Map of the results of the 2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2008.

The 2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, 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:

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 36 councillors, compared to eight for the Liberal Democrats, four Independents and one Labour councillor.[3] 17 of the 49 seats on the council were up for election in 2008, which meant the Conservatives were guaranteed to keep a majority.[4]

The Conservative leader of the council, Barry Norton, in North Leigh ward was one of four Conservatives who were elected without opposition, with the Conservatives being the only party to have a full 17 candidates.[4] Both the Liberal Democrats and Green Party had eight candidates, Labour had five candidates, UK Independence Party two and there were two independents.[4]

13 councillors sought re-election, with the councillors who stood down at the election including the Conservative former council chairman Tony Walker from Kingham, Rollright and Enstone ward, the Liberal Democrat group leader Stuart Brooks of Freeland and Hanborough ward, and Independent Derrick Millard of Stonesfield and Tackley ward.[4][5]

Election result

The Conservatives gained four seats to win 11 of the 13 seats contested.[6] This took the Conservatives to 40 of the 49 councillors and reduced the opposition to its lowest level on the council as of 2008.[6] Conservative gains included taking Witney South from independent, former Witney mayor, Peter Green, while Conservative Ian Hudspeth held Woodstock and Bladon by 45 votes.[6][7]

The Liberal Democrats lost two seats to be reduced to four councillors, although Margaret Stevens narrowly held Eynsham and Cassington for the party by four votes.[6] Meanwhile, the number of independents was reduced by two to two councillors, while Labour remained with one councillor.[6] Overall 11 of the 13 councillors who stood were re-elected with average turnout at the election being 39.84%.[5]

West Oxfordshire local election result 2008[2][5]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 15 4 0 +4 88.2 56.5 10,194 +4.1%
  Liberal Democrats 2 0 2 -2 11.8 22.5 4,065 +3.2%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 8.5 1,527 -2.1%
  Labour 0 0 0 0 0 7.9 1,416 -1.7%
  Independent 0 0 2 -2 0 3.5 629 -3.2%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 1.1 203 -0.2%

Ward results

Chadlington and Churchill[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Terence Owen 560 78.4 +12.4
Liberal Democrats Christopher Tatton 154 21.6 +1.5
Majority 406 56.9 +11.0
Turnout 714 45.3 -4.6
Conservative hold Swing
Charlbury and Finstock[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Glena Chadwick 883 58.0 +5.2
Conservative Gill Hill 639 42.0 +3.3
Majority 244 16.0 +1.9
Turnout 1,522 51.6 +0.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Chipping Norton[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McHugh 1,005 49.4 +10.1
Labour Rob Evans 620 30.5 -16.8
Independent Keith Greenwell 304 14.9 +1.5
Green Brian Luney 105 5.2 +5.2
Majority 385 18.9
Turnout 2,034 41.1 -1.8
Conservative hold Swing
Eynsham and Cassington[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Margaret Stevens 825 45.7 -3.4
Conservative Sheila Bibb 821 45.5 +8.5
Green Katharine Nathan 158 8.8 +2.1
Majority 4 0.2 -11.9
Turnout 1,804 40.5 -1.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Freeland and Hanborough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Morris 727 49.9 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Mike Baggaley 632 43.4 +3.0
Labour Hugh Burton 98 6.7 +2.7
Majority 95 6.5 -2.1
Turnout 1,457 44.3 -1.4
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Hoare unopposed
Conservative hold Swing
Kingham, Rollright and Enstone[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dennis Stickley unopposed
Conservative hold Swing
Milton under Wychwood[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jeff Haine unopposed
Conservative hold Swing
North Leigh[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barry Norton unopposed
Conservative hold Swing
Standlake, Aston and Stanton Harcourt[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hilary Fenton 939 58.7 +10.4
Liberal Democrats Elisabeth Bickley 660 41.3 -10.4
Majority 279 17.4
Turnout 1,599 49.3 +1.7
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Stonesfield and Tackley[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gillian Oldfield 898 69.5 +69.5
Green Susan Turnbull 395 30.5 +1.5
Majority 503 39.0
Turnout 1,293 40.8 +0.8
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Witney Central[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colin Adams 703 62.8 +9.4
Labour Philip Edney 250 22.3 +3.4
Green Stuart MacDonald 89 8.0 -3.6
Liberal Democrats Brenda Churchill 77 6.9 -9.2
Majority 453 40.5 +6.0
Turnout 1,119 33.1 -0.2
Conservative hold Swing
Witney East[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Roger Curry 1,108 63.6 +5.9
Labour Duncan Enright 311 17.9 +1.1
Green Enid Dossett-Davies 198 11.4 +0.5
UKIP James Mawle 124 7.1 +7.1
Majority 797 45.8 +5.0
Turnout 1,741 32.4 -0.7
Conservative hold Swing
Witney North[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Martin Chapman 594 54.1 +2.7
Green Richard Dossett-Davies 314 28.6 -3.5
Liberal Democrats Ruth Smith 189 17.2 +0.7
Majority 280 25.5 +6.3
Turnout 1,097 35.1 -1.9
Conservative hold Swing
Witney South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jane Doughty 810 58.4 +3.2
Independent Peter Green 325 23.4 +23.4
Green Jill Jones 174 12.5 +1.5
UKIP David Phipps 79 5.7 -2.5
Majority 485 34.9 -6.3
Turnout 1,388 30.7 -4.0
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Witney West[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Louise Chapman 705 75.3 -4.0
Labour Dave Wesson 137 14.6 +14.6
Green Sandra Simpson 94 10.0 -10.7
Majority 568 60.7 +2.1
Turnout 936 30.3 -0.5
Conservative hold Swing
Woodstock and Bladon[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Hudspeth 685 51.5 +7.5
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Poskitt 645 48.5 +6.8
Majority 40 3.0 +0.7
Turnout 1,330 43.6 -5.5
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "West Oxfordshire". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Results: Voters in the cities and the shires have their say in the ballot box". The Guardian. NewsBank. 2 May 2008.
  3. ↑ Horne, David (30 April 2008). "Elections: Local issues crucial". Witney Gazette. NewsBank.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Horne, David (8 April 2008). "17 district seats are up for election on May 1". Witney Gazette. NewsBank.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "West Oxfordshire District Council Election Results 1998 - 2010" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Horne, David (2 May 2008). "Election: Full picture in West Oxon". Oxford Mail. NewsBank.
  7. ↑ "Election: Tories happy in w Oxon". Oxford Mail. NewsBank. 1 May 2008.
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