Map of the results of the 2008 Rushmoor council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Labour in red.

The 2008 Rushmoor Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, 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:

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives held 26 seats, the Liberal Democrats 7, Labour 6 and a further 3 vacant.[3] 15 seats were up for election with 2 seats in St Johns ward being contested after the death of Conservative councillor Graham Tucker.[4] The other 2 vacant seats were in Cove and Southwood, and Empress wards, where Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors respectively stood down at the election.[3]

50 candidates were standing including 4 from the British National Party[5] and 1 from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party as well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour parties.[4] The candidates included a 19-year-old Conservative in Heron Wood ward who was hoping to become the youngest ever councillor in Rushmoor.[6]

Issues in the election included local developments, an increase in flights at Farnborough Airfield, the recent trial of alternate weekly rubbish collection, anti-social behaviour, spending cuts and councillors' expenses.[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council with 29 seats compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 5 Labour.[7] The Conservatives gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats in Cove and Southwood and West Heath wards to increase their majority.[8] However the Liberal Democrats did take one seat back in St Marks ward defeating the Conservative councillor for the previous 10 years Nigel Baines.[8] Meanwhile, in Heron Wood ward the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Aldershot for the first time since 2006 after defeating the sitting Labour councillor.[9] Labour easily held their only other seat in North Town, while narrowly failed to gain Wellington from the Conservatives by 50 votes;[9] however Labour came last in all 9 wards in Farnborough.[8]

Overall turnout was down from the 2007 election at 33.7% with the lowest turnout in Wellington ward at 19.8%.[7] Following the election the Liberal Democrats elected a new group leader with Sue Gadsby taking over from Craig Card who had been party leader for the previous 9 years.[10]

Rushmoor Local Election Result 2008[11][12]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 11 2 1 +1 73.3 52.9 11,817 +4.3%
  Liberal Democrats 3 2 2 0 20.0 29.9 6,664 -0.8%
  Labour 1 0 1 -1 6.7 13.6 3,039 -1.2%
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0 3.3 733 -0.8%
  Monster Raving Loony 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 67 -0.2%

Ward results

Cove & Southwood[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Susan Carter 960 63.5 +9.7
Liberal Democrats Anoop Verma 475 31.4 -9.1
Labour Edward Shelton 77 5.1 -0.6
Majority 485 32.1 +18.8
Turnout 1,512 35.4
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Empress[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gareth Lyon 1,158 68.1 +4.2
Liberal Democrats Margaret Doubell 405 23.8 -2.9
Labour Christopher Wright 138 8.1 -1.3
Majority 753 44.3 +7.1
Turnout 1,701 37.1
Conservative hold Swing
Fernhill[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Marsh 906 65.3 +7.5
BNP Cheryl Glass 200 14.4 -2.9
Liberal Democrats Josephine Murphy 190 13.7 -4.7
Labour Martin Coule 92 6.6 +0.1
Majority 706 50.9 +11.5
Turnout 1,388 33.7
Conservative hold Swing
Grange[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steve Masterson 669 43.9 +6.2
Liberal Democrats Philip Thompson 546 35.8 -4.9
BNP Janette Brunning 179 11.7 -1.4
Labour June Smith 130 8.5 0.0
Majority 123 8.1
Turnout 1,524 37.3
Conservative hold Swing
Heron Wood[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Bowers 564 41.8 +15.9
Labour Terry Bridgeman 404 30.0 -9.0
Conservative Simon Poole 380 28.2 -6.9
Majority 160 11.8
Turnout 1,348 29.5
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Knellwood[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Taylor 1,153 69.8 +13.5
Liberal Democrats Derek Purdey 395 23.9 +4.9
Labour William Tootill 105 6.4 -1.2
Majority 758 45.9 +8.6
Turnout 1,653 39.3
Conservative hold Swing
Manor Park[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Paparesti 869 61.7 +5.5
Liberal Democrats Laura Kilburn 399 28.3 -4.8
Labour Lesley Pestridge 140 9.9 -0.8
Majority 470 33.4 +10.2
Turnout 1,408 30.6
Conservative hold Swing
Mayfield[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Charlie Fraser-Fleming 491 44.4 -0.3
Conservative Roderick Baulk 302 27.3 +2.8
BNP Warren Glass 191 17.3 -0.2
Labour Clive Grattan 123 11.1 -2.3
Majority 189 17.1 -3.1
Turnout 1,107 27.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
North Town[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sue Dibble 885 59.8 +3.2
Conservative Sabaah Choudhary 446 30.1 +2.1
Liberal Democrats Nick Burfield 149 10.1 -5.4
Majority 439 29.7 +1.1
Turnout 1,480 28.2
Labour hold Swing
Rowhill[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Welch 928 67.4 +7.7
Liberal Democrats Pete Pearson 217 15.8 -3.8
Labour Jill Clark 164 11.9 -2.0
Monster Raving Loony Professor Nabob 67 4.9 -1.9
Majority 711 51.7 +11.5
Turnout 1,376 33.1
Conservative hold Swing
St John's (2)[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Moyle 1,005
Conservative Jacqui Vosper 934
Liberal Democrats Leola Card 631
Liberal Democrats Janet Gardner 621
Labour Sean Clarke 94
Labour Leslie Taylor 91
Turnout 3,376 34.7
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
St Mark's[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Crispin Allard 984 53.9 +8.6
Conservative Nigel Baines 741 40.6 -7.0
Labour Barry Jones 100 5.5 -1.6
Majority 243 13.3
Turnout 1,825 40.1
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Wellington[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Neil Watkin 461 47.1 -2.1
Labour Alex Crawford 411 42.0 +3.0
Liberal Democrats Peter Woodcock 107 10.9 -0.9
Majority 50 5.1 -5.2
Turnout 979 19.8
Conservative hold Swing
West Heath[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steve Smith 905 55.1 +9.9
Liberal Democrats Shaun Murphy 490 29.8 -7.3
BNP Garry Brunning 163 9.9 -1.3
Labour Philip Collins 85 5.2 -1.3
Majority 415 25.3 +17.2
Turnout 1,643 39.8
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

References

  1. ↑ "Tushmoor". BBC News Online. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
  3. 1 2 3 "Town centres, airport and mega-depot dominate year". gethampshire. 28 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Fight for seats on two councils". gethampshire. 10 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "BNP field candidates in borough poll". gethampshire. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Teenager gets ready to contest borough poll". gethampshire. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Rushmoor a deeper shade of blue". gethampshire. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 "Tories claim scalps but North Camp swings Lib Dem". gethampshire. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  9. 1 2 "Few surprises as Tories hold council". gethampshire. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "New party leader for borough Lib Dems". gethampshire. 16 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Local Election Results May 2008". Rushmoor Borough Council. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "Local elections 08 nationwide results". The Times. 3 May 2008. p. 14.
Preceded by
2007 Rushmoor Council election		 Rushmoor local elections Succeeded by
2010 Rushmoor Council election
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