Winchester City Council election, 2004

The 2004 Winchester Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Winchester District Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 26
• Conservative 22
• Independent 5
• Labour 4 ^[2]

Campaign

19 seats were contested in the election with the Liberal Democrats defending 14, the Conservatives and Independents 2 each and Labour 1 seat. ^[3] The Liberal Democrats were expected to be deprived of their majority on the council as they only needed to lose 1 seat for this to happen. ^[3] The Conservatives were the main challengers, with Labour only in contention in the wards of St John and All Saints and St Luke. ^[3] With the election being held at the same time as the European elections, the presence of 6 candidates from the United Kingdom Independence Party for the first time was seen as possibly affecting the results. ^[3]

Issues in the election included planning, the status of local neighbourhoods and the council tax. ^[3]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats lost their majority on the council for the first time since 1995, with the Conservatives gaining 4 seats from them. ^[4] However the Liberal Democrats did gain one seat from Labour in St John and All Saints ward. ^[5] Voter turnout in the election was significantly up at 48.8%, compared to 39.76% in the 2003 election. ^[4]

Following the election the Liberal Democrats continued to run the council as a minority administration. ^[6]

Winchester Local Election Result 2004 ^[5]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrat	11	1	4	-3	57.9	42.1	14,425	+1.1%
	Conservative	6	4	0	+4	31.6	41.7	14,271	-4.1%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	10.5	5.9	2,035	+1.9%
	Labour	0	0	1	-1	0	7.4	2,537	-1.9%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	2.8	971	+2.8%

Ward results

Bishop's Waltham ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Jean Hammerton	1,083	45.2	-5.9
	Conservative	Sally Lees	630	26.3	-1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Heregoo Kaushik	581	24.2	+7.1
	Labour	Stephen Haines	102	4.3	-0.2
Majority			453	18.9	-4.9
Turnout			2,396	46.6	+13.7
	Independent hold		Swing

Boarhunt & Southwick ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Cooper	283	50.1	+2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Nicholls	223	39.5	-12.6
	Independent	Mike Roberts	37	6.5	+6.5
	Labour	James Ross	22	3.9	+3.9
Majority			60	10.6
Turnout			565	58.7	+8.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Colden Common and Twyford ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Cecily Sutton	1,274	61.4	-1.8
	Conservative	Oliver Davis	676	32.6	+0.6
	Labour	Clare McKenna	126	6.1	+1.3
Majority			598	28.8	-2.4
Turnout			2,074	51.0	+12.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Compton and Otterbourne ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Beckett	909	49.4	-5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Charlotte Bailey	786	42.7	+0.6
	UKIP	Lawrence Hole	109	5.9	+5.9
	Labour	John Craig	35	1.9	-1.7
Majority			123	6.7	-5.6
Turnout			1,839	59.6	+14.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Denmead ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Read	1,529	71.8	+0.0
	Liberal Democrat	Benjamin Stoneham	517	24.3	-0.7
	Labour	David Picton-Jones	85	4.0	+0.8
Majority			1,012	47.5	+0.7
Turnout			2,131	42.9	+8.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kings Worthy ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Johnston	693	45.1
	Conservative	Stanley Howell	636	41.4
	UKIP	Gwendoline Girdwood	130	8.5
	Labour	Elaine Fullaway	79	5.1
Majority			57	3.7
Turnout			1,538	48.8	+6.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Littleton and Harestock ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Jacey Jackson	844	51.6	-15.8
	Conservative	Susan Evershed	735	44.9	+17.6
	Labour	Tessa Valentine	58	3.5	-1.9
Majority			109	6.7	-33.4
Turnout			1,637	59.6	+13.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Olivers Battery & Badger Farm ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Robin Darbyshire	1,038	57.9
	Conservative	Carole Marits	666	37.1
	Labour	Pamela Smith	90	5.0
Majority			372	20.8
Turnout			1,794	55.2	+5.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Shedfield ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Ashley Goodall	730	49.9
	Conservative	Roger Huxstep	641	43.8
	Labour	Oliver De Peyer	92	6.3
Majority			89	6.1
Turnout			1,463	49.0	+5.5
	Independent hold		Swing

