Rushmoor Borough Council election, 2006

Map of the results of the 2006 Rushmoor council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Labour in red.

The 2006 Rushmoor Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 25
• Liberal Democrat 10
• Labour 5
• Independent 2^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the council had 22 Conservative, 11 Liberal Democrat, 5 Labour and 3 independent councillors.^[3] In total 52 candidates were standing in the election with 14 seats being contested.^[3] These candidates came from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, British National Party, Green Party, Official Monster Raving Loony Party and 1 independent.^[4]

Issues in the election included anti-social behaviour, regeneration of Aldershot, services for young people, traffic management and the environment.^[3] The 3 candidates from the British National Party also caused controversy in the election after they distributed leaflets in Farnborough containing pictures of Mohammad as a suicide bomber.^[5]

The election had Rushmoor be one of a few councils trialing early voting in an attempt to increase turnout.^[6] Polling stations were open in the week leading up to the election in Aldershot and Farnborough, as well as one in Aldershot Military Town.^[7] Turnout in the election as a whole was 36%, up 5% on the 2003 election with over 1,200 peoples using the 2 early polling stations in Aldershot and Farnborough town centres.^[8] However the polling station in the military town, open on the day before the election, got only 46 votes cast.^[8]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives increase their majority after gaining 3 seats to hold 25 of the 42 seats.^[9] The Conservatives gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats and one seat in Knellwood, where the previous independent councillor, Patrick Kirby, stepped down at the election.^[10] The gains from the Liberal Democrats came in Cove and Southwood ward where the Conservatives won by 310 votes, and West Heath where the margin was much closer at only 13 votes.^[11] These defeats meant the Liberal Democrats were reduced to 10 seats on the council, compared to 5 for Labour and 2 independents.^[10]

Labour held both of the seats they had been defending with the result in Heron Wood being closest with Labour holding on by 108 votes.^[10] The British National Party saw an increased vote, with the party winning 20% in Mayfield, just 28 votes short of second place.^[12] Meanwhile the candidate from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, whose policies had included a pledge to make people buy £90 worth of Smarties each week, won 59 votes in Rowhill ward.^[10]

Rushmoor Local Election Result 2006[13][9][14]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	3	0	+3	64.3	45.7	9,801	+2.0%
	Liberal Democrat	3	0	2	-2	21.4	30.4	6,528	-0.8%
	Labour	2	0	0	0	14.3	14.6	3,124	-2.9%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	3.6	768	+0.9%
	Independent	0	0	1	-1	0	3.0	638	+0.7%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.6	550	+1.2%
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	59	+0.3%

Ward results

Cove & Southwood[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Tennant	862	53.5	+8.5
	Liberal Democrat	Anoop Verma	552	34.2	-13.3
	Labour	Edward Shelton	113	7.0	-0.5
	Green	James Page	85	5.3	+5.3
Majority			310	19.2
Turnout			1,612	38.4	+1.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Empress[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Clifford	1,222	63.8	+18.9
	Liberal Democrat	Crispin Allard	544	28.4	+4.6
	Labour	Christopher Wright	150	7.8	-1.5
Majority			678	35.4	+14.3
Turnout			1,916	43.3	-0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Fernhill[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Farrier	814	56.1	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Leola Card	369	25.4	+1.7
	BNP	Cheryl Glass	268	18.5	+4.4
Majority			445	30.7	+3.3
Turnout			1,451	35.5	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Grange[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Smith	683	44.9	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Hazel Manning	373	24.5	+0.2
	BNP	Janette Pedrick	257	16.9	+3.0
	Labour	June Smith	209	13.7	-7.2
Majority			310	20.4	+3.8
Turnout			1,522	39.2	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heron Wood[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Roberts	519	37.0	+4.8
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Colpus	411	29.3	-8.7
	Conservative	Hedy Brennan	381	27.2	-2.7
	Green	Samantha Stacey	90	6.4	+6.4
Majority			108	7.7
Turnout			1,401	32.5	-1.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Knellwood[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Jackman	852	46.3	-12.7
	Independent	Guy Eaglestone	564	30.7	+30.7
	Liberal Democrat	Abu Bakar	307	16.7	-12.5
	Labour	William Tootill	116	6.3	-5.5
Majority			288	15.7	-14.1
Turnout			1,839	45.0	+1.0
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Manor Park[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edmund Poole	723	48.3	+4.7
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Thompson	467	31.2	-14.9
	Green	Sarah Fisher	178	11.9	+11.9
	Labour	Lesley Pestridge	130	8.7	-1.6
Majority			256	17.1
Turnout			1,498	33.4	-6.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mayfield[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Craig Card	558	46.5	-4.9
	Conservative	Stephen Smith	271	22.6	+3.1
	BNP	Warren Glass	243	20.2	+5.3
	Labour	Clive Grattan	129	10.7	-3.4
Majority			287	23.9	-8.0
Turnout			1,201	30.9	-1.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

