2007 North Somerset Council election

The 2007 North Somerset Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of North Somerset Unitary Council in Somerset, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.^[1]

Background

Since the 2003 election the council was controlled by a coalition between the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties.^[2] Many of the swing wards on the council were in Weston-super-Mare, with a major issue in the town being the derelict Tropicana lido.^[3] The high number of pensioners in the town and lack of things for young people to do in the new estates were also factors in the area.^[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives win a majority with 43 of the 61 seats contested.^[2] Both the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties suffered heavy losses, with the defeated councillors including Liberal Democrat Isabel Cummings in Yatton after 15 years on the council and the Labour couple Derek and Muriel Kraft.^[2]

The election in Weston-super-Mare North Worle ward was delayed after the death of the Liberal Democrat leader of the council Alan Hockridge, meaning it was not held at the same as the other seats.^[4] The postponed election in North Worle as held on 7 June and all 3 seats were won by the Conservatives taking the party to 46 seats.^[5]

North Somerset Local Election Result 2007^[6]^[7]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	43	21	3	+18	74.1	48.2	53,173	+10.6%
Independent	6	4	1	+3	10.3	6.9	7,594	+3.2%
Liberal Democrats	5	0	15	-15	8.6	29.2	32,243	-8.8%
Labour	3	0	6	-6	5.2	13.5	14,859	-6.5%
Green	1	0	0	0	1.7	1.6	1,739	+1.0%
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	735	+0.6%

Ward results

Backwell (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Tom Collinson	1,283
	Independent	Karen Barclay	912
	Conservative	Peter Burden	593
	Conservative	Roger Theis	523
	Liberal Democrats	David Neale	295
Turnout			3,606	45.1
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Banwell & Winscombe (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ann Harley	2,020
	Conservative	Tony Lake	1,966
	Conservative	Tim Marter	1,830
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Brading	804
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Lewis	583
	Liberal Democrats	Raymond Armstrong	575
	Labour	Ludovic Janas	274
	Labour	Tony Roberts	264
	Labour	Andrew Hughes	258
Turnout			8,574	37.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blagdon & Churchill^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Wells	882	65.1	+7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Hughes	379	28.0	−5.4
	Labour	Stanley Banks	93	6.9	−1.9
Majority			503	37.1	+12.7
Turnout			1,354	44.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Clevedon Central^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stanley Vyce	357	45.1	+15.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Vanderplank	245	31.0	+11.9
	Labour	Paul Sterling	189	23.9	−27.2
Majority			112	14.2
Turnout			791	33.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Clevedon East^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Shopland	557	60.4	+12.7
	Conservative	Jon Middleton	231	25.1	+0.8
	Labour	Joe Norman	134	14.5	+2.0
Majority			326	35.4	+12.0
Turnout			922	35.1
	Independent hold		Swing

Clevedon North^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Garner	422	45.3	−13.1
	Independent	Carole Wring	378	40.6	+40.6
	Green	John Brenton	132	14.2	+14.2
Majority			44	4.7	−26.7
Turnout			932	42.5
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Clevedon South^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anne-Marie Gregory	322	39.0	+12.1
	Labour	Alan Cotton	292	35.4	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Watkins	212	25.7	−8.0
Majority			30	3.6
Turnout			826	35.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Clevedon Walton^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Norton-Sealey	787	64.6	+12.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Dagnall	431	35.4	−12.2
Majority			356	29.2	+24.3
Turnout			1,218	51.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Clevedon West^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Blades	580	54.7	+26.5
	Labour	Chanel Stevens	481	45.3	−0.6
Majority			99	9.3
Turnout			1,061	43.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Clevedon Yeo^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Hall	432	58.1	+12.4
	Labour	Alistair Lindsay	312	41.9	+10.6
Majority			120	16.1	+1.6
Turnout			744	30.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Congresbury^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Tom Leimdorfer	822	65.3	+6.6
	Conservative	Christine Davis	401	31.9	−9.4
	Independent	Michael Palmer	36	2.9	+2.9
Majority			421	33.4	+16.1
Turnout			1,259	46.7
	Green hold		Swing

Easton-in-Gordano^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Carl Francis-Pester	724	72.3	+10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mac Jordan	277	27.7	+4.8
Majority			447	44.7	+6.2
Turnout			1,001	44.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gordano^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Ashton	819	76.3	+9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Evelyn Elworthy	254	23.7	+2.9
Majority			565	52.7	+6.4
Turnout			1,073	47.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hutton & Locking (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Elfan Rees	1,330
	Conservative	Ian Peddlesden	1,325
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Nisbet	398
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Havill	385
	Labour	Christopher Belton-Reed	198
	Labour	Timothy Taylor	184
Turnout			3,820	39.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kewstoke^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Porter	607	63.2	+10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Hardaway	268	27.9	−3.8
	Labour	Jacqueline Scholes	85	8.9	−6.6
Majority			339	35.3	+14.3
Turnout			960	37.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Nailsea East (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Cole	1,188
	Conservative	Jan Barber	1,136
	Conservative	Bob Coleman	985
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Clarke	980
	Labour	Patrick Hearn	140
	Labour	Gaile Blake	118
Turnout			4,547	44.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Nailsea North and West (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Jeremy Blatchford	1,476
	Conservative	Mary Blatchford	1,390
	Conservative	Anne Kemp	1,376
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Steadman	1,041
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Bell	1,032
	Liberal Democrats	James Tonkin	1,029
	Labour	Christopher Smart	312
	Labour	Ben Johnson	298
	Labour	Tony Probert	288
Turnout			8,242	38.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Pill^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Nan Kirsen	809	79.9	+79.9
	Labour	Patricia Gardener	203	20.1	−41.1
Majority			606	59.9
Turnout			1,012	38.0
	Independent hold		Swing

