Map of the results of the 2003 Hertsmere council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2003.

The 2003 Hertsmere Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Hertsmere Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

Before the Conservatives ran the council with 25 seats, compared to 9 for Labour and 5 Liberal Democrats.[3] A total of 38 candidates contested the 13 seats that were up for election.[3] Both the Conservative and Labour parties stood in all 13 seats, while there were also 10 Liberal Democrats, 1 Green Party and 1 Socialist Labour Party candidates.[3]

Election result

The Conservatives maintained an 8-seat majority with 25 councillors, Labour dropped 1 to 8 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 1 to 6 seats.[4] The Conservatives gained a seat in Borehamwood Hillside by 98 votes, with Jean Heywood reclaiming a seat on the council after having lost her seat in Borehamwood Cowley Hill in 2002 standing as an independent.[5] However the Liberal Democrats took a seat from the Conservatives in Bushey St James.[5]

The count saw angry words from the Labour group leader Frank Ward, who had held his seat in Borehamwood Kenilworth by just 28 votes. Ward said "Conservative councillors have no place in Borehamwood" and "it was a campaign that was marred by vilification, smears and lies".[4]

Hertsmere Local Election Result 2003[2][5][6]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 8 1 1 0 61.5 52.8 8,887 +8.0%
  Labour 3 0 1 -1 23.1 25.4 4,273 -3.0%
  Liberal Democrats 2 1 0 +1 15.4 20.5 3,458 -1.5%
  Socialist Labour 0 0 0 0 0 1.1 184 +0.7%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 41 -0.3%

Ward results

Aldenham East[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nigel Gilmore 925 79.2
Liberal Democrats Mark Silverman 122 10.4
Labour Raymond Edge 121 10.4
Majority 803 68.8
Turnout 1,168 34.3
Conservative hold Swing
Aldenham West[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Neil Payne 728 69.0
Liberal Democrats David Bird 165 15.6
Labour Sandra Huff 162 15.4
Majority 563 53.4
Turnout 1,055 31.5
Conservative hold Swing
Borehamwood Brookmeadow[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Leon Reefe 596 56.2 -4.0
Conservative David McKee 338 31.9 -7.9
Liberal Democrats Audrey McCracken 126 11.9 +11.9
Majority 258 24.3 +3.9
Turnout 1,060 23.0 -1.4
Labour hold Swing
Borehamwood Cowley Hill[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Craig Adams 826 66.9 +14.0
Conservative Simon Rubner 224 18.2 +18.2
Socialist Labour James Dry 184 14.9 +9.2
Majority 602 48.8 +37.3
Turnout 1,234 21.7 -8.1
Labour hold Swing
Borehamwood Hillside[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jean Heywood 838 47.9 -3.9
Labour Catherine Ward 743 42.5 -5.7
Liberal Democrats Patrick Forsyth 169 9.7 +9.7
Majority 95 5.4 +1.8
Turnout 1,750 33.5 -1.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Borehamwood Kenilworth[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Ward 349 41.3
Conservative Hannah David 321 38.0
Liberal Democrats Zissis Kakoulakis 175 20.7
Majority 28 3.3
Turnout 845 20.6 -1.8
Labour hold Swing
Bushey Heath[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael O'Brien 865 72.4 +4.9
Liberal Democrats Roger Kutchinski 207 17.3 -4.7
Labour Dinah Hoeksma 122 10.2 -0.3
Majority 658 55.1 +9.5
Turnout 1,194 23.0
Conservative hold Swing
Bushey North[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Colne 899 68.8
Conservative Koyes Choudhury 276 21.1
Labour Christine Sowerbutts 90 6.9
Green Ramiro Alvarado-Vega 41 3.1
Majority 623 47.7
Turnout 1,306 28.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bushey St James[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Anita Gamble 966 53.2 -5.9
Conservative Audrey Attwood 717 39.5 +5.8
Labour James Sowerbutts 134 7.4 +0.3
Majority 249 13.7 -11.7
Turnout 1,817 33.0 -7.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Elstree[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Morris Bright 662 71.6 +3.0
Labour Paula Gregory 252 28.4 +8.5
Majority 400 43.3 -5.4
Turnout 924 26.1 -4.5
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Furzefield[4][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ronald Morris 734 58.1 +3.3
Liberal Democrats Colin Dean 280 22.2 +3.5
Labour James Fisher 250 19.8 -6.7
Majority 454 35.9 +7.6
Turnout 1,264 26.0 -6.0
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Oakmere[4][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Calcutt 953 68.9 +6.8
Labour Ann Harrison 431 31.1 -6.8
Majority 522 37.7 +13.5
Turnout 1,384 24.9 -7.4
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Parkfield[4][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Dawes 1,306 70.5 +0.5
Liberal Democrats Peter Bonner 349 18.8 +6.5
Labour Elizabeth Savage 197 10.6 -7.1
Majority 957 51.7 -0.6
Turnout 1,852 32.0 -5.0
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Third of the seats up for grabs in borough elections". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 23 April 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Tories election win marred by outburst". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Tories win in Hillside after "dirty campaign"". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Election Results". Hertsmere Borough Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
Categories