2008 Derby Council election
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17 of 51 seats to Derby City Council
26 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative
Last election 3 8 8
Seats before 3 8 8
Seats won 8 4 5
Seats after 18 17 14
Seat change Increase5 Decrease4 Decrease3
Popular vote 19,374 16,869 21,139
Percentage 32.3 28.1 35.2
Swing Increase3.5 Decrease6.1 Increase3.2
Council control before election

No overall control

 Council control after election

No overall control

The 2008 Derby City Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Derby City Council in England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1] Overall turnout was 34.6%.[2][3]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

Since the 2006 election the Labour Party had been running the council in an agreement with the Conservatives and both parties did not rule out continuing this arrangement after the election.[5] However, a major issue in the election was a proposal by the Labour party to close 10 play areas across Derby in order to save money, which were opposed by the Conservatives.[5] The arrangement was also strained by the defection of 2 Labour councillors, Hardial Dhamrait and Amar Nath, to the Conservatives since the 2007 election.[6] Other changes since 2007 included Labour councillor Prem Chera becoming an independent, and independent Frank Leeming joining the Conservatives.[6] This meant that before the election there were 21 Labour, 14 Conservative, 13 Liberal Democrat and 2 independent councillors.[6]

In all 61 candidates stood in the election, with 17 seats being contested.[7] Of those 17 seats Labour were defending 8, the Conservatives 6 and the Liberal Democrats 3.[6]

The leader of the Conservative party, David Cameron, visited Derby to support the local party on 3 April and described it as a "key battleground".[5]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats gained 5 seats to move from third largest group on the council to become the largest party, overtaking the Labour and Conservative parties.[3][8] Liberal Democrat gains were recorded in Abbey, Arboretum and Mackworth wards from Labour, and in Blagreaves and Oakwood wards from the Conservatives.[9][10] Meanwhile, Labour recovered a seat in Sinfin which they had lost when Hardial Dhamrait had defected to the Conservatives.[9] However, Labour also two seats in Chaddesden and Chellaston to the Conservatives.[10]

Following the elections the three parties held discussions to decide who would run the council for the next two years.[11] On 6 May the Conservatives decided that they would not agree any deal with the other two parties and would sit in opposition, with Conservative councillors feeling that the previous agreement with Labour had meant they did not make gains as the party had done nationally.[11] The Liberal Democrats and Labour then planned to hold talks, with Labour abandoning their previous proposals to introduce congestion charging in Derby, and parking meters in Littleover.[12] However, the Liberal Democrats decided they would prefer to run the council as a minority rather than reach an agreement with Labour. At the council meeting on 21 May the Liberal Democrat leader, Hilary Jones, was elected leader of the council by 19 votes to 17 after the Conservatives abstained.[13]

2008 Derby Local Election Result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 8 5 0 Increase5 47.1 32.3 19,374 Increase3.5
  Conservative 5 2 3 Decrease1 29.4 35.2 21,139 Increase3.2
  Labour 4 1 5 Decrease4 23.5 28.1 16,869 Decrease6.1
  BNP 0 0 0 Steady 0 2.0 1,217 Increase2.0
  Independent 0 0 0 Steady 0 1.9 1,152 Decrease1.8
  Green 0 0 0 Steady 0 0.5 319 Decrease0.8

Ward results

Abbey

Location of Abbey ward
Abbey[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Batey 1,443 47.9 Increase3.8
Labour Asaf Afzal 1,056 35.1 Decrease3.9
Conservative Jasvinder Rai 335 11.1 Decrease0.6
Independent Norman Clayton 166 5.5 Increase0.2
Independent Masadiq Hussain 8 0.3 Increase0.3
Independent Raja Mehmood 3 0.1 Increase0.1
Majority 387 12.8 Increase7.7
Turnout 3,011 31.1 Increase1.7
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Allestree

Location of Allestree ward
Allestree[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Hickson 3,234 62.6 Decrease2.0
Labour John Whitby 739 14.3 Decrease4.8
Liberal Democrats Deena Smith 633 12.2 Decrease4.1
BNP Glynn Cooper 563 10.9 Increase10.9
Majority 2,495 48.3 Increase2.8
Turnout 5,169 47.4 Increase2.0
Conservative hold Swing

Alvaston

Location of Alvaston ward
Alvaston[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Graves 1,228 38.3 Decrease7.1
Liberal Democrats Naveed Hussain 913 28.5 Decrease6.3
Conservative Brenda Longworth 843 26.3 Increase6.5
Independent Gillian Elks 221 6.9 Increase6.9
Majority 315 9.8 Decrease0.8
Turnout 3,205 29.3 Decrease1.0
Labour hold Swing

Arboretum

Location of Arboretum ward
Arboretum[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Farhatullah Khan 1,710 46.1 Increase9.0
Labour Shiraz Khan 1,624 43.8 Decrease5.3
Conservative David Jennings 374 10.1 Increase3.3
Majority 86 2.3
Turnout 3,708 35.4 Decrease2.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Blagreaves

Location of Blagreaves ward
Blagreaves[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Harjinder Naitta 2,006 50.6 Increase5.3
Conservative Lisa Marshall 1,047 26.4 Increase7.4
Labour John Heavey 909 22.9 Decrease8.1
Majority 959 24.2 Increase9.9
Turnout 3,962 41.6 Decrease1.5
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

Boulton

Location of Boulton ward
Boulton[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Leeming 1,607 51.5 Increase30.8
Labour Joseph Russo 1,129 36.2 Decrease3.8
Liberal Democrats Stephen Connolly 386 12.4 Increase0.6
Majority 478 15.3
Turnout 3,122 31.0 Decrease0.4
Conservative hold Swing

