2008 Stroud District Council election

The 2008 Stroud Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Stroud District Council in Gloucestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2008 Stroud council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Green party in green. Wards in grey were not contested in 2008.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Background

Before the election the council had 31 Conservative, 9 Labour, 5 Green, 4 Liberal Democrat and 2 independents.[3] 61 candidates stood for the 17 seats that were being contested, with the Green party contesting every seat for the first time.[3] Councillors standing down at the election included Conservative Sue Fellows and the Labour Party's Hilary Fowles and Mattie Ross.[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control with 31 seats, after both gaining and losing 2 seats,[4] while increasing their vote share to 51%.[5] The Conservatives gained the seats of Dursley and Stonehouse from Labour, after the sitting Labour councillors had stood down, reducing Labour to 7 seats.[6] However the Conservatives also lost Nailsworth by 28 votes to the Greens and Wotton-under-Edge by 25 votes to the Liberal Democrats.[6] This meant the Greens went up to 6 seats and the Liberal Democrats up to 5 seats, while there remained 2 independents who had not defended seats in the election.[6] Turnout in the election varied from a high of 50.03% in Painswick to a low of 33% in Cainscross.[6]

The local Labour Member of Parliament David Drew blamed the defeats for Labour on "general disillusionment with the Government" and the issues of government assistance after the 2007 floods and the abolition of the 10 pence income tax rate.[7]

Stroud local election result 2008[8][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 12 2 2 0 70.6 51.2 13,231 +10.8%
  Labour 2 0 2 -2 11.8 17.4 4,491 -5.7%
  Liberal Democrats 2 1 0 +1 11.8 12.2 3,142 -1.3%
  Green 1 1 0 +1 5.9 17.8 4,595 -1.1%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 300 -0.5%
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 67 +0.3%