St. Barnabas ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Anne Saunders	1,210	49.0	-6.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jacqueline Porter	1,093	44.3	+5.4
	Labour	Adrian Field	165	6.7	+0.9
Majority			117	4.7	-11.6
Turnout			2,468	55.4	+9.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

St. Bartholomew ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	James Maynard	967	46.6	-3.2
	Conservative	Ian Jones	726	35.0	-4.1
	Labour	Denis Archdeacon	209	10.1	-1.0
	UKIP	Roy Green	172	8.3	+8.3
Majority			241	11.6	+0.9
Turnout			2,074	45.4	+10.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St. John and All Saints ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Higgins	584	32.6	-0.3
	Labour	Ann Craig	525	29.3	-9.7
	Conservative	Michael Lovegrove	453	25.3	-2.8
	UKIP	Geoffrey Barrett	227	12.7	+12.7
Majority			59	3.3
Turnout			1,789	39.3	+9.8
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

St. Luke ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Ernest Nunn	671	42.5	+17.5
	Conservative	Richard Worrall	586	37.2	+14.3
	Labour	Debra Grech	320	20.3	-12.6
Majority			85	5.3
Turnout			1,577	38.9	+7.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St. Michael ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Beveridge	973	43.9	+1.6
	Conservative	Felicia Drummond	902	40.7	-10.1
	UKIP	Judith Napier-Clark	156	7.0	+7.0
	Independent	Frank Williams	99	4.5	+4.5
	Labour	Albert Edwards	86	3.9	-3.1
Majority			71	3.2
Turnout			2,216	50.9	+11.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St. Paul ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Raymond Love	1,011	56.4	-5.9
	Conservative	Gillian Allen	604	33.7	+6.2
	Labour	Carol Orchard	177	9.9	-0.3
Majority			407	22.7	-12.1
Turnout			1,792	42.1	+14.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

The Alresfords ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Cook	1,199	42.8	+8.5
	Conservative	Sarah Verney	1,148	41.0	-5.1
	Labour	Robin Atkins	190	6.8	-12.8
	UKIP	John Clark	177	6.3	+6.3
	Independent	Mark Luckham	86	3.1	+3.1
Majority			51	1.8
Turnout			2,800	57.4	+11.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Whiteley ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kate Chapman	385	51.0	-4.7
	Liberal Democrat	Brenda Hatch	344	45.6	+5.6
	Labour	David Smith	26	3.4	-0.9
Majority			41	5.4	-10.3
Turnout			755	39.0	+9.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Wickham ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Therese Evans	864	65.8	+7.4
	Conservative	Graeme Quar	388	29.6	-9.3
	Labour	Patricia Hayward	61	4.6	+1.9
Majority			476	36.2	+16.7
Turnout			1,313	49.4	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Wonston and Micheldever ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Barry Lipscomb	1,164	57.7	+3.3
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Girling	763	37.8	-3.7
	Labour	Nigel Lickley	89	4.4	+0.2
Majority			401	19.9	+7.0
Turnout			2,016	49.4	-16.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Winchester council". BBC News Online . Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
2. "Elections 2004: Results at a glance". The Guardian. 2004-06-12. p. 10. 
3. "All to vote for in the battle for power in the city". Southern Daily Echo . 2004-06-07. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
4. "Democracy is the winner on the night". Southern Daily Echo . 2004-06-12. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
5. "District Council Elections Results 2004". Winchester City Council. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
6. "Cecily will be the new first citizen". Southern Daily Echo . 2004-06-23. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 

Preceded by Winchester Council election, 2003

Winchester local elections

Succeeded by Winchester Council election, 2006