St Albans Council election, 2007

The 2007 St Albans Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 29
• Conservative 19
• Labour 8
• Independent 2^[2]

Contents 1 Campaign 2 Election result 3 Ward results 4 References

Campaign

A total of 83 candidates from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour and Green Party stood in the election.^[3][4] Each party contested every ward, apart from in London Colney where the Green candidate was disqualified due to an incorrect nomination.^[3] Each ward had a seat up for election apart from in Harpenden West where 2 seats were contested as a Conservative councillor stood down early due to illness.^[3] The other parties needed to gain 3 seats from the Liberal Democrats to remove them from power, with a 2 seat drop meaning the Liberal Democrats would depend on the mayor's casting vote to remain in power.^[3] After the Conservatives won the most votes in the previous 2006 election they were hoping to make gains, with Harpenden East, Marshalswick South, Verulam and Wheathampstead seen as being possible gains.^[3]

The Liberal Democrats defended their record in running the council during the election.^[5] They called for St Albans to be Hertfordshires' "premier community" and pointed to the Audit Commission rating the council as one of the 10 most improving in the country.^[5]

Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats lose their overall majority but remain the largest party on the council.^[6] The Conservatives made 2 gains from the Liberal Democrats in Harpenden East and Redbourn wards, while there was no change elsewhere.^[7] Overall turnout was just under 42%.^[8]

Following the election the Liberal Democrats remained in control of the council after one of the independent councillors abstained on the vote to decide the composition of the cabinet.^[9]

St Albans Local Election Result 2007[10][11]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/-
	Liberal Democrat	10	0	2	-2	47.6	37.8	16,643	+2.1%
	Conservative	8	2	0	+2	38.1	42.6	18,759	+0.9%
	Labour	3	0	0	0	14.3	12.9	5,669	-1.7%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	6.8	3,015	-1.3%

Ward results

Ashley[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Iqbal Zia	793	41.3	+3.2
	Conservative	Rafat Khan	466	24.3	-0.6
	Labour	Alistair Cooper	390	20.3	-6.6
	Green	Sasha Bradbury	270	14.1	+4.0
Majority			327	17.0	+5.8
Turnout			1,919	36.2	-7.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Batchwood[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Leach	695	34.6	-4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Allan Witherick	603	30.1	+2.7
	Conservative	Sara Cadish	515	25.7	+1.2
	Green	Gillian Mills	193	9.6	+0.1
Majority			92	4.5	-6.7
Turnout			2,006	38.6	-3.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Clarence[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Burton	1,070	53.9	+11.2
	Conservative	Indranil Chakravorty	433	21.8	-5.9
	Green	Peter Eggleston	255	12.8	-1.1
	Labour	Christine Pearce	229	11.5	-4.3
Majority			637	32.1	+17.1
Turnout			1,987	42.8	-4.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Colney Heath[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Brazier	1,114	67.3	+18.0
	Conservative	Joanne Vessey	403	24.3	-12.6
	Labour	Richard Bruckdorfer	77	4.6	-4.1
	Green	Rosalind Hardy	62	3.7	-1.3
Majority			711	43.0	+30.6
Turnout			1,656	40.2	-1.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Cunningham[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Donald	1,114	53.9	+12.4
	Conservative	James Vessey	578	27.9	-2.3
	Labour	John Paton	226	10.9	-8.2
	Green	Jack Easton	150	7.3	-1.9
Majority			536	26.0	-14.7
Turnout			2,068	43.9	-2.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Harpenden East[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Wakely	1,183	50.3	+8.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jeff Phillips	890	37.8	-7.8
	Labour	David Crew	170	7.2	+0.4
	Green	Denise Taylor-Roome	109	4.6	-1.0
Majority			293	12.5
Turnout			2,352	45.3	-2.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Harpenden North[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bert Pawle	1,260	63.7	+5.6
	Liberal Democrat	Gordon Burrow	420	21.2	-6.0
	Labour	Rosemary Ross	167	8.4	+0.6
	Green	Annett Tate	132	6.7	-0.2
Majority			840	42.5	+11.6
Turnout			1,979	39.1	-3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden South[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Foster	1,582	74.2	+2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Mary Carden	256	12.0	-2.0
	Labour	Linda Spiri	172	8.1	+0.9
	Green	Lorna Hann	123	5.8	-0.9
Majority			1,326	62.2	+4.1
Turnout			2,133	41.0	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden West (2)[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daniel Chicester-Miles	1,549
	Conservative	Julian Daly	1,533
	Liberal Democrat	Albert Moses	448
	Liberal Democrat	Tom Addiscott	438
	Green	Marc Scheimann	238
	Labour	Benjamin Dearman	196
	Labour	Elizabeth Rayner	183
Turnout			4,585	43.6	-1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