Chaddesden

Location of Chaddesten ward
Chaddesden[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sean Marshall 1,441 39.6 Decrease6.5
Labour John Ahern 1,161 31.9 Decrease10.7
BNP Paul Hilliard 654 18.0 Increase18.0
Liberal Democrats Eric Ashburner 285 7.8 Decrease3.5
Independent Charles McLynn 96 2.6 Increase2.6
Majority 280 7.7 Increase4.2
Turnout 3,637 36.3 Increase2.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Chellaston

Location of Chellaston ward
Chellaston[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Holmes 1,921 49.0 Increase3.1
Labour Mark Tittley 1,830 46.7 Increase4.0
Liberal Democrats Ajit Atwal 166 4.2 Decrease2.1
Majority 91 2.3 Decrease0.9
Turnout 3,917 35.9 Decrease1.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Darley

Location of Darley ward
Darley[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Finbar Richards 1,331 36.7 Increase4.9
Conservative Lorraine Radford 1,069 29.5 Increase3.2
Labour Christopher Wynn 905 25.0 Decrease7.7
Green Jane Temple 319 8.8 Decrease0.4
Majority 262 7.2
Turnout 3,624 33.9 Decrease6.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Derwent

Location of Derwent ward
Derwent[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Redfern 919 39.9 Decrease10.6
Conservative Patrick Fullerton 708 30.7 Increase4.9
Liberal Democrats Leigh Alcock 353 15.3 Increase4.4
Independent William Wright 325 14.1 Increase1.2
Majority 211 9.2 Decrease15.5
Turnout 2,305 23.6 Increase0.2
Labour hold Swing

Littleover

Location of Littleover ward
Littleover[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Leslie Allen 2,429 60.8 Increase5.6
Conservative Tarlochan Dard 1,132 28.3 Decrease2.9
Labour Linda Winter 435 10.9 Decrease2.7
Majority 1,297 32.5 Increase8.5
Turnout 3,996 39.7 Decrease2.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Mackworth

Location of Mackworth ward
Mackworth[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Derrick Tuplin 1,553 52.9 Increase27.1
Labour Richard Gerrard 778 26.5 Decrease22.2
Conservative Andrew Hill 603 20.6 Decrease4.9
Majority 775 26.4 N/A
Turnout 2,934 30.1 Increase1.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

Mickleover

Location of Mickleover ward
Mickleover[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Hilary Jones 2,411 53.0 Decrease2.5
Conservative Philip Lucas 1,738 38.2 Increase2.0
Labour Josephine Drummond 402 8.8 Increase0.4
Majority 673 14.8 Decrease4.5
Turnout 4,551 41.6 Decrease3.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Normanton

Location of Normanton ward
Normanton[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hardyal Dhindsa 1,399 40.6 Decrease8.1
Liberal Democrats Shayad Mahmood 1,276 37.0 Decrease5.0
Conservative Jarnail Birring 775 22.5 Increase13.2
Majority 123 3.6 Decrease3.1
Turnout 3,450 33.5 Decrease0.7
Labour hold Swing

Oakwood

Location of Oakwood ward
Oakwood[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Franklyn Harwood 1,733 51.9 Increase44.0
Conservative Hardial Dhamrait 974 29.2 Decrease15.7
Labour Martina Longworth 632 18.9 Decrease4.6
Majority 759 22.7 N/A
Turnout 3,339 33.2 Increase3.3
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

Sinfin

Location of Sinfin ward
Sinfin[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bhagat Shanker 973 37.1 Decrease18.5
Conservative Michael Cook 941 35.9 Increase11.0
Liberal Democrats Louise Noble 374 14.3 Decrease5.3
Independent Michael Whitehead 333 12.7 Increase12.7
Majority 32 1.2 Decrease29.5
Turnout 2,621 27.3 Increase2.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Spondon

Location of Spondon ward
Spondon[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Evonne Williams 2,397 68.1 Increase3.6
Labour Anne MacDonald 750 21.3 Decrease3.7
Liberal Democrats Simon King 372 10.6 Increase0.2
Majority 1,647 46.8 Increase7.3
Turnout 3,519 36.3 Decrease1.0
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Derby". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Election 2008 - Results". Derby City Council. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Liberal Democrat gains in Derby". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Local elections: Results: Voters in the cities and the shires have their say in the ballot box". The Guardian. 2 May 2008. p. 7.
  5. ^ a b c Green, Kirsty (4 April 2008). "A walk in the park as Tory leader visits 'key battleground'". Derby Evening Telegraph. p. 5.
  6. ^ a b c d "Party time as the big three get set for the elections". Derby Evening Telegraph. 14 April 2008. p. 12.
  7. ^ Green, Kirsty (8 April 2008). "Candidates unveiled as the city prepares to go to the polls". Derby Evening Telegraph. p. 4.
  8. ^ "We have the most council seats - it's time to give us voice on the cabinet". Derby Evening Telegraph. 2 May 2008. p. 2.
  9. ^ a b "Enthusiasm of young candidates seals victories on a stunning night for the liberal democrat party". Derby Evening Telegraph. 2 May 2008. p. 4.
  10. ^ a b "Election joy for lib dems". Derby Evening Telegraph. 2 May 2008. p. 1.
  11. ^ a b Green, Kirsty (7 May 2008). "Lib dems poised to run city". Derby Evening Telegraph. p. 2.
  12. ^ Green, Kirsty (9 May 2008). "Labour u-turn on city". Derby Evening Telegraph. p. 2.
  13. ^ Green, Kirsty (22 May 2008). "Lib dems reveal 5 top aims". Derby Evening Telegraph. p. 1.
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