Portishead Central^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reyna Knight	313	38.4	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Wright	243	29.8	−11.5
	Independent	Mike Wilks	200	24.5	+24.5
	Labour	Lynne Buckner	60	7.4	−16.1
Majority			70	8.6
Turnout			816	34.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Portishead Coast^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Pasley	776	65.0	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rod Hoare	304	25.5	−15.0
	Labour	Roger Whitfield	113	9.5	+9.5
Majority			472	39.6	+20.6
Turnout			1,193	49.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Portishead East^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Terry	687	56.5	+17.1
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Palmer	357	29.4	−2.2
	Labour	Terry Lester	172	14.1	−14.9
Majority			330	27.1	+19.2
Turnout			1,216	37.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Portishead Redcliffe Bay^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Felicity Baker	688	52.0	−8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Lord	572	43.3	+3.5
	Labour	David McKeag	62	4.7	+4.7
Majority			116	8.8	−11.6
Turnout			1,322	49.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Portishead South & North Weston^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan McMurray	538	59.8	+28.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Clark	361	40.2	−1.2
Majority			177	19.7
Turnout			899	38.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Portishead West^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jolley	752	63.8	+45.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Mason	345	29.3	+29.3
	Labour	Kirsty Gardener	81	6.9	+6.9
Majority			407	34.6
Turnout			1,178	45.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare Central (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mike Kellaway-Marriott	486
	Conservative	Keith Morris	468
	Liberal Democrats	John Crockford-Hawley	431
	Liberal Democrats	Jeffrey Alen	374
	Independent	Richard Nightingale	370
	Independent	John Carter	252
	Labour	Michael Lyall	177
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	174
	Independent	Colin Granner	144
Turnout			2,876	33.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Weston-super-Mare Clarence & Uphill (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Bryant	1,800
	Conservative	Michael Roe	1,777
	Conservative	Clive Webb	1,708
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Howell	836
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Helliker	672
	Liberal Democrats	June How	670
	Labour	Jose Bateman	310
	Labour	Stephen Varney	295
	Labour	Alison Yianni	280
Turnout			8,348	40.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare East (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Dawn Payne	1,497
	Conservative	William Collins	1,345
	Conservative	Robert Cleland	1,306
	Labour	Derek Kraft	963
	Labour	Richard Tucker	951
	Labour	Muriel Kraft	914
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Longmore	529
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Mason	526
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Oddy	493
Turnout			8,524	31.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Weston-super-Mare Milton & Old Worle (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roz Willis	1,630
	Conservative	Lisa Pilgrim	1,537
	Conservative	Sue Creasey	1,534
	Liberal Democrats	Astra Brand	904
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Gosden	889
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Sycamore	745
	UKIP	Steven Pearse-Danker	454
	Labour	Bee Edmunds	367
	Labour	Adrian Tucker	362
	Labour	Michael O'Regan	293
Turnout			8,715	41.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Weston-super-Mare South (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Ian Parker	1,039
	Labour	Bob Bateman	958
	Labour	Debbie Stone	860
	Liberal Democrats	Mari Owens	508
	Liberal Democrats	Zena Canniford	455
	Conservative	Michael Dolley	440
	Liberal Democrats	Valerie Field	409
	Independent	Adam Nash	284
Turnout			4,953	27.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare South Worle (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Gully Hayer	1,138
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Howell	1,017
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Keating	970
	Conservative	John Wiltshire	814
	Conservative	John Ley-Morgan	808
	Labour	Paul Francis	531
	Labour	Simon Arlidge	482
	Labour	Simon Stokes	460
Turnout			6,220	27.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare West (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andrew Horler	1,353
	Conservative	Chris Kimitri	1,265
	Conservative	Dawn Parry	1,256
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Canniford	1,254
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Bell	1,250
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Payne	1,053
	UKIP	Paul Spencer	281
	Labour	Robert Craig	208
	Labour	Peter Williams	186
	Labour	David Roxburgh	166
Turnout			8,272	42.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Winford^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Hugh Gregor	534	54.1	+54.1
	Conservative	Anita Heappey	453	45.9	−11.7
Majority			81	8.2
Turnout			987	41.4
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Wraxall & Long Ashton (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Bob Cook	1,504
	Conservative	Howard Roberts	1,181
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Neale	1,101
Turnout			3,786	43.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wrington^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Yamanaka	578	45.0	−22.8
	Conservative	Peter Ellis	421	32.8	+0.6
	Independent	Hilary Burn	286	22.3	+22.3
Majority			157	12.2	−23.4
Turnout			1,285	54.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Yatton (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Tony Moulin	1,549
	Conservative	Jill Iles	1,227
	Conservative	Ericka Blades	1,095
	Liberal Democrats	Isabel Cummings	1,052
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Griggs	958
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Kehoe	873
	Green	Juley Howard	785
	Labour	Bryan Moore	272
Turnout			7,811	45.2
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

References

^ "North Somerset". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tories sweep North Somerset". Eastern Daily Press. 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b Harvey, Dave (27 April 2007). "Ballot on the beach". BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
^ "North Worle election". North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
^ "North Worle election result". North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj "District Council election" (PDF). North Somerset Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
^ "Local and Mayoral elections 2007" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

[gain-1] "North Somerset". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

[sweep-2] "Tories sweep North Somerset". Eastern Daily Press. 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

[beach-3] Harvey, Dave (27 April 2007). "Ballot on the beach". BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

[worle-4] "North Worle election". North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

[north-5] "North Worle election result". North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

[results-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj "District Council election" (PDF). North Somerset Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

[mayoral-7] "Local and Mayoral elections 2007" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

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