London Colney[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Katherine Gardner	889	45.3	+0.6
	Conservative	David Winstone	854	43.5	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Carol Prowse	221	11.3	+0.1
Majority			35	1.8	-6.1
Turnout			1,964	30.4	-4.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Marshalswick North[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Geoff Churchard	1,200	54.6	+4.0
	Conservative	John Foster	744	33.8	-0.8
	Labour	Ruairi Mccourt	138	6.3	-1.3
	Green	Rosalind Paul	117	5.3	-1.9
Majority			456	20.8	+4.8
Turnout			2,199	45.9	-4.2
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Marshalswick South[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Kate Morris	1,177	47.8	+10.2
	Conservative	Jeffrey Groman	843	34.2	-4.7
	Labour	Anthony Nicholson	270	11.0	-2.5
	Green	Tim Blackwell	172	7.0	-2.9
Majority			334	13.6
Turnout			2,462	48.3	-2.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Park Street[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Nicola Mcalistair-Baillie	1,042	49.5	-2.5
	Conservative	Margaret Griffiths	809	38.5	+1.9
	Labour	Laurence Chester	160	7.6	+0.4
	Green	Stephen Clough	93	4.4	+0.1
Majority			233	11.0	-4.4
Turnout			2,104	40.6	-5.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Redbourn[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maxine Crawley	1,007	46.4	-4.3
	Liberal Democrat	Colin O'Donovan	991	45.6	+9.2
	Labour	Gavin Ross	95	4.4	-2.3
	Green	Kate Metcalf	79	3.6	-2.6
Majority			16	0.8	-13.5
Turnout			2,172	47.1	+2.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Sandridge[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frances Leonard	854	57.8	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Janet Churchard	329	22.3	-3.3
	Labour	Jane Cloke	162	11.0	+1.4
	Green	Naomi Love	133	9.0	-0.1
Majority			525	35.5	+5.3
Turnout			1,478	39.4	-3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sopwell[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eileen Harris	704	37.0	+7.1
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Axworthy	612	32.2	-1.0
	Conservative	Heather Rench	393	20.7	-4.8
	Green	Thomas Hardy	193	10.1	-1.3
Majority			92	4.8
Turnout			1,902	38.1	-2.2
	Labour hold		Swing

St Peters[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jack Pia	770	40.0	-5.4
	Conservative	Debashis Mukherjee	419	21.7	+2.0
	Labour	Mick Jewitt	375	19.5	-3.5
	Green	Simon Grover	363	18.8	+6.9
Majority			351	18.3	-4.1
Turnout			1,927	36.8	-2.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St Stephen[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Myland	1,244	59.1	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Thomas Allum	600	28.5	+2.4
	Labour	Janet Blackwell	171	8.1	-0.7
	Green	Lydia El-Khouri	90	4.3	-2.4
Majority			644	30.6	-1.7
Turnout			2,105	41.9	-4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Verulam[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Frearson	1,357	51.9	+9.6
	Conservative	Keith Cotton	987	37.7	-6.5
	Green	Margaret Grover	149	5.7	-2.3
	Labour	Jill Gipps	122	4.7	-0.8
Majority			370	14.2
Turnout			2,615	52.3	-1.2
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Wheathampstead[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Oxley	1,198	48.4	+2.6
	Conservative	Keith Stammers	1,103	44.6	-1.2
	Green	Meg Davis	94	3.8	-0.9
	Labour	Peter Woodhams	78	3.2	-0.6
Majority			95	3.8	+3.8
Turnout			2,473	54.1	+0.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

Preceded by St Albans Council election, 2006

St Albans local elections

Succeeded by St Albans Council election, 2008