Purbeck Council election, 2008

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Elections to Purbeck Council were held on 1 May 2008. Nine of the twenty-four seats on the council were up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1] Overall turnout was 44.86%.^[2]

A big issue in the election was housing with much criticism of plans to build over five thousand homes in the district by 2026.^[3] The nominations for the election saw an unusual event when Liberal Democrat candidate Alexandra Brenton signed the nomination papers for her friend and Labour party candidate Selby Bennett.^[4] Two seats were contested in Lytchett Matravers after Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Peacock stood down in February.^[5]

The results saw the Liberal Democrat party gained Wareham and Wool wards from the Conservative party to pull level on the Council. The Conservative party took Swanage South from Liberal Democrat Colin Bright who had defected from the Conservatives the previous month.^[6]

After the election, the composition of the council was

[edit] Election result

Purbeck Local Election Result 2008
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net Gain/Loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/-
	Liberal Democrat	5	2	1	+1	55.6	45.6	6,174	+3.8%
	Conservative	4	1	2	-1	44.4	47.3	6,399	+8.7%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.8	653	-2.3%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	304	-3.2%

[edit] Ward results

Lytchett Matravers (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Martyn Colvey	785
	Conservative	David Cross	729
	Liberal Democrat	Alexandra Brenton	715
	Conservative	Colin Gibb	692
	Labour	James Selby Bennett	50
Turnout			2,971	52.7	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lytchett Minster and Upton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Wendy Starr	692	57.6	-4.1
	Conservative	Simon Williams	509	42.4	+4.1
Majority			183	15.2	-8.2
Turnout			1,201	39.1	-0.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Lytchett Minster and Upton West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Johns	829	65.3	+15.8
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Howlett	391	30.8	-19.7
	Labour	Ruth Cade	50	3.9	+3.9
Majority			438	24.5
Turnout			1,270	42.6	-6.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Martin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Beryl Ezzard	563	56.2	-0.9
	Conservative	Jane Thomas	438	43.8	+10.3
Majority			125	12.4	-11.2
Turnout			1,001	46.5	+0.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Swanage North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gloria Marsh	917	59.3	+8.2
	Liberal Democrat	Philippa Keeling	497	32.1	+7.1
	Labour	Margaret Storey	132	8.5	-2.3
Majority			420	27.2	+1.1
Turnout			1,546	46.2	-3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Swanage South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Patrick	932	50.6	+10.6
	Liberal Democrat	Colin Bright	561	30.5	+1.1
	Labour	Marilyn Larthe de Langladure	348	18.9	+0.6
Majority			371	20.1	+9.5
Turnout			1,841	38.5	+0.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Wareham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Keith Critchley	1,245	57.6	-4.6
	Conservative	Roy Anderson	915	42.4	+4.6
Majority			330	15.2	-9.2
Turnout			2,160	47.0	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Wool
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Graham Holmes	725	47.1	+0.7
	Conservative	Malcolm Shakesby	438	28.4	-6.1
	Independent	Rosemary Grey-Hodder	304	19.7	+19.7
	Labour	Rosemary Phillips	73	4.7	-2.6
Majority			287	18.7	+6.8
Turnout			1,540	46.5	+2.9
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing