St Albans City and District Council election, 2008

Map of the results of the 2008 St Albans City and District Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow, Conservatives in blue and independent in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2008.

The 2008 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrats 30
• Conservative 22
• Labour 5
• Independent 1^[2]

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats had 29 seats, compared to 19 for the Conservatives, 8 for Labour and there were 2 Independents.^[3] 18 of the 20 wards were contested in 2008, with only Colney Heath and Sandridge wards not having an election.^[3] Each of the Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Labour and Green parties contested every seat, apart from in Redbourn where the Liberal Democrats did not put up a candidate against the sitting independent councillor Tony Swendell.^[3]

3 Liberal Democrat councillors, Brian Peyton, Brian Sinfield and Jenny Stroud, and 2 Conservative councillors, Clare Ellis and Liz Stevenson, stood down at the election.^[3] Independent, former Conservative, councillor John Newman also did not defend his seat in Harpenden West after moving to Dorset.^[3]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats regained an overall majority of 2 on the council with 30 councillors, after making a net gain of one seat.^[4][5] They gained seats in Batchwood, Sopwell and Verulam wards, but lost Harpenden East and Wheathampstead to the Conservatives, who increased to 22 seats on the council.^[5] The Labour party lost all of the seats they had been defending, including London Colney to the Conservatives, to fall to 5 seats on the council, while independent Tony Swendell held his seat in Redbourn.^[5] Labour blamed their defeats on voters protesting against the national Labour government.^[5] Overall turnout was 42.5%, a drop from 43.6% at the 2007 election.^[5]

Following the election the national Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg came to St Albans to celebrate the results.^[6]

Ward results

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

A by-election was held in Harpenden South on 4 June 2009 after Conservative councillor Paul Foster resigned from the council.^[8] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Brian Ellis with a majority of 899 votes over the Labour Party.^[9]

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: Wards Boundary changes Middlesex County Council elections

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