St Albans City and District Council election, 2014

Map of the results of the 2014 St Albans City and District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Labour in red.

The 2014 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, 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

• Conservative 29
• Liberal Democrats 17
• Labour 10
• Green 1
• Independent 1^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives had half of the seats on the council with 29 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 19 seats, Labour had 8 and both the Greens and an independent had 1 seat.^[3] 20 seats were contested in 2014 with each of the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour parties putting up a full 20 candidates.^[3] The Green party stood 16 candidates, while the UK Independence Party had a big increase in candidates after only standing in 2 wards at the 2012 election.^[3]

Election result

The Conservatives remained the largest party on the council with 29 seats, but failed to win a majority on the council.^[4] Labour gained 2 seats to have 10 councillors, taking London Colney from the Conservatives and a narrow 32 vote gain in Sopwell from the Liberal Democrats after a recount.^[4][5] The Liberal Democrats dropped to 17 seats and blamed their loss of a seat in St Peters ward to the Conservatives on votes for the Green party, who came a close third in the ward.^[4][5] The UK Independence Party failed to win any seats but came second in Sandridge, and third in St Stephen ward where 2 seats were contested.^[4] Overall turnout at the election was 42.77%.^[6]

St Albans local election result 2014[2][6]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	12	2	2	0	54.5	38.5	19,044	+0.6%
	Liberal Democrat	7	1	3	-2	31.8	23.2	11,477	-1.8%
	Labour	3	2	0	+2	13.6	19.2	9,503	-2.8%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	9.5	4,705	+8.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	6.9	3,424	-1.7%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	2.5	1,241	-3.1%
	TUSC	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	14	+0.0%

Ward results

Ashley[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Rowlands	1,131	42.5	+9.8
	Labour	Anne Lyons	738	27.7	-8.1
	Conservative	Chris Dey	373	14.0	-6.1
	UKIP	Michael Mason	244	9.2	+9.2
	Green	Mike George	177	6.6	-4.9
Majority			393	14.8
Turnout			2,663	46.0	+8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Batchwood[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roma Mills	1,130	49.2	+0.7
	Conservative	Tim Smith	512	22.3	+0.9
	UKIP	Colin Donald	272	11.8	+11.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jon Humphrey	219	9.5	-11.3
	Green	Lee Evans	163	7.1	-2.2
Majority			618	26.9	-0.2
Turnout			2,296	41.5	+8
	Labour hold		Swing

Clarence[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Gerard McHale	764	32.5	-10.0
	Conservative	Joe Hames	579	24.6	+0.7
	Labour	Helen Ives-Rose	483	20.5	+2.0
	Green	Jack Easton	367	15.6	+0.5
	UKIP	Beverley Rands	145	6.2	+6.2
	TUSC	Keith Hussey	14	0.6	+0.6
Majority			185	7.9	-10.8
Turnout			2,352	44.8	+5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Colney Heath[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jamie Day	751	41.3	-18.5
	Conservative	Jonathan Marks	353	19.4	-4.1
	UKIP	Christopher Thorpe	339	18.6	+18.6
	Labour	John Paton	273	15.0	+3.2
	Green	Steve Clough	104	5.7	+0.8
Majority			398	21.9	-14.5
Turnout			1,820	41.6	-6.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Cunningham[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Rob Prowse	701	32.5	-7.0
	Labour	Vivienne Windle	484	22.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Jim Vessey	427	19.8	-1.4
	UKIP	Alan Malin	400	18.6	+10.5
	Green	Gregory Riener	143	6.6	+0.5
Majority			217	10.1	-8.2
Turnout			2,155	43.7	+6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Harpenden East[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Maynard	966	44.0	-9.2
	Independent	Pip Martyn	677	30.9	+30.9
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Waddilove	278	12.7	-11.6
	Labour	Rosemary Ross	273	12.4	-2.1
Majority			289	13.2	-15.7
Turnout			2,194	39.8	+8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden North[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Turner	902	45.9	-1.0
	Independent	John Chambers	302	15.4	-9.8
	Labour	Linda Spiri	276	14.0	+0.9
	Independent	Paul Howe	262	13.3	+13.3
	Liberal Democrat	Pauline Waddilove	224	11.4	+1.5
Majority			600	30.5	+8.9
Turnout			1,966	37.3	+5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden South[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Heritage	1,565	72.9	+1.8
	Labour	Michael Gray-Higgins	306	14.3	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Maria Moyses	275	12.8	+1.9
Majority			1,259	58.7	-0.4
Turnout			2,146	39.9	+6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden West[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julian Daly	1,599	67.6	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jeffrey Phillips	402	17.0	+3.1
	Labour	David Lawlor	364	15.4	+2.9
Majority			1,197	50.6	-2.3
Turnout			2,365	41.5	+7
	Conservative hold		Swing

