2003 Swindon Borough Council election

The 2003 Swindon Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Swindon Unitary Council in Wiltshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]

Map of the results of the 2003 Swindon council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2003.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Voting trial

Swindon was one of 3 councils which trialed voting by television in 2003 for the first time anywhere in the world.[3] Voters in Swindon also had 8 electronic information kiosks in the town centre where they could vote,[4] telephone and internet voting.[5] These trials, which were open for voting in the week before the election,[5] followed a trial of electronic voting in the 2002 election which saw turnout increase by 3.5%.[6]

Overall turnout in the election was 29.82%,[7] lower than in 2002.[8][9] However the number of electronic votes increased by 75% from 2002 to 11,055, including 349 cast by television.[8]

Election result
Swindon Local Election Result 2003[7][10]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 12 +6 60.0 41.8 16,983 +3.2%
  Labour 5 -6 25.0 30.7 12,455 -3.5%
  Liberal Democrats 3 0 15.0 25.3 10,287 +1.0%
  Socialist Alliance 0 0 0 0.7 289 +0.3%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0.7 265 +0.7%
  Green 0 0 0 0.6 232 -1.2%
  Swindon Org UK People Before Profit 0 0 0 0.3 102 +0.3%

Ward results
Abbey Meads[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Stoddart 651 64.9 -5.5
Liberal Democrats Derek Richards 182 18.1 +8.0
Labour Ruairi Tobin 170 16.9 -2.6
Majority 469 46.8 -4.1
Turnout 1,003 24.0 -4.9
Central[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Dickinson 632 38.6 +3.9
Labour David Cox 616 37.6 -4.3
Conservative Olive Clapham 287 17.5 +0.9
Swindon Org UK People Before Profit Karsten Evans 102 6.2 +6.2
Majority 16 1.0
Turnout 1,637 23.1 -2.3
Covingham and Nythe[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Glenn Smith 1,323 53.4 +13.8
Labour Peter Mallinson 766 30.9 -16.9
Liberal Democrats Ellen Aylett 388 15.7 +3.1
Majority 557 22.5
Turnout 2,477 35.8 +0.1
Dorcan[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Albinson 992 44.0 +2.4
Labour Peter Brown 951 42.2 -2.3
Liberal Democrats John Phipps 311 13.8 +2.2
Majority 41 1.8
Turnout 2,254 32.5 -1.7
Eastcott[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Martin Wiltshire 1,039 53.7 +5.9
Labour Richard Young 502 26.0 -0.5
Conservative Valerie Butt 393 20.3 +4.0
Majority 537 27.8 +6.5
Turnout 1,934 25.5 -2.6
Freshbrook and Grange Park[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Geraldine Robertson 987 46.9 +6.0
Conservative Gerald Boydell 727 34.5 -0.2
Labour James Grant 391 18.6 -5.9
Majority 260 12.4 +6.2
Turnout 2,105 27.3 -0.8
Gorse Hill and Pinehurst[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Ballman 603 40.4 -13.9
Liberal Democrats Steven Camburn 352 23.6 +12.8
Conservative Mark Furkins 348 23.3 -0.8
Socialist Alliance Andrew Newman 189 12.7 +1.8
Majority 251 16.8 -13.4
Turnout 1,492 21.6 -1.1
Haydon Wick[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Dobie 1,203 52.5 +4.6
Labour John Keepin 625 27.3 -7.4
Liberal Democrats Tel Hudson 462 20.2 +2.8
Majority 578 25.2 +12.0
Turnout 2,290 28.8 -1.2
Highworth[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Melanie Duff 1,176 47.2 -3.3
Labour Lynn Vardy 866 34.7 +6.6
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Shorten 452 18.1 -3.4
Majority 310 12.4 -10.0
Turnout 2,494 38.3 -0.4
Moredon[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maureen Caton 787 40.5 -5.9
