2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2011 Eastbourne Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Eastbourne Borough Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats controlled the council with 20 seats, compared to 7 for the Conservatives, after taking control at the 2007 election.[2] A total of 94 candidates stood for the 27 seats on the council being contested, while 10 sitting councillors stood down at the election, 8 Liberal Democrats and 2 Conservatives.[2] Important seats for control of the council were expected to be Old Town and Sovereign, as well as Hampden Park and Upperton.[2]

Local issues at the election included plans for the redevelopment of the town centre, which was supported across parties, and calls to improve Eastbourne's transport links.[3] However, with the Liberal Democrats in government nationally together with the Conservatives, national government decisions, such as the increase in tuition fees, were also an issue during the election.[3]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats remained in control of the council with 15 seats, but lost 5 seats to the Conservatives.[4][5] The Conservatives gained all 3 seats in Sovereign ward and also took the 2 seats the Liberal Democrats had been defending in Upperton.[5] This took the Conservatives to 12 councillors,[6] but the Liberal Democrats held on to all 3 seats in Old Town ward after a recount, to keep a 3-seat council majority.[5] Overall turnout at the election was 44.17%,[7] compared to 42.26% in 2007.[8]

Eastbourne local election result 2011[7][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 15 0 5 -5 55.6 39.4 13,341 -5.6
  Conservative 12 5 0 +5 44.4 38.0 12,893 -0.5
  Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 10.6 3,590 +1.7
  Labour 0 0 0 0 0.0 10.4 3,515 +5.2
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.2 404 -1.2
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.5 160 N/A

Ward results

Devonshire (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Margaret Bannister 1,529
Liberal Democrats Neil Stanley 1,304
Liberal Democrats Steve Wallis 1,273
Conservative Margaret Parker 672
Conservative Sandra Elkin 666
Conservative Grant Sanders 580
Labour Steven Clark 412
Labour Richard Goude 345
Labour Jean Winstone 337
Green Linda Wintle 295
Green Bill Palethorpe 256
Independent Keith Gell 160
Turnout 7,829 34.5 +0.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Hampden Park (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Pat Hearn 1,394
Liberal Democrats Jim Murray 1,266
Liberal Democrats Mike Thompson 1,225
Conservative Caroline Ansell 692
Conservative Kate Glover 672
Conservative Sam Chapman 643
Labour Dave Brinson 470
Labour Jake Lambert 418
Labour Gerry Stonestreet 344
Green Leslie Dalton 255
Green Ivor Hueting 220
Green Rob Sier 166
Turnout 7,765 40.1 +8.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Langney (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Alan Shuttleworth 1,434
Liberal Democrats Harun Miah 1,328
Liberal Democrats Troy Tester 1,282
Conservative Tony Freebody 726
Conservative John Glover 720
Conservative Jan Jenkins 705
Labour Lee Comfort 278
Green Christine Quarrington 270
Labour Sean Meekings 258
Labour Roy Noble 218
Turnout 7,219 34.4 +0.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Meads (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barry Taylor 2,239
Conservative David Elkin 2,232
Conservative Nigel Goodyear 2,126
Liberal Democrats Tom Banner 797
Liberal Democrats Jean Fisher 766
Liberal Democrats Margaret Ticehurst 734
Green Harry Boys 414
Labour Jean Couture 411
UKIP Ian Cameron 404
Labour Dennis Scard 373
Green Dorothy Forsyth 361
Labour Manek Jaffer 349
Turnout 11,206 51.4 +3.5
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Old Town (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Carolyn Heaps 2,432
Liberal Democrats Janet Coles 1,934
Liberal Democrats John Ungar 1,738
Conservative Anne Angel 1,726
Conservative Vivienne De Havilland-Geraghty 1,350
Conservative Danielle Perry 1,193
Green Pippa Oliphant 631
Labour Helen Key 418
Labour Paul Richards 374
Labour Sarah Richards 340
Turnout 12,136 53.4 −1.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Ratton (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colin Belsey 2,357
Conservative Sandie Howlett 2,076
Conservative Colin Murdoch 1,991
Liberal Democrats Linda Beckmann 999
Liberal Democrats Roger Howarth 984
Liberal Democrats Barbara Rodohan 908
Green Nancy Dalton 523
Labour Christopher Hall 471
Labour James Nolan 394
Labour Helen Sedgwick 360
Turnout 11,063 53.1 +4.8
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
St Anthony's (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Tutt 2,169
Liberal Democrats Jon Harris 1,929
Liberal Democrats Gill Mattock 1,913
Conservative Nick Ansell 846
Conservative Simon Herbert 759
Conservative Robert Borland 752
Labour Jackie Ferguson 383
Labour David Salmon 348
Labour Ian Culshaw 332
Green Hugh Norris 287
Turnout 9,718 43.8 +2.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Sovereign (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Ede 1,904
Conservative Patrick Warner 1,767
Conservative Gordon Jenkins 1,745
Liberal Democrats Margaret Salsbury 1,193
Liberal Democrats Stephen Holt 1,169
Liberal Democrats Grace Loseby 1,106
Green Jocelyn McCarthy 488
Labour Sharon Wentworth 359
Turnout 9,731 40.6 +1.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Upperton (3 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tom Liddiard 1,731
Conservative Annabelle West 1,707
Conservative Alun Cooke 1,694
Liberal Democrats Alex Hough 1,394
Liberal Democrats Pat Rodohan 1,378
Liberal Democrats Hilary Lewis 1,324
Green Kenneth Webb 427
Labour Margaret Barr 313
Labour Lucette Davies 305
Labour Elizabeth Goude 304
Turnout 10,577 46.4 +0.1
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

By-elections between 2011 and 2015

A by-election was held in Meads on 31 May 2012 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Nigel Goodyear.[10] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Caroline Ansell with a majority of 1,318 votes over Liberal Democrat Gerard Thompson.[10]

Meads by-election 31 May 2012[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Ansell 1,783 59.6 +7.1
Liberal Democrats Gerard Thompson 465 15.5 −3.2
Labour Dennis Scard 323 10.8 +1.2
UKIP Ian Cameron 322 10.8 +1.3
Independent Keith Gell 100 3.3 +3.3
Majority 1,318 44.1
Turnout 2,993 39 −12
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Council elections: Follow our live blog for minute by minute coverage". Eastbourne Herald. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  3. ^ a b Stewart, Louise (21 April 2011). "Eastbourne's local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  4. ^ Travers, Tony (7 May 2011). "Expert view Lib Dem collapse good news for Cameron". The Guardian. p. 5.
  5. ^ a b c "Eastbourne council elections results". Eastbourne Herald. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Liberal Democrats hold Eastbourne with cut majority". BBC News Online. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Election Results 2011". Eastbourne Borough Council. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  8. ^ "Election Results 2007". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  9. ^ "Local authority elections: England". The Guardian. 7 May 2011. p. 30.
  10. ^ a b c "Carolien wins Meads for Conservatives". Eastbourne Herald. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2015.