Ward results
Amberley and Woodchester[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Glanfield 452 54.3 -1.7
Green Jennifer Whiskerd 151 18.1 +2.6
Labour Jo Smith 131 15.7 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Adrian Walker-Smith 98 11.8 -1.8
Majority 301 36.2 -4.2
Turnout 832 49.4
Conservative hold Swing
Berkeley[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Archer 861 67.2 -2.7
Labour Geoffrey Wheeler 295 23.0 -7.1
Green Chris Keppie 126 9.8 +9.8
Majority 566 44.1 +4.4
Turnout 1,282 39.0 -0.9
Conservative hold Swing
Cainscross[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tom Williams 757 42.2 -7.1
Conservative Norma Rodman 648 36.2 +1.4
Green Helen Royall 195 10.9 -5.0
Liberal Democrats Sylvia Bridgland 192 10.7 +10.7
Majority 109 6.1 -8.4
Turnout 1,792 33.3 -3.2
Labour hold Swing
Chalford[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Debbie Young 1,217 56.2 +0.9
Green Carolyn Billingsley 633 29.2 +4.8
Labour Malcolm Perry 195 9.0 -3.4
UKIP Leslie Banstead 121 5.6 -2.2
Majority 584 27.0 -3.9
Turnout 2,166 43.2 +2.8
Conservative hold Swing
Dursley[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alex Stennett 647 34.4 -0.1
Liberal Democrats Brian Marsh 608 32.3 +0.5
Labour Daryl Matthews 531 28.2 -5.5
Green Gillian Stott 97 5.2 +5.2
Majority 39 2.1 +1.4
Turnout 1,883 39.0 -1.9
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Eastington and Standish[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ken Stephens 288 44.5 +3.4
Conservative Ian Robinson 277 42.8 +3.4
Green Gerald Hartley 82 12.7 +2.1
Majority 11 1.7 +0.0
Turnout 647 45.9
Labour hold Swing
Hardwicke[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Len Tomlins 875 69.3 +0.9
Labour Miranda Williams 227 18.0 +3.4
Green Sally Pickering 160 12.7 +12.7
Majority 648 51.3 -0.1
Turnout 1,262 33.8 -1.8
Conservative hold Swing
Kingswood[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Hemming 309 50.3 -0.7
Conservative Michael Howard 187 30.5 -12.1
Green Sue Fleming 118 19.2 +19.2
Majority 122 19.9 +11.5
Turnout 614 40.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Minchinhampton[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joe Forbes 1,112 71.2 +8.0
Green Marie Gwynn 275 17.6 +6.3
Labour Joan Moore 175 11.2 -1.0
Majority 837 53.6 +3.7
Turnout 1,562 44.6 -4.5
Conservative hold Swing
Nailsworth[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Fi MacMillan 1,028 43.1 +5.2
Conservative Dorcas Binns 1,000 41.9 +3.5
Labour Sally Thorpe 229 9.6 -3.7
BNP Alan Lomas 67 2.8 +2.8
UKIP Maureen Upchurch 61 2.6 -2.7
Majority 28 1.2
Turnout 2,385 46.4 +2.6
Green gain from Conservative Swing
Painswick[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barbara Tait 1,228 69.0 +1.9
Green Elinor Croxall 371 20.8 -1.5
Labour David Heyes 181 10.2 -0.5
Majority 857 48.1 +3.3
Turnout 1,780 50.0 -0.3
Conservative hold Swing
Rodborough[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nigel Cooper 516 32.1 +1.7
Liberal Democrats Andrew Fisk 465 29.0 -1.8
Green Phil Blomberg 446 27.8 +1.7
Labour John Appleton 178 11.1 -1.6
Majority 51 3.2
Turnout 1,605 46.4 +1.7
Conservative hold Swing
Severn[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Norman-Leonard Smith 961 60.6 +3.1
Liberal Democrats John Howe 306 19.3 -7.2
Labour John Greenwood 206 13.0 -1.9
Green Annie Finlay-Trotter 114 7.2 +7.2
Majority 655 41.3 +10.3
Turnout 1,587 42.9 +0.0
Conservative hold Swing
Stonehouse[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Phil Bevan 843 42.1 +5.1
Labour Gary Powell 806 40.2 -1.1
Green Clare Sheridan 237 11.8 -2.1
UKIP Adrian Blake 118 5.9 -1.8
Majority 37 1.8
Turnout 2,004 34.1 -1.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
The Stanleys[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ray Apperley 718 52.3 -1.4
Labour Lesley Williams 316 23.0 +3.3
Green Tony Mcnulty 190 13.8 +0.9
Liberal Democrats Gavin Owen 150 10.9 -2.8
Majority 402 29.3 -4.8
Turnout 1,374 41.2 -1.8
Conservative hold Swing
Upton St Leonards[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Pearson 710 78.9 +0.4
Green Peter Adams 114 12.7 +12.7
Labour Ela Pathak-Sen 76 8.4 -13.1
Majority 596 66.2 +9.3
Turnout 900 48.9 +1.3
Conservative hold Swing
Wotton-Under-Edge[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats June Cordwell 1,014 45.0 -7.2
Conservative John Gowers 979 43.5 +18.4
Green Martin Harvey 258 11.5 -5.5
Majority 35 1.6 -25.5
Turnout 2,251 45.0 -0.9
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

References
  1. "Stroud". BBC News Online. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  2. "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
  3. "Town braced for a heated poll battle". Gloucestershire Echo. 9 April 2008. p. 13.
  4. "Ups and downs but few surprises in poll results ; Across the South West election results held few surprises and little change for local authorities". Western Daily Press. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  5. "Jubilant Tories boost their share of votes in local elections". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  6. "It's won two, lost two for the Tories". The Citizen Gloucestershire. 3 May 2008. p. 4.
  7. "Labour' s poor support due to disillusionment says Stroud MP". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  8. "District Results 2008". Stroud District Council. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  9. "Results". The Times. 3 May 2008. p. 14.
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