Conservative Dale Heenan 759 39.0 +3.5
Liberal Democrats Andrew Sharp 301 15.5 -2.6
UKIP Trevor Prescott 98 5.0 +5.0
Majority 28 1.4 -9.4
Turnout 1,945 26.0 +1.3
Old Town and Lawn[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fionuala Foley 2,000 54.8 +14.3
Liberal Democrats Mark Wheaver 1,160 31.8 -17.1
Labour Maire Darker 259 7.1 +0.2
Green John Hughes 232 6.4 +2.7
Majority 840 23.0
Turnout 3,651 47.6 -5.1
Parks[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fay Howard 775 53.7 -10.7
Conservative Natasha Young 350 24.3 +4.9
Liberal Democrats Jacob Pajak 317 22.0 +5.8
Majority 425 29.5 -15.5
Turnout 1,442 20.8 -1.0
Penhill[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Andy Harrison 613 50.6 -8.9
Liberal Democrats Louisa Sharp 326 26.9 +5.0
Conservative Donald Day 172 14.2 -4.4
Socialist Alliance Roy North 100 8.3 +8.3
Majority 287 23.7 -13.9
Turnout 1,211 26.5 +0.8
Shaw and Nine Elms[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Garry Perkins 912 49.2 -4.0
Liberal Democrats Amber Johnson 481 25.9 +5.8
Labour Neil Heavens 461 24.9 -1.8
Majority 431 23.2 -3.3
Turnout 1,854 26.8 -0.4
St Margaret[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Van Roon 1,273 54.4 +7.2
Labour Patricia Spry 678 29.0 -10.6
Liberal Democrats David Payne 390 16.7 +3.5
Majority 595 25.4 +17.8
Turnout 2,341 31.0 +0.5
St Philip[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Deborah Baylies 1,107 45.6 +5.8
Labour Eriqua Ballman 926 38.2 -7.2
Liberal Democrats Martin Wiltshire 393 16.2 +6.5
Majority 181 7.5
Turnout 2,426 34.0 +2.8
Toothill and Westlea[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steve Wakefield 879 50.4
Labour Philip Rashid 503 28.9
Liberal Democrats Leigh Bint 361 20.7
Majority 376 21.6
Turnout 1,743 29.4
Walcot[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Laura Holiday 654 40.9
Labour Christian Eley 566 35.4
Liberal Democrats Kathleen McCarthy 378 23.7
Majority 88 5.5
Turnout 1,598 31.1
Western[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Small 863 43.3 -6.9
Conservative Halina Roberts 519 26.0 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Russell Scott-Browne 444 22.3 +8.1
UKIP Michael Morton 167 8.4 +2.4
Majority 344 17.3 -7.8
Turnout 1,993 26.3 -2.2
Wroughton and Chiseldon[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Morton 1,258 46.2 +2.4
Liberal Democrats Victor Goodman 930 34.2 -3.7
Labour Sarah Bush 534 19.6 +4.9
Majority 328 12.0 +6.0
Turnout 2,722 36.1 -3.9

References
  1. "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent. 3 May 2003. pp. 18–19.
  3. "Britain: Pol idol; Television voting". The Economist. 26 April 2003. p. 29.
  4. "Text, e-mail, click...just vote, please". The Times. 29 April 2003. p. 4.
  5. Mathieson, SA (1 May 2003). "Inside IT: X marks the spot: Today's local elections mark the biggest experiment so far in e-voting". The Guardian. p. 15.
  6. Parker, Simon (30 April 2003). "Society: Cross culture: The government is putting its faith in the potential of electronic voting to the test in tomorrow's local elections. But are indifference and disillusionment the real enemies of democracy?". The Guardian. p. 2.
  7. "Swindon Borough Council Election Results 1 May 2003" (PDF). Political Science Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  8. "Life: Inside IT: News". The Guardian. 8 May 2003. p. 18.
  9. "West: Voting, which way now?". BBC News Online. 11 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  10. "Election results; English Councils; Local elections 2003". The Times. 2 May 2003. p. 16.
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