North Town[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Dibble	810	57.5	+3.9
	Conservative	Robert Lee	411	29.2	+0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Kilburn	103	7.3	-3.8
	Green	Adam Stacey	85	6.0	-0.7
Majority			399	28.3	+3.4
Turnout			1,409	31.2	-2.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Rowhill[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Kimber	970	60.9	+6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Pearson	260	16.3	+1.7
	Labour	Jill Clark	193	12.1	-9.6
	Green	Julia Fowler	112	7.0	-2.4
	Monster Raving Loony	Robert Stanton	59	3.7	+3.7
Majority			710	44.5	+11.9
Turnout			1,594	39.1	-0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

St John's[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Suzan Gadsby	852	51.1	+27.0
	Conservative	Jane Shattock	699	41.9	-19.8
	Labour	Sean Clarke	116	7.0	-7.2
Majority			153	9.2
Turnout			1,667	37.5	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St Mark's[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Alistair Mackie	829	48.8	+4.1
	Conservative	Rosemary Possee	696	40.9	-4.5
	Labour	Barry Jones	175	10.3	+0.3
Majority			133	7.8
Turnout			1,700	38.4	+1.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Wellington[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Neal	424	44.6	-0.7
	Labour	Alexander Crawford	330	34.7	+5.6
	Liberal Democrat	Josephine Fraser-Fleming	123	12.9	-1.0
	Independent	Roger Watkins	74	7.8	+0.6
Majority			94	9.9	-6.3
Turnout			951	21.8	-1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Heath[13][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Thomas	793	46.5	+10.8
	Liberal Democrat	Josephine Murphy	780	45.7	+6.6
	Labour	Philip Collins	134	7.9	-1.3
Majority			13	0.8
Turnout			1,707	42.3	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

References

1. "Local elections: Rushmoor". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
2. Rory, Carroll (2006-05-06). "Local elections 2006: Results in full". The Guardian. p. 20.
3. "Election: Greens, independents and the BNP join parties at poll". getsurrey. 2006-04-21. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
4. "Election: The candidates ward by ward". getsurrey. 2006-04-21. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
5. "BNP to fight poll in three wards". gethampshire. 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
6. "Now you can vote while doing your shopping". gethampshire. 2006-04-20. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
7. "New voting system takes off". gethampshire. 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
8. "The Army's early voting plan misfires". gethampshire. 2006-05-11. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
9. "Rushmoor election results". gethampshire. 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
10. "Tories tighten their grip as Lib Dems lose out". gethampshire. 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
11. "Election 2006: It's lucky 13 for Tory David". gethampshire. 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
12. "Election 2006: BNP records a 30% vote increase". Reading Post. 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
13. "Rushmoor Borough Council election results - 4th May, 2006 report of the returning office" (PDF). Rushmoor Borough Council. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
14. "Local elections". The Times. 2006-05-06. p. 64.