2008 Wyre Forest District Council election

The 2008 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, 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:

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives ran the council as a minority administration with them holding 18 seats, as compared to 10 for Health Concern, 7 Liberals, 3 Labour, 2 Liberal Democrats and 2 independents.^[3] 14 seats were contested at the election with the Conservatives defending 6, Liberals 3, independents 2 and Health Concern, Labour and Liberal Democrats 1 each.^[3]

The Conservatives needed to gain 4 seats to win a majority,^[4] but Health Concern were also hoping to make gains to take over as largest party on the council.^[5] Health Concern campaigned on issues including bringing more entertainment facilities to the council area and opposing a new fleet of black taxis, as well as their health policies.^[5]

Election result

The Conservatives won a majority on the council for the first time since 1979,^[6] after gaining 4 more seats to end the election with 22 councillors, while Health Concern stayed second with 10 seats.^[7] Among the Conservative gains were Mumshad Ahmed in Broadwaters ward, who became the first Asian councillor in Wyre Forest, and Julian Phillips in Bewdley and Arley, who became a councillor at the age of 23.^[7] Both Labour and the Liberals lost one seat to the Conservatives, while the two independent councillors were defeated.^[8]^[9]

The Conservatives described the results as an endorsement of their record,^[9] while Labour saw them as being due to anti-government feeling.^[8] The results were also reported as being a sign that the Conservatives could gain the parliamentary constituency at the next general election from Health Concern's Richard Taylor.^[10]

Wyre Forest local election result 2008^[11]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	10	4	0	+4	71.4	41.1	10,155	+5.4%
Liberal	2	0	1	-1	14.3	10.4	2,579	+0.0%
Health Concern	1	0	0	0	7.1	24.7	6,100	-6.1%
Liberal Democrats	1	0	0	0	7.1	6.3	1,565	+0.3%
Labour	0	0	1	-1	0	13.8	3,418	-2.0%
Independent	0	0	2	-2	0	3.6	885	+3.1%

Ward results

Aggborough and Spennells^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Dyke	913	50.0	+10.3
	Conservative	Chris Rogers	516	28.3	−4.4
	Health Concern	Ken Henderson	288	15.8	−5.5
	Labour	Adrian Sewell	109	6.0	−0.4
Majority			397	21.7	+14.7
Turnout			1,826	35.0	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Areley Kings^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Partridge	666	35.2	+2.1
	Labour	James Shaw	621	32.8	−0.4
	Health Concern	Chris Thomas	552	29.2	−4.5
	Liberal	Iain Price	54	2.9	+2.9
Majority			45	2.4
Turnout			1,893	40.9	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bewdley and Arley^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julian Phillips	917	42.1	−4.3
	Independent	Louise Edginton	518	23.8	+23.8
	Health Concern	Derek Killingworth	435	20.0	−8.3
	Labour	Bill Mason	306	14.1	−4.5
Majority			399	18.3	+0.2
Turnout			2,176	41.0	+2.0
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Broadwaters^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mumshad Ahmed	617	32.5	+7.2
	Health Concern	Linda Candlin	471	24.8	−16.9
	Liberal	Shazu Miah	445	23.4	+3.2
	Labour	Dan Watson	184	9.7	−3.1
Majority			146	7.7
Turnout			1,901	29.9	−8.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Franche^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeff Baker	1,120	54.9	+4.5
	Health Concern	Raymond Barber	541	26.5	−0.3
	Labour	Lee Wright	302	14.8	−3.9
	Liberal	Alane Harvey	77	3.8	−0.4
Majority			579	28.4	+4.8
Turnout			2,040	37.8	−1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Greenhill^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Graham Ballinger	919	52.2	−0.1
	Health Concern	Lynne Wainewright	355	20.2	−5.5
	Conservative	Ammar Ahmad	333	18.9	+3.1
	Labour	Peter Nielsen	154	8.7	+8.7
Majority			564	32.0	+5.4
Turnout			1,761	29.5	−1.6
	Liberal hold		Swing

Habberley and Blakebrook^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ken Prosser	827	39.6	+11.1
	Labour	Barry McFarland	550	26.4	−9.2
	Health Concern	Nigel Addison	452	21.7	−9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Vicky Dixon	258	12.4	+12.4
Majority			277	13.2
Turnout			2,087	40.0	+0.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Lickhill^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Brian Glass	924	49.6	−5.5
	Conservative	David Little	743	39.9	+8.1
	Labour	Cedric Smith	196	10.5	−0.1
Majority			181	9.7	−13.6
Turnout			1,863	34.0	−1.5
	Health Concern hold		Swing

