The 2002 Wokingham District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives win a majority on the council, after having had the same number of seats as the Liberal Democrats for the previous 2 elections.[3] The Conservatives won 14 of the 20 seats which were up for election, including one uncontested seat in Wokingham Without.[4] They made 4 gains from the Liberal Democrats in the wards of Coronation, Finchampstead North and Little Hungerford to finish the election with 30 seats as compared to 22 for the Liberal Democrats.[3] Meanwhile, Labour won their first seat on the council since 1994 after making a gain in Bulmershe ward from the Liberal Democrats.[3] Overall turnout was 32.8%.[4]

The Conservatives said they were delighted with the results which they put down to their campaign on issues including green fields, crime and transport, and to the Liberal Democrats being out of touch with local residents.[3][4] They said that now they had control of the council they would take action on crime and traffic congestion and review the number of new houses planned.[3] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy described the results in Wokingham as predictable and a "slight set-back", which he put down to them defending seats from when the Conservatives were performing much less strongly nationally.[3]

Wokingham Local Election Result 2002[2][5]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 14 4 0 +4 73.7 49.1 16,030 +6.6%
  Liberal Democrats 4 0 5 -5 21.1 38.4 12,544 -1.5%
  Labour 1 1 0 +1 5.3 8.9 2,921 -8.2%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 2.6 862 +2.6%
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0 0.9 306 +0.8%

One Conservative candidate was unopposed in the election.[5]

Ward results

Arborfield[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gary Cowan 503 85.8 +20.3
Liberal Democrats John Eastwell 83 14.2 -20.3
Majority 420 71.6 +40.6
Turnout 586 37.5
Conservative hold Swing
Bulmershe[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nelson Bland 503 42.0 +6.1
Liberal Democrats Edward Preston 467 38.9 +2.2
Conservative William Henderson 168 14.0 -13.4
UKIP Jeremy Allison 61 5.1 +5.1
Majority 36 3.1
Turnout 1,199 38.9 -25.1
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Coronation (2)[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Ashman 1,102
Conservative Paul Swaddle 1,041
Liberal Democrats David Glover 863
Liberal Democrats Thomas McCann 811
UKIP Amy Thornton 230
Labour Ian Hills 218
Turnout 4,265 36.7
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Emmbrook[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Raymond Eke 966 51.7 +10.2
Liberal Democrats Josephine Shockley 606 32.4 -14.5
UKIP Ann Davis 163 8.7 +8.7
Labour John Woodward 133 7.1 -4.6
Majority 360 19.3
Turnout 1,868 39.5 -28.8
Conservative hold Swing
Evendons[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Denis Morgan 1,349 49.9 +3.9
Liberal Democrats John Griffin 1,060 39.2 -2.9
Labour Paul French 159 5.9 -6.0
UKIP Franklin Carstairs 135 5.0 +5.0
Majority 289 10.7 +6.8
Turnout 2,703 31.6 -34.4
Conservative hold Swing
Finchampstead North[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Stanton 1,194 57.5 +4.7
Liberal Democrats Roland Cundy 884 42.5 -4.7
Majority 310 15.0 +9.4
Turnout 2,078 46.1 -22.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Finchampstead South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Cockroft 1,012 71.5 +9.8
Liberal Democrats Philip Bristow 403 28.5 -9.8
Majority 609 43.0 +19.6
Turnout 1,415 29.9 +0.9
Conservative hold Swing
Little Hungerford[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Edmunds 1,417 50.8 +12.2
Liberal Democrats Caroline Smith 1,106 39.6 -4.3
Labour Jacqueline Rupert 268 9.6 -7.9
Majority 311 11.2
Turnout 2,791 33.9 -29.8
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Loddon[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Denis Thair 710 47.9 +6.0
Conservative Joanna Vosser 478 32.2 -1.6
Labour Janice Kite 224 15.1 -9.2
UKIP Noel Squire 71 4.8 +4.8
Majority 232 15.7 +7.6
Turnout 1,483 23.0 -37.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Norreys[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Marian Robertson 1,241 59.0 +8.1
Liberal Democrats Mark Gray 392 18.6 -8.8
Labour Paul Sharples 372 17.7 -4.0
UKIP Antony Whitfield 97 4.6 +4.6
Majority 849 40.4 +16.9
Turnout 2,102 33.6 -31.3
Conservative hold Swing
Redhatch[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Alan Spratling 1,607 53.2 +7.8
Conservative Norman Jorgensen 1,111 36.8 +1.4
Labour Nirmala Harlow 305 10.1 -4.2
Majority 496 16.4 +6.4
Turnout 3,023 24.8 -34.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Remenham & Wargrave[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Haacke 973 69.0 -5.6
Liberal Democrats Lindsay Ferris 437 31.0 +13.6
Majority 536 38.0 -19.2
Turnout 1,410 41.8 +9.1
Conservative hold Swing
Shinfield[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Pollock 1,075 63.9 +11.5
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Rowland 351 20.9 -5.0
Labour Owen Waite 256 15.2 -6.6
Majority 724 43.0 +12.5
Turnout 1,682 28.0 -32.1
Conservative hold Swing
South Lake[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Rowland 596 53.0 +1.8
Conservative William Soane 223 19.8 -5.2
Labour David Kay 201 17.9 -5.9
UKIP Peter Williams 105 9.3 +9.3
Majority 373 33.2 +7.0
Turnout 1,125 24.2 -34.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Swallowfield[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Diana Beatty 419 78.8 +1.4
Liberal Democrats Michael Harper 113 21.2 +10.7
Majority 306 57.6 -7.7
Turnout 532 36.0
Conservative hold Swing
Twyford & Ruscombe[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Deirdre Tomlin 1,415 61.6 +4.4
Conservative John Jarvis 707 30.8 -1.3
Labour Roy Mantel 175 7.6 -3.1
Majority 708 30.8 +5.7
Turnout 2,297 39.7 -27.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Winnersh[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Ball 1,051 50.0 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Morag Ward 640 30.4 -9.1
Independent Robert Turner 306 14.5 +14.5
Labour Robert Woodrow 107 5.1 -6.2
Majority 411 19.6 +9.9
Turnout 2,104 34.8 -27.9
Conservative hold Swing
Wokingham Without[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Angus Ross unopposed
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Wokingham". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Election results; Local Elections". The Times. 3 May 2002. p. 6.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Joy for Tories in Wokingham". Reading Evening Post. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Lib Dem blues as Tories take control". getwokingham. 8 May 2002. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Local election results". Wokingham Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
Categories