Hart District Council election, 2008

The 2008 Hart Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Hart District Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Conservative 17
Liberal Democrat 10
Community Campaign (Hart) 6
Independent 2^[2]

Campaign

12 seats were being contested in the election with the Conservatives defending 6 seats, the Liberal Democrats 5 and the Community Campaign (Hart) 1 seat.^[3] In total there were 30 candidates standing in the election with the Conservatives the only party to stand in all of the seats.^[3] Other candidates included 10 from the Liberal Democrats, 5 from Labour, 2 Community Campaign (Hart) and 1 from the British National Party.^[4] Before the election a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Community Campaign (Hart) and the 2 independents ran the council with the Conservatives forming the opposition.^[4]

Issues in the election included facilities for teenagers, cleaner streets, recycling and reducing crime.^[5] The Conservatives wanted to improve the value for money the council produced, develop the infrastructure for new housing and to keep roads in good condition.^[5] However the Liberal Democrats pledged to improve recycling, get more affordable housing and keep crime levels low.^[5]

During the campaign the national Conservative leader, David Cameron, visited the area to campaign for the party.^[6]

Election result

The results saw the council remain with no party having a majority, but with the Conservatives gaining 2 seats to hold 17 of the 35 seats.^[2] Both Conservative gains came from the Liberal Democrats, taking Fleet Courtmoor by 391 votes and Fleet Pondtail by 493 votes.^[2] The Conservatives won 60% of the vote and claimed a mandate to take control of the council.^[7]^[8] However the 2 independents held the balance of power between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat/Community Campaign (Hart) alliance.^[2] Overall turnout in the election was 36.9%.^[9]

At the annual council meeting after the election the Conservatives took control of the council.^[8]^[10] Their leader Ken Crookes won 18 votes compared to 17 for Liberal Democrat leader David Neighbour, with 1 of the 2 independents, Susan Band, backing the Conservatives.^[10] The other independent, Denis Gotel, and the Community Campaign (Hart) backed the Liberal Democrat leader.^[10] As a result, the council cabinet was made up of all Conservatives, except for independent Susan Band who would continue to be responsible for housing and health.^[8]^[11]

Hart Local Election Result 2008^[2]^[9]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	8	2	0	+2	66.7	60.1	10,021	+9.3%
	Liberal Democrat	3	0	2	-2	25.0	28.7	4,795	-4.3%
	Community Campaign (Hart)	1	0	0	0	8.3	8.7	1,459	-1.9%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	327	-0.9%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	84	-1.9%

Ward results

Blackwater and Hawley^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Blewett	669	61.3	+3.9
	Conservative	Richard Fielden	423	38.7	-3.9
Majority			246	22.5	+7.7
Turnout			1,092	32.2	-10.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Church Crookham East^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Community Campaign (Hart)	James Radley	942	66.4	+11.6
	Conservative	Debbie Moss	476	33.6	-6.1
Majority			466	32.9	+17.8
Turnout			1,418	37.8	-5.6
	Independent hold		Swing

Crondall^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Nippy Singh	804	60.9	+11.0
	Community Campaign (Hart)	Chris Hannan	517	39.1	-11.0
Majority			287	21.7
Turnout			1,321	43.4	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Fleet Central^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Hunt	1,040	72.1	+26.1
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Robinson	335	23.2	+23.2
	Labour	David Jenkins	68	4.7	-1.7
Majority			705	48.9
Turnout			1,443	34.1	-3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Fleet Courtmoor^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Butler	1,113	58.6	+14.4
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Einchcomb	722	38.0	+38.0
	Labour	Ruth Williams	65	3.4	-1.7
Majority			391	20.6
Turnout			1,900	51.3	+5.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Fleet Pondtail^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Healey	1,211	62.8	+15.9
	Liberal Democrat	Sue Fisher	718	37.2	-5.8
Majority			493	25.6	+21.7
Turnout			1,929	53.1	-1.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Fleet West^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tim Davies	1,005	77.2
	Liberal Democrat	Sarah Horton	227	17.4
	Labour	Janet Young	70	5.4
Majority			778	59.8
Turnout			1,302	34.2	-4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hook^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Haffey	1,515	78.3	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Penny Potts	419	21.7	-6.4
Majority			1,096	56.7	+13.0
Turnout			1,934	31.0	-2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Long Sutton^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Kennett	467	82.2	+11.0
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Carter	101	17.8	+3.3
Majority			366	64.4	+7.7
Turnout			568	31.2	-5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Odiham^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stephen Gorys	1,067	78.5	-5.1
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Griffin	293	21.5	+5.1
Majority			774	56.9	-10.3
Turnout			1,360	37.1	-3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Yateley East^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Bailey	722	57.9	+0.9
	Conservative	Sue Perkins	478	38.4	+2.5
	Labour	John Davies	46	3.7	-3.4
Majority			244	19.6	-1.4
Turnout			1,246	31.2	-1.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Yateley West^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	David Murr	589	50.2	+4.9
	Conservative	Sue Dunning	422	36.0	+7.8
	BNP	Geoffrey Crompton	84	7.2	-7.8
	Labour	Joyce Still	78	6.6	-5.0
Majority			167	14.2	-2.9
Turnout			1,173	30.4	-1.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

↑ "Hart". BBC News Online. 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
1 2 3 4 5 "Who will run Hart?". gethampshire. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 "Fight for seats on two councils". gethampshire. 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 "Candidates get ready to contest borough poll". gethampshire. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 3 "BNP to field candidate in borough poll". gethampshire. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
↑ "Tory leader visits town". gethampshire. 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
↑ "Tories launch bid to take control of Hart". gethampshire. 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 3 "Tories gain control with aid of Independent Band". Basingstoke Gazette. 2008-05-18. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Election Results for 1 May 2008". Hart District Council. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
1 2 3 "Tories take control of Hart from coalition". gethampshire. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
↑ "Tories take control". gethampshire. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Hart District Council election results". gethampshire. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2010-04-25.

Preceded by Hart Council election, 2007	Hart local elections	Succeeded by Hart Council election, 2010

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