Christchurch Borough Council election, 2015

Map of the results of the 2015 Christchurch Borough Council election. Conservatives in blue, independents in grey and UK Independence Party in purple.

The 2015 Christchurch Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Christchurch Borough Council in Dorset, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Background

After the last election in 2011 the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 21 seats, while independents had two seats and there was one Liberal Democrat.[2] However the only Liberal Democrat councillor, Peter Hall of Town Cente ward, defected to the Conservatives in June 2011.[3]

69 candidates stood in 2015 for the 24 seats on the council, including a full slate of 24 from the Conservatives.[4] Labour had 20 candidates and the UK Independence Party 16, up from 11 and 6 respectively in 2011.[5] Other candidates were six from the Green party and three independents, including the two sitting councillors in Jumpers ward, Colin Bungey and Fred Neale.[5] After the Liberal Democrats stood 11 candidates in 2011 they had no candidates in 2015, with the party's candidate for the Christchurch parliamentary constituency saying that the local party "wanted to concentrate on the general election campaign".[4]

Three Conservative councillors, Mike Duckworth, Gillian Geary and Myra Mawbey, stood down at the election.[5] Meanwhile the election in North Highcliffe and Walkford ward was delayed until June 2015 after the death of one of the candidates.[6]

Election result

The Conservatives remained in control of the council after winning 19 of the 22 seats contested in May.[1] They lost one seat to the UK Independence Party, but retained all of the other seats they had been defending, including both seats in Town Centre ward where Peter Hall held his seat as a Conservative after his defection from the Liberal Democrats in 2011.[7] The UK Independence Party gain came in Grange ward where Janet Abbott was elected and the party got an increased vote share across the council.[7] Meanwhile the only other seats not won by the Conservatives came in Jumpers where the two independent councillors, Colin Bungey and Fred Neale, held their seats.[7]

The Conservatives also won both seats at the June delayed election in North Highcliffe and Walkford ward.[8]

Christchurch local election result 2015[1][8][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 21 0 1 -1 87.5 57.7 28,859 -5.6%
  Independent 2 0 0 0 8.3 4.7 2,331 -2.4%
  UKIP 1 1 0 +1 4.2 20.5 10,242 +14.0%
  Labour 0 0 0 0 0 13.8 6,899 +4.6%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 3.3 1,672 +3.3%

The above totals include the delayed election in North Highcliffe and Walkford.

Ward results

Burton and Wickton (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Flagg 1,190
Conservative Colin Jamieson 1,164
UKIP Dan Mills 564
UKIP Cindy McGrail 562
Independent Brian Taylor 335
Labour James Kennedy 300
Labour Jacqueline Milton 299
Turnout 4,414 71.0 +20.5
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Grange (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Denise Jones 645
UKIP Janet Abbott 635
Conservative Paul Hilliard 584
UKIP Carl Williams 547
Labour Antoinette Pearce 377
Labour David Munnik 371
Green Graham Kendrick 225
Turnout 3,384 55.1 +20.7
Conservative hold Swing
UKIP gain from Conservative Swing
Highcliffe (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Vicki Hallam 1,283
Conservative John Lofts 1,221
UKIP Robin Ede 618
UKIP Jean Bell 541
Labour Carol Wilcox 250
Labour Vera Hill 242
Turnout 4,155 74.8 +17.4
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Jumpers (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Colin Bungey 1,014
Independent Fred Neale 982
Conservative Norma Fox 678
Conservative Will Edwards 652
Labour Robin Thorpe 270
Green Robert Staite 214
Labour Howard Wortley 211
Green Nigel Ware 174
Turnout 4,195 70.5 +24.2
Independent hold Swing
Independent hold Swing
Mudeford and Friars Cliff (3 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Claire Bath 1,900
Conservative Andy Barfield 1,897
Conservative Trevor Watts 1,437
UKIP Robert Clifford 945
Labour Lindsay Turner 558
Labour Robert Brannan 515
Turnout 7,252 74.4
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Portfield (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Travis Fox 1,081
Conservative Lisle Smith 868
UKIP Jane Brown 676
Labour Julie Keeble 507
Labour Bob McNair 416
Turnout 3,548 66.8 +27.4
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Purewell and Stanpit (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bernie Davis 1,066
Conservative Ray Nottage 966
UKIP Diane Rollinson 657
UKIP Terry Spooner 561
Labour Clare Martens 432
Green Anthony Sanders 421
Turnout 4,103 70.4 +22.2
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
St Catherine's and Hurn (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sue Spittle 1,603
Conservative Margaret Phipps 1,494
UKIP Inez Baxter 599
Labour Alan Matthews 308
Labour Valerie Matthews 298
Turnout 4,302 76.5 +20.5
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Town Centre (2 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Hall 1,045
Conservative Wendy Grace 993
UKIP Liz Faherty 585
UKIP Olga Turner 476
Labour George Gregory 365
Green Joanne Dyton 349
Green Steven Thomas 289
Turnout 4,102 70.2 +21.0
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
West Highcliffe (3 seats)[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Trish Jamieson 1,945
Conservative Lesley Dedman 1,834
Conservative David Jones 1,745
UKIP Philip Glover 922
UKIP Douglas Oakley 751
Labour Robert Maskell 534
Labour Abdul Qureshi 371
Turnout 8,091 74.3 +21.3
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

North Highcliffe and Walkford delayed election

The election in North Highcliffe and Walkford ward take place on 18 June 2015, delayed from 7 May when the rest of the council voted, after the death of Labour candidate Richard Walls.[6] The two seats were won by Conservatives Sally Derham Wilkes and Nick Geary.[8]

North Highcliffe and Walkford (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sally Derham Wilkes 793
Conservative Nick Geary 775
UKIP Robin Grey 315
UKIP Janet Hatton 288
Labour Donald Barr 143
Labour Gareth Walls 132
Turnout 2,446 41.0 -12.1
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Local election results 2015 in full". The Guardian. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Clark, Katie (22 June 2011). "Lib-Dem councillor quitting to join Tories". Bournemouth Daily Echo. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Christchurch Borough Council elections: No Lib Dem candidates". BBC News Online. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Clark, Katie (11 April 2015). "No Lib Dem candidates to stand in Christchurch". Bournemouth Daily Echo (NewsBank).
  6. 1 2 "Election delayed after candidate's death". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Frampton, Will (9 May 2015). "Vote 2015: Tories maintain their dominance in Christchurch". Bournemouth Daily Echo (NewsBank).
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Elections for the North Highcliffe & Walkford ward". dorsetforyou.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Results of the election to Christchurch Borough Council". dorsetforyou.com. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
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