Cherwell District Council election, 2008

The 2008 Cherwell District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Cherwell 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]

The results saw the Conservatives win all of the seats that were contested in the election in a clean sweep.^[2] They gained 2 seats from Labour to have 44 of the 50 seats on the council, while the Liberal Democrats were not defending any seats in the election.^[2][3] In Banbury Neithrop ward, Martin Weir, a former Labour party member who joined the Conservatives earlier in the year, defeated his former colleague and mayor Surinder Dhesi to take the seat.^[4] The other gain came in Banbury Ruscote, with the defeats for Labour being blamed on the national political situation.^[2] The results meant that Labour were reduced to holding only 2 seats on the council behind the Liberal Democrats on 4.^[5]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 44
• Liberal Democrat 4
• Labour 2^[6]

Election result

Cherwell Local Election Result 2008
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	18	2	0	+2	100	67.0	16,341	+10.0%
	Labour	0	0	2	-2	0	19.0	4,637	+0.1%
	Liberal Democrat	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	3,420	-6.5%

Ward results

Adderbury[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rick Atkinson	682	75.1	+13.7
	Liberal Democrat	Elisabeth Yardley	226	24.9	-13.7
Majority			456	50.2	+27.4
Turnout			908	39.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Banbury Calthorpe[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alastair Milne Home	884	75.9	+11.1
	Labour	Mary Ross	280	24.1	+2.5
Majority			604	51.8	+8.6
Turnout			1,164	28.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Banbury Easington[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fred Blackwell	1,534	77.9	+16.8
	Labour	Roy Mold	435	22.1	+2.6
Majority			1,099	55.8	+14.2
Turnout			1,969	33.7	-1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Banbury Grimsbury & Castle[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Bonner	1,075	62.0	+0.3
	Labour	Henry Goodman	495	28.6	-9.7
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Chadwick	163	9.4	+9.4
Majority			580	33.4	+10.0
Turnout			1,733	24.5	-1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Banbury Hardwick (2)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Donaldson	975
	Conservative	Anthony Ilott	836
	Labour	Sean Woodcock	281
	Labour	Sandra Mold	260
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Burns	233
Turnout			2,585	24.2	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Banbury Neithrop[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Weir	700	56.1	+6.6
	Labour	Surinder Dhesi	548	43.9	+11.8
Majority			152	12.2	-5.2
Turnout			1,248	28.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Banbury Ruscote[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Tompson	751	52.0	+2.9
	Labour	Patrick Cartledge	694	48.0	+11.4
Majority			57	4.0	-8.5
Turnout			1,445	25.3	-1.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bicester East[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lawrie Stratford	877	70.3	+10.1
	Labour	Chris Bream	208	16.7	-8.1
	Liberal Democrat	Bruce Shakespeare	163	13.1	-1.9
Majority			669	53.6	+18.2
Turnout			1,248	28.3	-1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bicester North[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Mawer	939	73.2	+2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Creed	178	13.9	-1.2
	Labour	John Darbyshire	165	12.9	-1.0
Majority			761	59.3	+3.4
Turnout			1,282	26.7	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bicester South[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dan Sames	827	60.1	+10.1
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Walton	548	39.9	-10.1
Majority			279	20.2
Turnout			1,375	37.4	+5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bicester Town[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Debbie Pickford	774	65.5	+7.0
	Labour	Mary Lynch	209	17.7	-5.4
	Liberal Democrat	John Willett	199	16.8	-1.6
Majority			565	47.8	+12.4
Turnout			1,182	30.5	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bicester West[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Russell Hurle	1,175	68.0	+21.0
	Labour	John Broad	553	32.0	-21.0
Majority			622	36.0
Turnout			1,728	31.1	-5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bloxham & Bodicote[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynda Thirzie Smart	1,338	73.4	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Davis	484	26.6	-2.8
Majority			854	46.8	+5.6
Turnout			1,822	39.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Caversfield[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Catherine Fulljames	510	76.9	+5.3
	Liberal Democrat	Andy Murray	100	15.1	-13.3
	Labour	Alan Hasted	53	8.0	+8.0
Majority			410	61.8	+18.6
Turnout			663	34.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kidlington South[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maurice Billington	1,369	57.1	+12.8
	Liberal Democrat	Doug Williamson	695	29.0	-3.9
	Labour	David James	333	13.9	-8.9
Majority			674	28.1	+16.7
Turnout			2,397	38.0	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Launton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Hughes	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Yarnton, Gosford & Water Eaton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trevor Stevens	1,095	66.4	-3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Suzanne Wilson-Higgins	431	26.1	-4.3
	Labour	Martin Keighery	123	7.5	+7.5
Majority			664	40.3	+1.1
Turnout			1,649	44.7	+8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Cherwell". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
2. "Election: Bleak day for Labour". thisisoxfordshire. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
3. "Tories wiped from Oxford council". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
4. "Former mayor loses seats". Banbury Guardian. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
5. "Live election results". Banbury Guardian. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
6. "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
7. "Cherwell District Council Election Results 2008". Cherwell District Council. Retrieved 2009-10-25.