybush ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lynn Chesterman	733	50.5	+5.7
	Conservative	Peter Knell	718	49.5	+11.7
Majority			15	1.0	-6.0
Turnout			1,451	29.7	-1.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Howlands ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hannah Berry	788	46.6	+0.9
	Green	Jill Weston	466	27.6	+17.9
	Labour	Alan Chesterman	437	25.8	-9.5
Majority			322	19.0	+8.6
Turnout			1,691	36.8	-4.3
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing

Northaw ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Mansfield	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Panshanger ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Darren Bennett	829	55.3	-1.5
	Labour	Dean Milliken	416	27.7	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Shirley Shaw	175	11.7	-5.8
	Green	Liz Verlander	80	5.3	+5.3
Majority			413	27.6	-3.5
Turnout			1,500	31.4	-2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Peartree ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Steve Roberts	459	39.9	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Frank Marsh	361	31.4	-4.6
	Conservative	Christopher Hay	331	28.8	+1.3
Majority			98	8.5	+8.0
Turnout			1,151	24.1	-3.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Sherrards ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Burnapp	1,014	55.3	+0.8
	Labour	Tony Crump	427	23.3	-5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Arch	249	13.6	-3.6
	Green	Berenice Dowlen	145	7.9	+7.9
Majority			587	32.0	+5.8
Turnout			1,835	43.1	-4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Welwyn North ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Julie Cragg	974	76.5	+4.2
	Liberal Democrat	John Blackburn	185	14.5	-3.1
	Labour	Bridgit Croft	114	9.0	-1.1
Majority			789	62.0	+7.3
Turnout			1,273	36.8	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Welwyn South ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Canter	1,139	67.8
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Skidmore	312	18.6
	Labour	Julia Henderson	229	13.6
Majority			827	49.2
Turnout			1,680	39.4	-2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Welwyn Hatfield". BBC News Online . Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
2. "National: Elections 2007: Town and country go to the polls". The Guardian. 2007-05-04. p. 6. 
3. "Tories tighten grip in borough". St Albans & Harpenden Review. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
4. "Councillor defects to Green Party". Watford Observer . 2004-12-14. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
5. "Election Results - 3 May 2007". Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
6. "Record breaking councillors". St Albans & Harpenden Review. 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
7. "Results". The Times. 2007-05-05. p. 83.