Maidstone Borough Council election, 2003

The 2003 Maidstone Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 21
• Conservative 21
• Labour 10
• Independent 3^[2]

Background

Before the election no party had a majority on the council with the Liberal Democrats on 21 seats, the Conservatives 19, Labour 12 and 3 independents.^[3] The Conservatives stood in all 18 seats which were being contested, the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties each put up 17 candidates, the United Kingdom Independence Party 10 and there were 2 independent candidates.^[3]

Election result

Overall turnout in the election was 30.8%.^[3]

Maidstone Local Election Result 2003[3][4]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	2	0	+2	50.0	42.2	10,894	+3.6%
	Liberal Democrat	7	1	1	0	38.9	34.3	8,872	-2.6%
	Labour	1	0	2	-2	5.6	16.3	4,210	+0.7%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	5.6	4.3	1,110	-0.8%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	2.9	748	+1.7%

Ward results

Allington[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Cynthia Robertson	1,169	61.5
	Conservative	Sally Nicholson	459	24.1
	Labour	Marianna Polisczuk	197	10.4
	UKIP	Gareth Kendall	77	4.0
Majority			710	37.3
Turnout			1,902	33.5	-4.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Bearsted[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Bradshaw	1,312	62.2
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Chittenden	363	17.2
	Labour	Jeanne Gibson	332	15.7
	UKIP	Peter Croughton	103	4.9
Majority			949	45.0
Turnout			2,110	32.5	-7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boxley[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Greer	763	46.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Chittenden	643	38.9
	Labour	Stephen Gibson	172	10.4
	UKIP	Margaret Leggat	77	4.7
Majority			120	7.3
Turnout			1,655	25.7	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Coxheath and Hunton[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Williams	943	48.7
	Conservative	Adrian Brindle	794	41.0
	Labour	John Hughes	198	10.2
Majority			149	7.7
Turnout			1,935	35.6	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Detling and Thurnham[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horne	485	72.6	+9.5
	Liberal Democrat	John Watson	123	18.4	-6.2
	Labour	Raymond Huson	60	9.0	-3.4
Majority			362	54.2	+15.7
Turnout			668	29.7	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downswood and Otham[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Frederick Winckless	470	76.3	-2.5
	Conservative	Paul Butcher	115	18.7	-2.5
	Labour	Richard Coates	31	5.0	+5.0
Majority			355	57.6	+0.0
Turnout			616	29.0	+2.0
	Independent hold		Swing

East[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Naghi	1,074	54.2
	Conservative	Alan Warner	623	31.5
	Labour	Brian Wood	216	10.9
	UKIP	Anthony Robertson	67	3.4
Majority			451	22.8
Turnout			1,980	31.8	-2.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Fant[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Patrick Schnell	724	43.6
	Labour	John Morrison	593	35.7
	Conservative	Joanne Frith	274	16.5
	UKIP	Stephen Dean	68	4.1
Majority			131	7.9
Turnout			1,659	29.0	+0.9
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

Harrietsham and Lenham[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janetta Sams	709	44.6
	Conservative	David Marshall	674	42.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Morris	205	12.9
Majority			35	2.2
Turnout			1,588	39.8	-1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

High Street[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Fran Wilson	616	47.8
	Conservative	Scott Hahnefeld	317	24.6
	Labour	Leonard Burfield	252	19.6
	UKIP	Terence Kendall	103	8.0
Majority			299	23.2
Turnout			1,288	22.0	-0.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Leeds[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Parvin	536	68.9	-1.3
	Liberal Democrat	Sarah Gould	141	18.1	+1.9
	Labour	Elizabeth Stevens	101	13.0	-0.6
Majority			395	50.8	-3.2
Turnout			778	41.5	+5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loose[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Hugh Laing	389	51.9	+0.1
	Conservative	Michael Oben	319	42.5	-5.7
	Labour	Edith Davis	42	5.6	+5.6
Majority			70	9.3	+5.7
Turnout			750	41.1	+8.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Marden and Yalding[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annabelle Blackmore	1,079	62.3
	Liberal Democrat	Patricia Gerrish	317	18.3
	Labour	Michael Jackson	252	14.5
	UKIP	Brian Hogg	84	4.8
Majority			762	44.0
Turnout			1,732	29.6	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

North[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Mervyn Warner	849	58.4
	Conservative	Jamie Devlin	379	26.1
	Labour	Keith Adkinson	161	11.1
	UKIP	Margaret Kendall	65	4.5
Majority			470	32.3
Turnout			1,454	27.8	-0.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Shepway North[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marion Ring	647	42.4
	Labour	Wendy Marlow	621	40.7
	Liberal Democrat	Geoffrey Samme	196	12.8
	UKIP	Michael George	62	4.1
Majority			26	1.7
Turnout			1,526	24.6	-1.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

South[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Chell	711	33.6
	Independent	Alan Smith	640	30.2
	Liberal Democrat	John Wilson	624	29.4
	Labour	Allan Rimmer	102	4.8
	UKIP	Michael Oakley	42	2.0
Majority			71	3.4
Turnout			2,119	36.6	-0.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Staplehurst[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Lusty	883	63.9
	Liberal Democrat	Thomas Burnham	328	23.7
	Labour	Michael Casserley	171	12.4
Majority			555	40.2
Turnout			1,382	30.0	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sutton Valence and Langley[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paulina Stockell	524	75.7	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Shona Stevens	168	24.3	-5.0
Majority			356	51.4	+9.9
Turnout			692	31.7	-1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
2. "Election results". Financial Times. 3 May 2003. p. 8.
3. "Maidstone elections 2003" (PDF). Maidstone Borough Council. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
4. "English councils". The Times. 3 May 2003. p. 47.