Woking Borough Council election, 2003
Map of the results of the 2003 Woking council election.
Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and
Labour in red. Wards in grey were not contested in 2003.
The 2003 Woking Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was
Background
The election saw 13 seats being contested with the contest in Brookwood ward being a by-election after the previous Conservative councillor, Mark Pritchard, resigned his seat on the council.[3] Three long standing councillors also stood down at the election, Alf Stranks in Byfleet ward, Gordon Brown in Horsell East and Woodham and Rosemary Johnson in Old Woking.[3] As well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, there were also 3 from the United Kingdom Independence Party, 2 independents and 1 from the Green Party.[3]
Election result
No party won a majority in the election with the council remaining under no overall control as it had been since the 1998 election.[4] The only party to have more seats after the election than before was Labour after they gained Old Woking from the Liberal Democrats by 26 votes.[4] Meanwhile the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each gained one seat from the other, with the Conservatives taking Byfleet by 27 votes and the Liberal Democrats winning Brookwood by 7 votes.[4] Overall turnout in the election was 33.66%.[5]
The failure by the Conservatives to gain the two seats they needed to have a majority on the council was described as disappointing by commentators, in a year when the party gained seats nationally.[6]
[7]
Woking Local Election Result 2003[2][5] |
Party |
Seats |
Gains |
Losses |
Net gain/loss |
Seats % |
Votes % |
Votes |
+/− |
|
Conservative |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
46.2 |
46.7 |
8,780 |
+1.3% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
4 |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
30.8 |
35.4 |
6,653 |
-4.1% |
|
Labour |
3 |
1 |
0 |
+1 |
23.1 |
13.1 |
2,463 |
-0.7% |
|
Independent |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.5 |
461 |
+1.8% |
|
UKIP |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.9 |
362 |
+0.8% |
|
Green |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.4 |
76 |
+0.4% |
Ward results
Brookwood[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Philip Goldenberg |
358 |
44.1 |
+13.8 |
|
Conservative |
Justin Boorman |
351 |
43.2 |
-19.7 |
|
Green |
Sandra Simkin |
76 |
9.4 |
+9.4 |
|
Labour |
Eric Kennedy |
27 |
3.3 |
-3.5 |
Majority |
7 |
0.9 |
|
Turnout |
812 |
43.8 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative |
Swing |
|
|
Byfleet[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Conservative |
Simon Hutton |
1,026 |
46.0 |
-2.1 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Anne Roberts |
999 |
44.8 |
+5.1 |
|
Labour |
Brian Cozens |
207 |
9.3 |
-2.9 |
Majority |
27 |
1.2 |
-7.2 |
Turnout |
2,232 |
41.0 |
+4.8 |
|
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat |
Swing |
|
|
Goldsworth East[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Geoff Smith |
727 |
52.2 |
+2.4 |
|
Conservative |
Jeremy Yates |
457 |
32.8 |
+2.3 |
|
Labour |
Christopher Martin |
210 |
15.1 |
-4.6 |
Majority |
270 |
19.4 |
+0.1 |
Turnout |
1,394 |
25.8 |
-3.9 |
|
Liberal Democrat hold |
Swing |
|
|
Hermitage and Knaphill South[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Tina Liddington |
540 |
52.6 |
|
|
Conservative |
Hilary Addison |
349 |
34.0 |
|
|
Labour |
Graeme Carman |
137 |
13.4 |
|
Majority |
191 |
18.6 |
|
Turnout |
1,026 |
25.6 |
-5.0 |
|
Liberal Democrat hold |
Swing |
|
|
Horsell East and Woodham[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Conservative |
Anne Murray |
814 |
58.7 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Robert Leach |
333 |
24.0 |
|
|
UKIP |
Michael Harvey |
183 |
13.2 |
|
|
Labour |
Michael Roberts |
56 |
4.0 |
|
Majority |
481 |
34.7 |
|
Turnout |
1,386 |
40.6 |
|
|
Conservative hold |
Swing |
|
|
Horsell West[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Conservative |
Jim Armitage |
1,129 |
50.1 |
+7.2 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Ann-Marie Barker |
935 |
41.5 |
-6.6 |
|
Labour |
Audrey Worgan |
121 |
5.4 |
+0.0 |
|
UKIP |
Timothy Shaw |
69 |
3.1 |
-0.5 |
Majority |
194 |
8.6 |
|
Turnout |
2,254 |
42.2 |
-4.0 |
|
Conservative hold |
Swing |
|
|
Kingfield and Westfield[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
John Martin |
498 |
43.5 |
|
|
Conservative |
Norma Gruselle |
321 |
28.1 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Gareth Davies |
215 |
18.8 |
|
|
UKIP |
Paul Davey |
110 |
9.6 |
|
Majority |
177 |
15.4 |
|
Turnout |
1,144 |
28.8 |
|
|
Labour hold |
Swing |
|
|
Knaphill[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Neville Hinks |
977 |
47.8 |
+4.3 |
|
Conservative |
Catherine Fisher |
950 |
46.5 |
+1.3 |
|
Labour |
Chanchal Kapoor |
117 |
5.7 |
-5.6 |
Majority |
27 |
1.3 |
|
Turnout |
2,044 |
30.5 |
+1.8 |
|
Liberal Democrat hold |
Swing |
|
|
Maybury and Sheerwater[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Elizabeth Evans |
593 |
40.8 |
-18.3 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Michael Wilson |
397 |
27.3 |
+13.2 |
|
Conservative |
David Roe |
289 |
19.9 |
+1.7 |
|
Independent |
Michael Osman |
174 |
12.0 |
+3.5 |
Majority |
196 |
13.5 |
-27.4 |
Turnout |
1,453 |
22.2 |
-2.6 |
|
Labour hold |
Swing |
|
|
Old Woking[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Richard Ford |
304 |
42.6 |
+13.5 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Derek McCrum |
278 |
39.0 |
-13.9 |
|
Conservative |
Colin Kemp |
131 |
18.4 |
+0.4 |
Majority |
26 |
3.6 |
|
Turnout |
713 |
37.2 |
|
|
Labour gain from Liberal Democrat |
Swing |
|
|
St Johns and Hook Heath[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Conservative |
Graham Cundy |
899 |
72.9 |
+3.8 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Anthony Kremer |
266 |
21.6 |
-3.3 |
|
Labour |
John Bramall |
69 |
5.6 |
-0.4 |
Majority |
633 |
51.3 |
+7.1 |
Turnout |
1,234 |
35.2 |
+0.0 |
|
Conservative hold |
Swing |
|
|
West Byfleet[3][5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Conservative |
Mehala Gosling |
779 |
58.7 |
-12.9 |
|
Independent |
Richard Wilson |
287 |
21.6 |
+21.6 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Peter Hough |
186 |
14.0 |
-7.8 |
|
Labour |
Michael Byrne |
74 |
5.6 |
-1.0 |
Majority |
492 |
37.1 |
-12.7 |
Turnout |
1,326 |
33.8 |
-3.1 |
|
Conservative hold |
Swing |
|
|
References