Worthing Borough Council election, 2007

Map of the results of the 2007 Worthing council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2007.

The 2007 Worthing Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Worthing Borough Council in West Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Labour and the United Kingdom Independence Party stood in the election.^[2] There was also one candidate, Dawn Smith, standing as a "Stop Durrington's Overdevelopment - Save Titnore's Trees" candidate as a protest against plans to build 875 houses near Worthing.^[3]

The Liberal Democrats had been hoping to gain three seats,^[2] but the results saw the Conservatives gain one seat from the Liberal Democrats to strengthen their majority on the council.^[4] The Liberal Democrat defeat came by 12 votes in Selden ward where their candidate James Doyle was upset over the Conservatives using the description "Conservative, Stop Hospital Cuts" on the ballot paper.^[5] Conservative Kevin Skepper retained his seat in Broadwater, which he had previously won as a Liberal Democrat before defecting to the Conservatives.^[5] This was the first time since 1975 that a Conservative had won in Broadwater.^[5] Meanwhile, in Castle ward the Liberal Democrats held both the seats in Castle ward after 3 recounts.^[5] Overall voter turnout in the election was 35.41%.^[6]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 24
• Liberal Democrat 12
• Independent 1^[7]

Election result

Worthing Local Election Result 2007[8]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	0	+1	75.0	52.4	14,189	+0.2%
	Liberal Democrat	3	0	1	-1	25.0	32.6	8,829	-6.1%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	5.5	1,478	+2.9%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.7	1,266	+2.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	4.3	1,156	-0.3%
	Stop! Durrington's Overdevelopment - Save Titnores' Trees	0	0	0	0	0	0.6	174	+0.6%

Ward results

Broadwater[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kevin Skepper	1,062	49.6	+14.1
	Liberal Democrat	Gary Riding	941	44.0	-8.2
	Labour	John Turley	136	6.4	+6.4
Majority			121	5.6
Turnout			2,139	33.0	-0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Castle (2)[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Robin Rogers	1,025
	Liberal Democrat	David Potter	952
	Conservative	Bill Capper	944
	Conservative	Ruth White	924
	Green	Julian Warrick	251
	UKIP	Chris Chatfield	204
Turnout			4,300	35.5	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Central[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clive Roberts	874	42.7	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Janet Goldsbrough-Jones	630	30.8	-7.0
	Green	James Pearson	263	12.9	+1.2
	Labour	Tony Smith	180	8.8	+0.0
	UKIP	Christopher Woodward	99	4.8	+4.8
Majority			244	11.9	+8.1
Turnout			2,046	31.5	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gaisford[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bryan Turner	1,085	47.4	+5.4
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Muggeridge	844	36.9	-7.6
	Green	Marie Hillcoat	193	8.4	-5.1
	Labour	Tori Finney	168	7.3	+7.3
Majority			241	10.5
Turnout			2,290	35.0	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Goring[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Sayers	1,817	62.9	-3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Merlin Jones	410	14.2	-5.8
	UKIP	Richard Bater	323	11.2	-2.5
	Stop! Durrington's Overdevelopment - Save Titnores' Trees	Dawn Smith	174	6.0	+6.0
	Labour	Janet Haden	165	5.7	+5.7
Majority			1,407	48.7	+2.4
Turnout			2,889	43.0	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heene[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Livermore	1,003	53.6	-8.4
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Jones	446	23.9	-14.1
	Green	Derek Colkett	248	13.3	+13.3
	UKIP	Stuart Field	173	9.3	+9.3
Majority			557	29.7	+5.7
Turnout			1,870	31.0	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Marine[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Mercer	1,511	63.4	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Susan Withnell	344	14.4	-1.0
	Green	Sam Colkett	201	8.4	-2.5
	UKIP	Phil Ruddock	171	7.2	+0.5
	Labour	Barrie Slater	155	6.5	-0.5
Majority			1,167	49.0	+4.4
Turnout			2,382	36.7	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Offington[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Fabes	1,845	77.2	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Norah Fisher	425	17.8	-7.5
	Labour	Hazel Rennie	121	5.1	+5.1
Majority			1,420	59.4	+10.0
Turnout			2,391	39.0	-0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Salvington[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Noel Atkins	1,530	61.3	-9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Cranefield	603	24.1	-5.1
	UKIP	Ron Brooks	364	14.6	+14.6
Majority			527	37.2	-4.4
Turnout			2,497	35.0	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Selden[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Oakley	962	45.2	-1.3
	Liberal Democrat	James Doyle	950	44.6	-8.9
	Labour	Ann Saunders	216	10.2	+10.2
Majority			12	0.6
Turnout			2,128	36.0	+2.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Tarring[6][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Hazel Thorpe	1,259	58.3	+4.1
	Conservative	John Rose	632	29.3	+0.2
	UKIP	Martin McGinlay	144	6.7	-1.8
	Labour	Sid Wells	125	5.8	-2.4
Majority			627	29.0	+3.9
Turnout			2,160	33.8	+0.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

1. "Worthing". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
2. "Conservatives look safe in Worthing". The Argus. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
3. "Tories improve majority in Worthing". The Argus. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
4. "Lib Dems and Tories share spoils". BBC News Online. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
5. "Local elections results across Sussex". The Argus. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
6. "Worthing election results". Worthing Herald. 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
7. "National: Elections 2007: Town and country go to the polls". The Guardian. 2007-05-04. p. 6.
8. "Election 2007 Results". The Times. 2007-05-04. p. 8.
9. "Local Elections 2007". Worthing Borough Council. Retrieved 2009-10-14.