Watford Borough Council election, 2012

Elections to Watford Borough Council were held on 3 May 2012. Three years in every four, a third of the council (12 councillors) retires and elections are held (in the fourth year, elections are held for county councillors).

In this council election, the Labour Party gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats; the Liberal Democrats gained one from the Conservatives. However, the Liberal Democrats remained firmly in control of the council. Four parties, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservative and Green, all put up candidates in every seat. There were also three UKIP candidates.

In the year following this election there will not be elections to the Borough Council (apart from by-elections) and Hertfordshire County elections will be held in May 2013. In the years 2010 to 2012, although the Labour Party recovered from its worst position, in 2010, it has only won seats in its three strongest wards and has yet to challenge the Liberal Democrats grip on votes and power. Labour has, however, supplanted the Conservatives as the main opposition party (albeit still 15 seats short of the Liberal Democrats) and the Greens continue to hold their own in Callowland ward, pushing the Conservatives into the smallest party position.

After the election, the composition of the council was:^[1]

• Liberal Democrat: 23
• Labour: 8
• Green: 3
• Conservative: 2

Council election result

Watford Local Election Result 2012
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrat	8	1	2	-1	66.7	41.3	8378
	Labour	3	2	-	+2	25.0	28.6	5799
	Conservative	0	-	-1	-1		18.2	3699
	Green	1	-	-	-	8.3	10.2	2073
	UKIP						1.8	358

Ward results

Callowland[2][3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ian Brandon	793	53.7	-4.9
	Labour	Guru Awasthi	415	28.1	+5.6
	Conservative	Sally Anne Punter	147	10.0	-2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Patricia Gollop	121	8.2	+1.4
Majority			378	25.6
Turnout			1476	26.50
	Green hold		Swing

Central[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Rabi Martins	816	47.6	+5.5
	Labour	Fred Grindrod	532	31.0	-5.1
	Conservative	Carole Ann Bamford	186	10.8	-2.2
	Green	Su Murray	106	6.2	+0.7
	UKIP	Renie Price	76	4.4	+1.1
Majority			284	16.6
Turnout			1716	27.15
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Holywell[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matt Turmaine	1016	62.9	-5.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mohammed Umar	306	19.0	+3.1
	Conservative	Neil John Punter	165	10.2	-1.5
	Green	Nigel Anthony Filer	127	7.9	+3.9
Majority			710	44.0
Turnout			1614	26.15
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Leggatts[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Joynes	784	45.1	+9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Dennis Wharton	536	30.8	+11.0
	Green	Alison Jane Wiesner	239	13.8	-1.0
	Conservative	Youseffe Fahmy	179	10.3	-19.8
Majority			248	14.3
Turnout			1738	31.76
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Meriden[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jan Brown	690	43.0	-0.6
	Labour	Seamus Williams	445	27.7	-0.8
	UKIP	Nicholas Richard Lincoln	198	12.3	+12.3
	Conservative	Penelope Anne Mortimer	196	12.2	-10.7
	Green	Paula Mary Evelyn Brodhurst	75	4.7	-0.2
Majority			245	15.3
Turnout			1604	27.51
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Nascot[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Mark John Hofman	983	42.8	-2.6
	Conservative	Andrew Graham Mortimer	931	40.5	+4.2
	Labour	Michael Harry Barnes	217	9.4	-2.3
	Green	Sally Rose Ivins	168	7.3	+0.7
Majority			52	2.3
Turnout			2299	37.74
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Oxhey[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Taylor	1058	63.2	+8.0
	Conservative	Dick Bamford	301	18.0	-4.7
	Labour	Sue Sleeman	244	14.6	-1.7
	Green	Eric Weatherly	72	4.3	-1.6
Majority			757	45.2
Turnout			1675	32.01
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Park[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	George Derbyshire	1168	47.7	+4.4
	Conservative	Linda Ann Topping	863	35.3	-3.4
	Labour	David Corbet Connal	234	9.6	-1.4
	Green	Dorothy Mary Nixon	99	4.0	-0.4
	UKIP	David Penn	84	3.4	+0.9
Majority			305	12.5
Turnout			2448	40.47
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Stanborough[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Tim Williams	885	58.6	+5.9
	Labour	Mark John Nicholas	289	19.1	+2.0
	Conservative	Chris Hawes	259	17.1	-8.0
	Green	George Mathew Ryan	78	5.2	+0.1
Majority			596	39.4
Turnout			1511	28.03
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Tudor[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Darren Walford	709	48.6	+6.9
	Labour	Geoffrey Pearce	326	22.3	+0.4
	Conservative	Richard Lloyd Vaughan Southern	323	22.1	-0.9
	Green	Clare Victoria Pitkin	101	6.9	-0.8
Majority			383	26.3
Turnout			1459	30.71
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Vicarage[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mo Mills	1044	59.4	+9.3
	Liberal Democrat	Mehran Nawabi	438	24.9	-2.6
	Conservative	Dave Ealey	171	9.7	+0.5
	Green	Helen Elizabeth Wynne	105	6.0	+0.9
Majority			606	34.5
Turnout			1758	29.95
	Labour hold		Swing

Woodside[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Gordon Brown	668	44.6	+3.8
	Conservative	Tony Rogers	466	31.1	+2.1
	Labour	Omar Ismail	253	16.9	-6.5
	Green	Christina Patricia Murphy	110	7.3	+0.6
Majority			202	13.5
Turnout			1497	27.80
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

Council elections in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire County Council 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 Broxbourne Borough Council 1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Dacorum Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 East Hertfordshire District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Hertsmere Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 North Hertfordshire District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2015 St Albans City and District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Stevenage Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Three Rivers District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Watford Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 See also: Middlesex County Council elections

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