Great Yarmouth Council election, 2008

The 2008 Great Yarmouth Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Great Yarmouth Borough Council in Norfolk, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Contents

Background

13 seats were contested at the election with both the Conservative and Labour parties contesting every seat, while the Liberal Democrats had 6 candidates, the United Kingdom Independence Party 3 and the Green Party 2.[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives increase their majority on the council after gaining two seats from Labour.[4] This took the Conservatives to 24 seats, compared to 15 for Labour,[5] while none of the other parties who contested the election managed to win any seats.[6] Overall turnout at the election was 30.02%,[7] slightly down on the over 31% in 2007.[8]

One of the two Conservatives gains came in Bradwell North, where the leader of the Labour group on the council, Trevor Wainwright, lost by 48 votes.[4] Wainwright put his defeat down to national issues and in particular the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax.[4] The other Conservative gain came in Magdalen ward where councillor Colleen Walker was defeated by Patricia Page by 64 votes.[5] Among those to hold their seats were the Conservative leader of the council Barry Coleman and the Conservative mayor Paul Garrod.[4] Coleman agreed that national events had effected the election saying "You can't help but think national issues came into play in this vote".[6]

Following the election Mick Castle returned as leader of the Labour group on the council, after previously having been group leader from 2004 to 2006.[8]

Great Yarmouth Local Election Result 2008[7][2]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/-
  Conservative 9 2 0 +2 69.2 54.7 9,393 +1.7%
  Labour 4 0 2 -2 30.8 34.3 5,899 -1.7%
  Liberal Democrat 0 0 0 0 0 6.1 1,053 +3.5%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 2.7 467 -0.6%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 2.2 370 -1.3%

Ward results

Bradwell North[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alan Grey 761 47.0 -9.6
Labour Trevor Wainwright 713 44.0 +0.6
Liberal Democrat John Loades 146 9.0 +9.0
Majority 48 3.0 -10.2
Turnout 1,620 32.7 +1.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Bradwell South and Hopton[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Ames 814 48.0 -5.2
Liberal Democrat Aleck Buchanan 381 22.5 +22.5
Labour Joanne Vriesema 325 19.2 -8.7
UKIP Colin Aldred 177 10.4 -8.5
Majority 433 25.5 +0.2
Turnout 1,697 33.8 +1.9
Conservative hold Swing
Central and Northgate[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Taylor 636 43.1 +0.7
Conservative Thomas Garrod 560 38.0 +6.4
UKIP Gabriele Baugh 143 9.7 -0.3
Liberal Democrat Anthony Harris 135 9.2 -0.4
Majority 76 5.2 -5.5
Turnout 1,474 26.7 -1.7
Labour hold Swing
Claydon[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Anthony Blyth 704 45.1 +1.2
Conservative Margaret Greenacre 604 38.7 -3.0
Green Ralph Woodcock 252 16.2 +1.7
Majority 100 6.4 +4.2
Turnout 1,560 28.4 -1.8
Labour hold Swing
East Flegg[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Jermany 930 66.9 -7.4
Labour Jamie Smith 242 17.4 -8.3
Liberal Democrat Rodney Cole 218 15.7 +15.7
Majority 688 49.5 +0.9
Turnout 1,390 36.4 -0.4
Conservative hold Swing
Gorleston[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bertie Collins 991 76.6 +25.8
Labour Rex Tyrrell 303 23.4 +8.0
Majority 688 53.2 +36.1
Turnout 1,294 32.8 -2.6
Conservative hold Swing
Magdalen[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patricia Page 816 52.0 +3.8
Labour Colleen Walker 752 48.0 -3.8
Majority 64 4.1
Turnout 1,568 30.6 +0.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Nelson[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Jeal 487 45.3 +2.9
Conservative Joy Cosaitis 377 35.1 +7.8
Green Anne Purchase-Walker 118 11.0 +3.6
Liberal Democrat Nicholas Dyer 93 8.7 +8.7
Majority 110 10.2 -4.9
Turnout 1,075 19.3 -4.3
Labour hold Swing
Ormesby[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Reynolds 997 79.9 +11.2
Labour Jennifer Livingstone 251 20.1 +1.6
Majority 746 59.8 +9.5
Turnout 1,248 36.2 -2.1
Conservative hold Swing
St Andrews[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Cook 619 62.6 +14.2
Labour Gary Fox 370 37.4 +0.7
Majority 249 25.2 +13.5
Turnout 989 28.5 -2.6
Conservative hold Swing
Southtown and Cobholm[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Penelope Linden 334 46.1 +1.9
Conservative James Dinsdale 163 22.5 -7.0
UKIP Paul Baugh 147 20.3 +1.0
Liberal Democrat John Brookshaw 80 11.0 +11.0
Majority 171 23.6 +8.9
Turnout 724 20.5 -2.4
Labour hold Swing
West Flegg[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barry Coleman 1,068 79.0 +3.6
Labour Katie James 284 21.0 -3.6
Majority 784 58.0 +7.1
Turnout 1,352 34.4 -1.8
Conservative hold Swing
Yarmouth North[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Garrod 693 58.2 +3.8
Labour Charles Marsden 498 41.8 -3.8
Majority 195 16.4 +7.6
Turnout 1,191 34.6 +0.9
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Great Yarmouth". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/08/html/33ud.stm. Retrieved 8 September 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "Local elections 2008". House of Commons Library. 12 June 2008. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2008/rp08-048.pdf. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  3. ^ "Use your vote". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 24 April 2008. http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/use_your_vote_1_494500. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c d "Green Party key gains in Norwich". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7375523.stm. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  5. ^ a b "Labour leader's election defeat". East Coast Live. 2 May 2008. http://www.eastcoastlive.co.uk/news/info.php?refnum=1988. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  6. ^ a b "Shock result leaves Labour feeling blue". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 8 May 2008. http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/shock_result_leaves_labour_feeling_blue_1_494622. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Great Yarmouth Borough Council elections - 1 May 2008". Great Yarmouth Borough Council. http://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/gybc-election-results-08.pdf. Retrieved 8 September 2011. 
  8. ^ a b "The battle for local issues". Great Yarmouth Mercury. 8 May 2008. http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/the_battle_for_local_issues_1_494636. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
Preceded by
Great Yarmouth Council election, 2007		 Great Yarmouth local elections Succeeded by
Great Yarmouth Council election, 2010
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