2008 Tandridge District Council election

The 2008 Tandridge District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Tandridge District Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2008 Tandridge District Council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2008.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 31 seats, while the Liberal Democrats were the main opposition with 9 councillors.[3] This was after Liberal Democrat councillor Sakina Bradbury of Whyteleafe ward defected to the Conservatives in February 2008.[4] 14 of the 42 seats on the council were being contested by a total of 45 candidates,[5] with 3 of the sitting councillors not defending seats.[3] The Conservatives contested all 14 seats, compared to 13 Liberal Democrat candidates, 9 Labour Party, 6 UK Independence Party and 1 for the Green Party.[3]

Issues at the election included housing, with Labour calling for more affordable housing, while both the UK Independence Party and Green Party had concerns over the number of houses being built.[3] Other issues included recycling, with the Conservatives pointing to the weekly refuse collection that the council ran, council tax and leisure facilities.[3]

Election result

The Conservative party retained control of the council and made a net gain of 2 seats to have 42 councillors.[6] The Conservatives gained Queens Park and Warlingham East, Chelsham and Farleigh from the Liberal Democrats and Valley from independent Peter Longhurst.[7] The leader of the council, Conservative Gordon Keymer, said that it had been "a good night for us".[8] However the Conservatives did lose Westway to the Liberal Democrats by 88 votes,[8] which left the Liberal Democrats with 8 seats and there was 1 independent councillor.[6] Overall turnout at the election was 42.3%.[8]

Tandridge local election result 2008[9]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
 Conservative1131+278.658.011,577+3.2%
 Liberal Democrats312-121.429.55,895+1.3%
 UKIP000005.41,074-2.3%
 Labour000004.7939-1.5%
 Independent001-101.9387-1.2%
 Green000000.594+0.5%

Ward results

Bletchingley and Nuffield[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeMarian Myland1,04965.7-1.5
Liberal DemocratsRichard Fowler23514.7+0.8
UKIPGraham Bailey20713.0+0.0
LabourRebecca Pritchard1066.6+0.7
Majority81451.0-2.3
Turnout1,59737.3-1.0
Conservative holdSwing
Burstow, Horne and Outwood[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeAlan Jones1,25175.1+2.7
LabourStephen Case-Green22513.5+13.5
UKIPWilliam Nock18911.4+0.3
Majority1,02661.6+5.6
Turnout1,66537.3+1.9
Conservative holdSwing
Godstone[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeJules Gascoigne98557.9-2.2
Liberal DemocratsColin White42224.8-2.2
UKIPHelena Windsor18110.6+3.2
LabourMaxine Mathews1126.6+1.0
Majority56333.1+0.0
Turnout1,70038.8+1.9
Conservative holdSwing
Harestone[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeMichael Cooper88074.1+8.3
Liberal DemocratsJill Elliff30725.9-3.0
Majority57348.2+11.3
Turnout1,18740.8
Conservative holdSwing
Oxted North and Tandridge[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeGordon Keymer1,26266.7+3.0
Liberal DemocratsMatthew Griffiths63033.3+4.1
Majority63233.4-1.1
Turnout1,89244.6+2.7
Conservative holdSwing
Oxted South[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeLiz Parker1,19655.6+9.4
Liberal DemocratsRobert Wingate42019.5+8.6
LabourMarjory Broughton23711.0-23.6
UKIPTony Stone2039.4+1.0
GreenMichaela O'Brien944.4+4.4
Majority77636.1+24.5
Turnout2,15049.7+0.5
Conservative holdSwing
Portley[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsHilary Turner65053.2+1.8
ConservativePeter Brent52242.7+4.3
LabourBarbara Henning504.1-0.5
Majority12810.5-2.5
Turnout1,22238.2-3.1
Liberal Democrats holdSwing
Queens Park[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeJeremy Webster76453.0+1.3
Liberal DemocratsLucy Darlow62943.6-4.7
LabourRobin Clements493.4+3.4
Majority1359.4+6.0
Turnout1,44253.7
Conservative gain from Liberal DemocratsSwing
Valley[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeJane Ingram41537.5+8.0
IndependentPeter Longhurst31528.4+28.4
Liberal DemocratsAnne Bell22220.0-35.4
UKIPJeffrey Bolter11110.0+1.5
LabourJohn Ellis454.1-2.5
Majority1009.1
Turnout1,10839.2+1.5
Conservative gain from IndependentSwing
Warlingham East, Chelsham and Farleigh[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeChris Camden93046.8+3.6
Liberal DemocratsJeremy Pursehouse87344.0-0.1
UKIPMartin Haley1839.2-0.7
Majority572.8
Turnout1,98648.7+5.8
Conservative gain from Liberal DemocratsSwing
Warlingham West[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeDavid Cooley81472.3+3.0
Liberal DemocratsSarah Morrow31227.7-3.0
Majority50244.6+6.0
Turnout1,12643.4
Conservative holdSwing
Westway[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsDavid Gosling57350.8+13.0
ConservativePaul Blanchard48543.0-10.3
LabourPeter McNeil706.2-2.7
Majority887.8
Turnout1,12838.0
Liberal Democrats gain from ConservativeSwing
Whyteleafe[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsJeffrey Gray52653.8-6.2
ConservativeBrian Jeffery40741.6+1.6
LabourJohn Burgess454.6+4.6
Majority11912.2-7.8
Turnout97835.7
Liberal Democrats holdSwing
Woldingham[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeRichard Butcher61778.6-6.2
Liberal DemocratsDavid Martin9612.2-3.0
IndependentJohn O'Brien729.2+9.2
Majority52166.4-3.2
Turnout78551.6-3.7
Conservative holdSwing

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

Godstone

Godstone By-Election 4 June 2009[10][11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
ConservativeNick Childs1,21664.1+6.2
Liberal DemocratsColin White68135.9+11.1
Majority53528.2-4.9
Turnout1,89744.2+5.4
Conservative holdSwing

Whyteleafe

A by-election was held in Whyteleafe on 2 February 2010 after Liberal Democrat councillor Jeffrey Gray resigned from the council when he moved away from Tandridge.[12] The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by David Lee with 57% of the vote.[12]

Whyteleafe By-Election 2 February 2010[13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsDavid Lee44457.0+3.2
ConservativeChris Krishnan23630.3-11.3
UKIPJeffrey Bolter9912.7+12.7
Majority20826.7+14.5
Turnout77928.9-6.8
Liberal Democrats holdSwing

References