London Colney[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Katherine Gardner	1,066	39.9
	Conservative	Simon Calder	853	31.9
	UKIP	David Kilpatrick	502	18.8
	Liberal Democrat	Margaret Price	126	4/7
	Green	William Simmons	124	4.6
Majority			213	8.0
Turnout			2,671	37.7	+3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Marshalswick North[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Tom Clegg	803	36.4	-8.1
	Conservative	Lyn Bolton	627	28.4	-7.3
	UKIP	Michael Hollins	380	17.2	+17.2
	Labour	Jane Cloke	233	10.6	-1.4
	Green	Claire Gilbert	162	7.3	-0.5
Majority			176	8.0	-0.8
Turnout			2,205	44.1	+4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Marshalswick South[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seema Kennedy	972	38.6	-1.2
	Labour	Anthony Nicolson	573	22.7	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Pedroz	486	19.3	-8.6
	Green	Katherine Reeve	258	10.2	+2.1
	UKIP	David Dickson	232	9.2	+3.9
Majority			399	15.8	+3.9
Turnout			2,521	47.0	+3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Park Street[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Aislinn Lee	976	40.1	-5.6
	Conservative	Stella Nash	649	26.7	-10.3
	UKIP	Roger Gray	493	20.3	+20.3
	Labour	Martin McGrath	228	9.4	-3.1
	Green	Rosalind Paul	85	3.5	-1.3
Majority			327	13.5	+4.8
Turnout			2,431	42.3	+6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Redbourn[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Victoria Mead	1,194	62.4	+30.8
	Labour	Nick Pullinger	363	19.0	+10.1
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Morton	189	9.9	+9.9
	Green	Lydia El-Khouri	168	8.8	+8.8
Majority			831	43.4
Turnout			1,914	39.5	-1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sandridge[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beric Read	770	46.1	-9.7
	UKIP	John Stocker	304	18.2	+18.2
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Clegg	248	14.9	-5.5
	Labour	Richard Harris	198	11.9	-3.9
	Green	Paul Quinn	149	8.9	+0.8
Majority			466	27.9	-7.5
Turnout			1,669	44.1	-7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sopwell[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Grant	840	34.6	-12.5
	Liberal Democrat	David Poor	808	33.3	+6.6
	Conservative	Nick Chivers	309	12.7	-4.6
	UKIP	Greg Peachey	306	12.6	+12.6
	Green	Kate Metcalf	166	6.8	-3.0
Majority			32	1.3	-20.1
Turnout			2,429	45.5	+11
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

St. Peters[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alun Davies	667	25.6	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Green	624	24.0	+4.1
	Green	Jill Mills	616	23.6	-11.1
	Labour	Rebecca Rideal	539	20.7	-2.7
	UKIP	Daragh Cahalane	159	6.1	+6.1
Majority			43	1.7
Turnout			2,605	42.3	+6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

St. Stephen (2 seats)[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Featherstone	1,340
	Conservative	Dave Winstone	923
	UKIP	Peter Whitehead	618
	Liberal Democrat	David Parry	513
	Liberal Democrat	Alison Ross	492
	Labour	Janet Blackwell	229
	Green	Lesley Baker	197
	Labour	James Hopkins	162
Turnout			4,474	46.2	+11
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Verulam[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Edgar Hill	1,018	37.8	-12.4
	Conservative	Steve McKeown	916	34.0	+1.8
	UKIP	Paul Tilyard	311	11.6	+11.6
	Labour	Heather Troy	234	8.7	-0.1
	Green	Margaret Grover	213	7.9	-0.9
Majority			102	3.8	-14.2
Turnout			2,692	49.4	+2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Wheathamptead (2 seats)[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annie Brewster	1,445
	Conservative	Sandra Wood	1,103
	Liberal Democrat	Harriet Sherlock	449
	Green	Ian Troughton	332
	Labour	David Cheale	307
	Labour	Gavin Ross	204
Turnout			3,840	44.4	+2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2014 and 2015

A by-election was held in Marshalswick South on 29 January 2015 for 2 seats on the council after the resignation of Conservative councillors Heidi Allen and Seema Kennedy.^[7] The 2 seats were held for Conservatives by Steve McKeown and Richard Curthoys with 667 and 647 votes respectively.^[7]

Marshalswick South by-election 29 January 2015 (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve McKeown	667
	Conservative	Richard Curthoys	647
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Pedroz	495
	Liberal Democrat	Elizabeth Needham	488
	Green	Jill Mills	450
	Labour	Richard Harris	406
	Labour	Vivienne Windle	312
	Green	Tim Robinson	166
	UKIP	David Dickson	148
	UKIP	Michael Hollins	147
Turnout			3,926	37.5	-9.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "St Albans". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
2. "Results Elections 2014". The Times (NewsBank). 24 May 2014. pp. 88–89.
3. Cherryman, Beth; Perring, Rebecca (29 April 2014). "Could UKIP upset Conservative majority at St Albans District Council?". St Albans & Harpenden Review (NewsBank).
4. "St Albans election result does nothing to upset political stalemate". St Albans & Harpenden Review (NewsBank). 23 May 2014.
5. Burton, Madeleine (23 May 2014). "Election sees few changes in St Albans council make-up". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
6. "22nd May 2014 District Council Election Results". St Albans City & District Council. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
7. Ikonen, Charlotte (30 January 2015). "Results: Marshalswick South by-election". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Retrieved 3 February 2015.