Worthing Borough Council election, 2002

The 2002 Worthing Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Worthing Borough Council in West Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from the Conservative party.^[1] Overall turnout was 30.67%.^[2]

After the previous election in 2000 the Conservatives had controlled the council with 20 seats compared to the Liberal Democrats 16.^[3] 12 seats were up for election in 2002 with the Liberal Democrats needing to gain 2 seats to make Worthing a hung council.^[4] Issues in the election included litter, the introduction of palm trees on the seafront and a recent 10.3% increase in council tax.^[4]

The results saw the Liberal Democrats make 3 gains from the Conservatives to take control.^[5] They gained all three of the seats they had been targeting in Castle, Gaisford and Selden wards.^[2] The Conservatives put their defeat down to a proposed Asda at Worthing College and on the recent increase in council tax which they blamed on the national government.^[2] The Liberal Democrats pledged to work for a "clean and safe Worthing".^[2] Following the election the Conservative mayor-elect, John Livermore, stepped down, refusing to serve as mayor with the Liberal Democrats in control of the council.^[6]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 19
• Conservative 17^[7]

Election result

Worthing Local Election Result 2002[2]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrat	7	3	0	+3	58.3	43.9	10,387
	Conservative	5	0	3	-3	41.7	44.9	10,621
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	7.6	1,804
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	3.5	825

Ward results

Broadwater[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Eric Mardell	1,148	68.8
	Conservative	Jack Saheid	372	22.3
	Labour	Ann Saunders	148	8.9
Majority			776	46.5
Turnout			1,668	25.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Castle[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Maria Moynan	966	51.0
	Conservative	Mark O'Keeffe	633	33.4
	Labour	Peter Barnes	238	12.6
	Green	Derek Colkett	56	3.0
Majority			333	17.6
Turnout			1,893	31.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Central[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Janet Goldsbrough-Jones	903	58.7
	Conservative	Martin Coppard	445	28.9
	Labour	Brian Gill	191	12.4
Majority			458	29.8
Turnout			1,539	26.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Durrington[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Christine Allen	1,470	64.8
	Conservative	Alan Whiteley	659	29.0
	Green	John Dwyer	141	6.2
Majority			811	35.8
Turnout			2,270	30.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Gaisford[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Donald Lissenburg	962	49.1
	Conservative	Brian Turner	740	37.8
	Labour	Joy Hurcombe	169	8.6
	Green	Marie Hillcoat	89	4.5
Majority			222	11.3
Turnout			1,960	30.3
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Goring[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Marchant	1,800	71.3
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Rodgers	724	28.7
Majority			1,076	42.6
Turnout			2,524	37.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heene[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Livermore	989	58.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jenny Bennett	557	32.9
	Green	Heather Rogers	149	8.8
Majority			432	25.4
Turnout			1,695	27.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Marine[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Wingate	1,235	60.7
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Stephenson	388	19.1
	Labour	Barrie Slater	230	11.3
	Green	Lucie Colkett	182	8.9
Majority			847	41.6
Turnout			2,035	31.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Offington[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Fabes	1,404	64.6
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Daniels	502	23.1
	Labour	John Gardiner	153	7.0
	Green	Rosemary Hook	115	5.3
Majority			902	41.5
Turnout			2,174	34.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Salvington[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Valerie Sutton	1,176	60.6
	Liberal Democrat	Liz Mardell	550	28.4
	Labour	Hazel Rennie	214	11.0
Majority			626	32.2
Turnout			1,940	29.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Selden[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	James Doyle	920	44.8
	Conservative	Paul High	733	35.7
	Labour	John Turley	309	15.0
	Green	Dave Yates	93	4.5
Majority			187	9.1
Turnout			2,055	33.5
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Tarring[2][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Smytherman	1,297	68.8
	Conservative	Mary Harding	435	23.1
	Labour	Ian Sandell	152	8.1
Majority			862	45.7
Turnout			1,884	28.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

1. "Worthing". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
2. "Lib Dems take Worthing". The Argus. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
3. "Countdown to political battle". The Argus. 2002-04-11. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
4. "Tories in fight for Worthing". The Argus. 2002-05-02. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
5. "Town halls change hands". The Argus. 2002-05-03. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
6. "Tory says no to top job after elections". The Argus. 2002-05-04. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
7. "Election results; Local Elections". The Times. 2002-05-03. p. 6.
8. "The Worthing Borough Council elections 1 May 2003" (PDF). Political Science Resources. Retrieved 2009-10-11.