2008 Maidstone Borough Council election

The 2008 Maidstone Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.[1]

Map of the results of the 2008 Maidstone council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in white. Wards in grey were not contested in 2008.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest party on the council with 27 seats, but did not have a majority.[3] The council however was run by a coalition of the other groups, with the Liberal Democrats leading an alliance with Labour and the independents.[3] Between them these groups had 28 seats, until the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Hooper, after he was arrested in relation to a computer-related crime, left them with the same number of seats as the Conservatives.[3]

19 seats were being contested in the election, with the Conservatives defending 8 and the Liberal Democrats 7.[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives gain a majority of the council after making a net gain of 2 seats, in what was the first time any party had a majority on the council for 25 years.[4] The Conservatives went up to 29 seats, while the Liberal Democrats dropped one seat to 20.[4] The Labour group leader Morel D'Souza was defeated in Fant ward and his party was reduced to just 1 seat.[4] Meanwhile, the independents went up by 1 seat to have 5 seats on the council.[4] Overall turnout in the election was 35.58%.[5]

Maidstone Local Election Result 2008[5][6]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 10 3 1 +2 52.6 49.7 16,328 +0.5%
  Liberal Democrats 7 0 1 -1 36.8 32.7 10,732 -0.5%
  Independent 2 1 0 +1 10.5 4.0 1,311 -1.4%
  Labour 0 0 2 -2 0 6.7 2,215 +0.8%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 6.0 1,981 +0.7%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 263 +0.8%

Ward results
Allington[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Robertson 1,437 59.6 -4.3
Conservative Jeff Curwood 724 30.0 +1.2
Labour Marianna Poliszczuk 108 4.5 -2.8
UKIP Gareth Kendall 86 3.6 +3.6
Green Amanda Evans 57 2.4 +2.4
Majority 713 29.6 -5.5
Turnout 2,412 42.9 +0.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Barming[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Fay Gooch 552 51.9 +51.9
Conservative Cass Jappie 474 44.5 -40.2
Labour Wendy Hollands 38 3.6 -2.6
Majority 78 7.4
Turnout 1,064 54.2 +0.3
Independent gain from Conservative Swing
Bearsted[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Ash 1,937 74.7 +4.7
Liberal Democrats Steven Hunter 481 18.5 +0.0
Green Ian McDonald 176 6.8 -4.5
Majority 1,456 56.1 +4.5
Turnout 2,594 39.7 -3.2
Conservative hold Swing
Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Mike Fitzgerald 759 89.9 +19.8
UKIP Keith Woollven 85 10.1 +10.1
Majority 674 79.9 +35.6
Turnout 844 42.0 -8.0
Independent hold Swing
Boxley[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Wendy Hinder 1,607 78.8 +11.6
Liberal Democrats John Doherty 321 15.7 -9.6
Green Patricia Marchant 111 5.7 +5.7
Majority 1,286 63.1 +21.3
Turnout 2,039 31.4 -1.5
Conservative hold Swing
Bridge[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Ross 671 44.8 +3.4
Liberal Democrats David Pickett 640 42.7 -7.8
Labour Sally Willcox 100 6.7 +6.7
Green Angela Wooi 88 5.9 -2.2
Majority 31 2.1
Turnout 1,499 35.3 +0.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Coxheath and Hunton[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Wilson 1,354 50.9 +3.8
Liberal Democrats Moira Walter 1,206 45.4 -2.4
Labour Michael Casserley 99 3.7 -1.3
Majority 148 5.5
Turnout 2,659 48.3 +0.6
Conservative hold Swing
East[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Patrick Sellar 1,331 56.7 +2.6
Conservative Edward Winstanley 879 37.4 +1.8
Green James Shalice 139 5.9 +2.1
Majority 452 19.2 +0.7
Turnout 2,349 37.3 -4.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Fant[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Paine 679 33.3 +9.7
Liberal Democrats Fran Smith 562 27.6 -12.6
Labour Morel D'Souza 470 23.1 +10.4
Green Stuart Jeffery 326 16.0 -1.8
Majority 117 5.7
Turnout 2,037 32.7 -0.9
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Headcorn[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Thick 1,164 66.7 +5.8
Green Penny Kemp 581 33.3 -5.8
Majority 583 33.4 +11.5
Turnout 1,745 45.2 +3.3
Conservative hold Swing
Heath[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Bryan Vizzard 562 45.4 -3.4
Conservative Mark Mears 518 41.8 -1.2
Labour Patrick Coates 83 6.7 -1.5
Green Andrew Waldie 75 6.1 +6.1
Majority 44 3.6 -2.2
Turnout 1,238 30.2 -3.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
High Street[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Denise Joy 738 43.9 -2.9
Conservative Paul Butcher 611 36.3 +3.4
Labour Richard Coates 152 9.0 -2.2
UKIP John Stanford 92 5.5 +5.5
Green Wendy Lewis 89 5.3 -3.8
Majority 127 7.6 -6.3
Turnout 1,682 28.6 +0.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Marden and Yalding[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Verrall 1,506 72.9 +10.2
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Samme 320 15.5 -4.5
Labour Edith Davis 240 11.6 +1.4
Majority 1,186 57.4 +14.7
Turnout 2,066 35.2 -1.3
Conservative hold Swing
North[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Paterson 1,012 59.4 +5.4
Conservative Jeff Tree 552 32.4 +4.6
Green Derek Eagle 141 8.3 +0.2
Majority 460 27.0 +0.7
Turnout 1,705 29.3 -2.7
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
North Downs[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Daphne Parvin 599 76.9 +17.4
Liberal Democrats John Watson 96 12.3 -2.9
Green Sarah Goodwin 84 10.8 +10.8
Majority 503 64.6 +20.5
Turnout 779 39.2 -6.3
Conservative hold Swing
Park Wood[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Field 447 54.1 +20.0
Conservative Susan Yates 258 31.2 +0.3
Labour Liz Stevens 122 14.8 -20.1
Majority 189 22.9
Turnout 827 24.5 -4.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Shepway North[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Garland 1,091 60.6 +6.8
Labour Gill Annan 375 20.8 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Peter Batt 220 12.2 +1.3
Green Stephen Muggeridge 114 6.3 -0.2
Majority 716 39.8 +5.5
Turnout 1,800 28.7 -1.3
Conservative hold Swing
Shepway South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Hinder 525 51.9 +15.9
Labour Ken Stevens 324 32.0 -5.1
Liberal Democrats Maria Sotelo-Moratinos 163 16.1 +3.0
Majority 201 19.9
Turnout 1,012 23.7 -1.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Ian Chittenden 1,196 48.2
Conservative Scott Hahnefeld 1,179 47.6
Labour John Randall 104 4.2
Majority 17 0.6
Turnout 2,479 41.6 +0.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

References
  1. "Maidstone". BBC News Online. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  2. "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
  3. "Voters head to the polls in local elections". kentnews.co.uk. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  4. "Tories take control in Maidstone". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  5. "Election Results 2008" (PDF). Maidstone Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  6. "Local elections 08 nationwide results". The Times. 3 May 2008. p. 14.
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