2007 Woking Borough Council election

The 2007 Woking Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, 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 2007 Woking council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2007.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

The election saw 12 seats being contested with 2 sitting councillors standing down, Neville Hinks in Knaphill ward and Mehala Gosling in West Byfleet.[3] Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were hoping to win control of the council, with the Liberal Democrats needing 1 more seat and the Conservatives 4.[4] Labour were defending 3 seats which were all threatened by either the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats.[4] The other parties standing in the election were the United Kingdom Independence Party, which was standing in more seats than Labour, and the UK Community Issues Party.[4]

The Conservative campaign was described as being the strongest in years with the seats in Horsell and Knaphill being seen as critical in deciding who would control the council.[4]

Election result

The Conservatives won the election gaining a majority on the council, the first time any party had a majority since 1998 and the first time the Conservatives had held a majority since 1994.[5] The Conservatives gained 4 seats in Kingfield and Westfield, Maybury and Sheerwater, Knaphill and Horsell to hold 19 seats compared to 17 for the Liberal Democrats.[5] Meanwhile, Labour lost all 3 of their seats on the council including the party leader, Peter Ford, who lost in Old Woking to the Liberal Democrats.[5] This was the first time Labour had ever failed to have any councillors on Woking council.[6]

The Conservatives won almost 51% of the vote compared to their closest challengers, the Liberal Democrats, on just over 35%,[6] with overall turnout in the election being 43.60%.[7] Following the election the Conservative Anne Murray was expected to take over as leader of the council from Liberal Democrat Sue Smith.[5]

Woking Local Election Result 2007[2][7]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 9 4 0 +4 75.0 50.9 12,110 +5.7%
  Liberal Democrats 3 1 2 -1 25.0 35.4 8,426 -5.6%
  Labour 0 0 3 -3 0 8.7 2,063 +0.6%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 4.5 1,062 +1.1%
  UK Community Issues Party 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 110 -0.4%

Ward results
Byfleet[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Hutton 1,346 57.0 +11.3
Liberal Democrats John Faulkner 1,017 43.0 -2.6
Majority 329 14.0 +13.9
Turnout 2,363 44.0 +2.1
Conservative hold Swing
Goldsworth East[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Rob Leach 1,150 51.9 +1.3
Conservative Hilary Addison 829 37.4 -3.0
Labour Colin Bright 163 7.4 -2.0
UKIP Judith Squire 72 3.3 +3.3
Majority 321 14.5 +4.3
Turnout 2,214 40.9 +1.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Hermitage and Knaphill South[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tina Liddington 925 64.2 +10.2
Conservative David Bittleston 313 21.7 -16.3
UKIP Mary Kingston 102 7.1 +7.1
Labour Graeme Carman 101 7.0 -1.0
Majority 612 42.5 +26.5
Turnout 1,441 36.3 +0.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Horsell East and Woodham[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anne Murray 1,186 71.1 +13.5
Liberal Democrats John Doran 307 18.4 -5.6
UKIP Marion Free 108 6.5 -6.6
Labour John Pitt 66 4.0 -1.4
Majority 879 52.7 +19.1
Turnout 1,667 47.9 +1.8
Conservative hold Swing
Horsell West[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Beryl Hunwicks 1,395 50.7
Liberal Democrats Gareth Davies 1,093 39.8
UKIP Timothy Shaw 116 4.2
Labour Janice Worgan 98 3.6
UK Community Issues Party Katrina Osman 47 1.7
Majority 302 10.9
Turnout 2,749 51.8 +0.4
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Kingfield and Westfield[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stewart Brown 602 36.4 +10.5
Liberal Democrats Paul Owen 527 31.9 -6.7
Labour John Martin 417 25.2 +3.8
UKIP Dennis Davey 106 6.4 -5.8
Majority 75 4.5
Turnout 1,652 43.0 +2.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Knaphill[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Melanie Whitehand 1,158 44.3 +7.2
Liberal Democrats Christian Morgan-Jones 1,113 42.5 -6.9
UKIP Matthew Davies 203 7.8 +0.3
Labour Christopher Martin 142 5.4 -0.6
Majority 45 1.8
Turnout 2,616 37.2 -0.9
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Maybury and Sheerwater[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Muzaffar Ali 1,177 38.8 -9.8
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Bashir 1,040 34.2 +20.3
Labour Elizabeth Evans 665 21.9 -10.2
UKIP Rob Burberry 92 3.0 +3.0
UK Community Issues Party Michael Osman 63 2.1 -3.3
Majority 137 4.6
Turnout 3,037 45.8 +3.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Old Woking[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Colin Scott 337 39.7 +0.7
Labour Peter Ford 325 38.3 -4.3
Conservative Ashley Bowes 187 22.0 +3.6
Majority 12 1.4
Turnout 849 41.0 +3.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Pyrford[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Ankers 1,560 76.3 +13.4
Liberal Democrats John Magid 359 17.6 -6.2
UKIP Robin Milner 126 6.2 -3.8
Majority 1,201 58.7 +19.6
Turnout 2,045 51.4 +2.0
Conservative hold Swing
St Johns and Hook Heath[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Cundy 1,044 72.6 +9.2
Liberal Democrats Andrew Larkham 326 22.7 +4.9
UKIP Marcia Taylor 68 4.7 +1.3
Majority 718 49.9 +4.3
Turnout 1,438 41.2 -2.1
Conservative hold Swing
West Byfleet[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Wilson 1,313 77.2 +10.4
Liberal Democrats Rashad Raja 232 13.6 -0.5
Labour Mike Kelly 86 5.1 +0.2
UKIP Richard Squire 69 4.1 +0.9
Majority 1,081 63.6 +10.9
Turnout 1,700 43.2 -1.4
Conservative hold Swing

References
  1. "Woking". BBC News Online. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  2. "National: Elections 2007: Town and country go to the polls". The Guardian. 4 May 2007. p. 6.
  3. "Battles loom as list of candidates published". getsurrey. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. "Close call forecast in the battle for control of council". getsurrey. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  5. "Tories seize control in electoral coup". getsurrey. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  6. "Tories take over control of council". getsurrey. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  7. "Election of Borough Councillors for the Wards of Woking Borough Council: Summary of Results" (PDF). Woking Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
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