Ashford Borough Council election, 2011

Map of results of 2011 election

The 2011 Ashford Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Ashford Borough Council in Kent, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Election result

The Conservatives gained 2 seats to have 30 of the 43 councillors.^[2] Labour picked up 3 seats, while the Ashford Independents made a net gain of 1 seat, to both have 5 councillors.^[3] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats were reduced to just 2 seats in North Willesborough and Victoria wards, a result that was blamed on the party's national unpopularity.^[2] Overall turnout in the election was 56%.^[2]

Ashford Local Election Result 2011[4]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	30	3	1	+2	69.8	46.8	21,836	-6.0%
	Ashford Independent	5	4	3	+1	11.6	19.9	9,276	+19.9%
	Labour	5	3	0	+3	11.6	10.5	4,914	+3.4%
	Liberal Democrat	2	0	6	-6	4.7	10.4	4,852	-17.5%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	2.3	8.1	3,762	-3.2%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.4	1,135	+1.5%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.8	853	+1.8%

2 Conservative candidates were elected unopposed.

Ward results

Aylesford Green[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Adley	241	36.3	+36.3
	Ashford Independent	Brian Norris	240	36.1	-2.3
	Conservative	Paul Hardisty	183	27.6	+6.4
Majority			1	0.2
Turnout			664	34.3	+6.1
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Beaver (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Clark	481
	Labour	Brendan Naughton	479
	Conservative	Stephen Bates	452
	Conservative	Cenghizhan Jem	335
	Ashford Independent	Laura Lawrence	308
	Ashford Independent	Stacey Smith	261
Turnout			2,316	33.8	+5.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Biddenden[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Bell	776	80.4	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Clare Hardwick	189	19.6	-6.4
Majority			587	60.8	+12.8
Turnout			965	48.1	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bockhanger[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Claughton	407	50.7	-11.4
	Ashford Independent	Shirley Ambrose	208	25.9	+25.9
	Labour	Thomas Reed	123	15.3	-7.9
	Green	Steven Campkin	65	8.1	+8.1
Majority			199	24.8	-14.1
Turnout			80.3	44.3	+8.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boughton Aluph & Eastwell[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Independent	Winston Michael	401	38.9	+38.9
	Liberal Democrat	Rita Hawes	367	35.6	-32.3
	Conservative	Ian Cooling	262	25.4	-6.7
Majority			34	3.3
Turnout			1,030	43.9	+8.4
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Bybrook[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Buchanan	300	36.8	-17.8
	Ashford Independent	John Ley	282	34.6	+34.6
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Took	234	28.7	-16.7
Majority			18	2.2	-7.0
Turnout			816	41.9	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Charing[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Clarkson	674	68.1	-5.0
	Liberal Democrat	George Whyte	315	31.9	+5.0
Majority			359	36.3	-9.9
Turnout			989	49.5	+9.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downs North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Marriott	580	56.8	-3.1
	Ashford Independent	Sarah Dacre	279	27.3	+27.3
	Green	Geoffery Meaden	162	15.9	-12.2
Majority			301	29.5	-2.3
Turnout			1,021	52.5	+7.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downs West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Robey	456	49.0	-18.0
	Ashford Independent	Antony Bartlett	280	30.1	+30.1
	Green	Lola Sansom	113	12.1	+12.1
	Liberal Democrat	Leonard Wicklewright	82	8.8	-12.9
Majority			176	18.9	-36.4
Turnout			931	49.7	-10.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Godinton (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Feacey	935
	Conservative	Bernard Heyes	801
	UKIP	David Botting	370
	Ashford Independent	Rachel Moorat	368
	Independent	Michael Sharpe	291
Turnout			2,765	39.6	+6.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Great Chart with Singleton North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jessamy Blanford	423	42.2	-6.3
	Ashford Independent	Jerry Preston-Ladd	400	39.9	+15.9
	Labour	Waheed Qureshi	179	17.9	+7.6
Majority			23	2.3	-22.2
Turnout			1,002	38.3	+5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Highfield[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Independent	Jane Davey	376	44.4	+23.7
	Conservative	Gregory Winter	311	36.8	-1.9
	Liberal Democrat	John Mackie	159	18.8	-21.8
Majority			65	7.7
Turnout			846	44.7	+8.3
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Isle of Oxney[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Burgess	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kennington[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Independent	Philip Sims	440	45.7
	Conservative	Elizabeth Tweed	415	43.1
	Labour	Robert Maxted	107	11.1
Majority			25	2.6
Turnout			962	54.0
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Little Burton Farm[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marion Martin	505	50.0	-23.5
	Liberal Democrat	Kelly-Marie Blundell	195	19.3	-7.2
	Ashford Independent	Charlotte Fraser	171	16.9	+16.9
	Labour	Terry Pavlou	138	13.7	+13.7
Majority			310	30.7	-16.3
Turnout			1,009	46.2	+9.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Norman[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Yeo	224	30.5	+30.5
	Conservative	Richard Davis	202	27.5	+9.0
	Ashford Independent	Abigail Burt	165	22.4	+9.9
	Liberal Democrat	Jack Cowen	144	19.6	-19.0
Majority			22	3.0
Turnout			735	37.3	+7.9
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

North Willesborough (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Davidson	624
	Ashford Independent	Andrew Mortimer	522
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Cowley	502
	Ashford Independent	Simon Thomason	452
	Conservative	Alex Bell	446
	Conservative	Alan Pickering	351
	Labour	Leonardo Cannon	302
Turnout			3,199	46.7	+8.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Park Farm North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bettina Heyes	540	54.4	-11.6
	Labour	Martin Chandler	214	21.6	+6.6
	Independent	Natalie Edwards-Moss	163	16.4	+16.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Dove	75	7.6	-11.5
Majority			326	32.9	-14.0
Turnout			992	41.0	+10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Park Farm South[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Wedgbury	489	73.4	-7.6
	Labour	Thomas Devine	177	26.6	+16.1
Majority			312	46.8	-23.7
Turnout			666	32.5	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rolvenden & Tenterden West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Bennett	586	52.5	-29.1
	Ashford Independent	Juliet Fenton	438	39.2	+39.2
	Liberal Democrat	Marion Murray	93	8.3	-10.1
Majority			148	13.2	-50.0
Turnout			1,117	58.3	+9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Saxon Shore (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Wood	1,194
	Conservative	William Howard	1,019
	Ashford Independent	Susan Davison	535
	Green	Tracy Dighton-Brown	496
	Liberal Democrat	Rosemary Davies	340
Turnout			3,584	52.7	+11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Singleton South[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amanda Hodgkinson	387	46.7	-0.3
	Independent	Malcolm Eke	238	28.7	+15.7
	Ashford Independent	Terence Stock	126	15.2	+15.2
	Independent	Jonathan Clarke	77	9.3	+9.3
Majority			149	18.0	-0.5
Turnout			828	37.5	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

South Willesborough[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Smith	526	63.8	+20.0
	Labour	Sophie Griffiths	150	18.2	+18.2
	Conservative	Carol Brook	148	18.0	+0.6
Majority			376	45.6	+23.9
Turnout			824	32.8	+5.6
	Independent hold		Swing

St Michaels[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Link	626	70.8	-4.2
	Green	Matthew Stanley	187	21.2	+21.2
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Hardwick	71	8.0	-17.0
Majority			439	49.7	-0.3
Turnout			884	46.9	+8.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stanhope[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brendan Chilton	286	56.2	+56.2
	Ashford Independent	Palma Laughton	223	43.8	-24.4
Majority			63	12.4
Turnout			509	28.5	+8.2
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Stour (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Galpin	645
	Conservative	Matthew French	578
	Ashford Independent	Emily Neighbour	382
	Labour	David Burt	366
	Labour	Angharad Yeo	310
	Ashford Independent	James McDonald	268
	Liberal Democrat	Nadiya Yildirim	178
Turnout			2,727	41.4	+5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tenterden North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Clokie	523	50.1	-19.0
	Independent	Gillian Whittaker	251	24.0	+24.0
	Independent	Michael Pearson	146	14.0	+14.0
	Labour	Rebecca Andrews	124	11.9	+11.9
Majority			272	26.1	-12.1
Turnout			1,044	56.7	+13.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tenterden South[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Goddard	546	58.8	-0.4
	Independent	Roy Isworth	382	41.2	+41.2
Majority			164	17.7	-0.7
Turnout			928	48.6	+8.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Victoria (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jeremy Adby	425
	Conservative	Harold Apps	387
	Labour	Roy Clark	370
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Dye	361
	Labour	Susan Clark	347
	Conservative	Muhammed Khan	293
	Ashford Independent	Karen Hopkins	189
	Ashford Independent	Sarah Stanfield	185
Turnout			2,557	36.9	+6.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Washford[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Shorter	329	37.7	+1.3
	Independent	John Holland	253	29.0	-9.6
	Labour	Robert Vincent	184	21.1	+6.6
	Ashford Independent	Simon Nelson	107	12.3	+12.3
Majority			76	8.7
Turnout			873	36.3	+6.2
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Weald Central (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clair Bell	1,113
	Conservative	Robert Taylor	999
	Independent	Paul Andrews	470
	UKIP	Thomas Taylor	386
Turnout			2,968	47.4	+4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weald East[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Bartlett	uncontested
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weald North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geraldine Dyer	635	58.9	-13.0
	Ashford Independent	Timothy Lee	332	30.8	+30.8
	Green	Hilary Jones	112	10.4	-2.1
Majority			303	28.1	-28.2
Turnout			1,079	55.8	-4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weald South (2)[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Independent	Peter Davison	1,020
	Conservative	Aline Hicks	992
	Conservative	John Rivers	601
	Independent	Edward Relf	525
	Independent	Hilary Moorby	440
	Liberal Democrat	Christine Stone	226
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Stone	183
Turnout			3,987	52.5	+6.4
	Independent hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wye[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steven Wright	392	38.9	+8.4
	Ashford Independent	Jack Woodford	318	31.5	-33.6
	Labour	Alexander Latham	112	11.1	+11.1
	UKIP	Mike Adams	97	9.6	+9.6
	Liberal Democrat	Kenneth Blanshard	89	8.8	+4.4
Majority			74	7.3
Turnout			1,008	55.5	+5.6
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

References

1. "England council elections". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
2. "Tories tighten grip on council". this is Kent. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
3. "Tories retain Ashford as Independent challenge fails to do enough". yourmedway.co.uk. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
4. "Local Election Result 2011". Ashford.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2011.