Mitton^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Holden	916	46.2	+4.0
	Health Concern	Jim Parish	765	38.6	−4.0
	Labour	Gary Watson	227	11.5	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Dixon	73	3.7	−0.9
Majority			151	7.6
Turnout			1,981	34.0	−0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Offmore and Comberton^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frances Oborski	1,027	51.9	+7.6
	Conservative	Gillian Onslow	545	27.5	−6.3
	Health Concern	Gill Smith	241	12.2	−2.1
	Labour	Matthew Nicholls	166	8.4	+0.8
Majority			482	24.4	+13.9
Turnout			1,979	37.0	−0.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

Oldington and Foley Park^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nathan Desmond	510	50.4	+11.9
	Health Concern	Peter Young	210	20.8	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Samantha Walker	152	15.0	−6.8
	Labour	Paul Mills	139	13.7	−2.9
Majority			300	29.6	+14.1
Turnout			1,011	27.9	−3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rock^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Godwin	606	62.3	+16.0
	Independent	John Simmonds	367	37.7	−16.0
Majority			239	24.6
Turnout			973	48.0	+1.8
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Sutton Park^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Hart	1,118	59.6	+12.3
	Health Concern	John Griffiths	414	22.1	−4.5
	Labour	David Prain	175	9.3	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Beavis	169	9.0	−6.3
Majority			704	37.5	+16.8
Turnout			1,876	34.0	−1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wribbenhall^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Buckley	721	47.5	−4.2
	Health Concern	Liz Davies	452	29.8	+0.8
	Labour	Paul Gittins	289	19.0	−0.3
	Liberal	Alexander Harvey	57	3.8	+3.8
Majority			269	17.7	−5.0
Turnout			1,519	39.2	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

Lickhill

A by-election was held in Lickhill on 10 September 2009 after the death of Health Concern councillor Jill Fairbrother-Millis.^[12] The seat was held for Health Concern by Jim Parish with a majority of 131 votes over Conservative Chris Rogers.^[12]

Lickhill by-election 10 September 2009^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Jim Parish	643	48.1	−1.5
	Conservative	Chris Rogers	512	38.3	−1.6
	Labour	Jenny Knowles	140	10.5	0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Clare Cassidy	41	3.1	+3.1
Majority			131	9.8	+0.1
Turnout			1,336	24.4	−9.6
	Health Concern hold		Swing

Areley Kings

A by-election was held in Areley Kings on 10 December 2009 after the death of Conservative councillor Mike Partridge.^[13]^[14] The seat was gained for Labour by James Shaw with a majority of 123 votes over Health Concern candidate Gary Talbot.^[14]^[15]

Areley Kings by-election 10 December 2009^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Shaw	544	38.3	+5.5
	Health Concern	Gary Talbot	421	29.6	+0.4
	Conservative	Kenneth Henderson	394	27.7	−7.5
	UKIP	Anthony Baker	63	4.4	+4.4
Majority			123	8.7
Turnout			1,422	31.0	−9.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

References

^ "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
^ "Local elections: Results: Voters in the cities and the shires have their say in the ballot box". The Guardian. 2 May 2008. p. 7.
^ ^a ^b "Council candidates: full list". Malvern Gazette. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Key battles for local councils". BBC News Online. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b Bradley, Paul (16 April 2008). "Tory rule is so bad for Health". Birmingham Mail. p. 14.
^ Kirkup, James (2 May 2008). "Cameron's Tories predicting more than 200 gains". The Daily Telegraph. p. 4.
^ ^a ^b "Local elections: Blue tide sweeps 23-year-old into council seat". Birmingham Post. 3 May 2008. p. 3.
^ ^a ^b "Tories gain 'weathervane' council". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Tories take overall control of Wyre Forest". Malvern Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Walker, Jonathan (3 May 2008). "Local elections: Conservatives hammer Labour". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "District Council Election Results 2008". Wyre Forest District Council. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ICHC candidate wins Lickhill by-election". The Shuttle. NewsBank. 11 September 2009.
^ "Town's shock at sudden death of popular former mayor". Worcester News. NewsBank. 22 October 2009.
^ ^a ^b Land, Jon (11 December 2009). "Huge boost for Labour in latest council by-elections". 24dash.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Wyre Forest District Council. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[gain-1] "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

[shires-2] "Local elections: Results: Voters in the cities and the shires have their say in the ballot box". The Guardian. 2 May 2008. p. 7.

[candidates-3] "Council candidates: full list". Malvern Gazette. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[key-4] "Key battles for local councils". BBC News Online. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.

[health-5] Bradley, Paul (16 April 2008). "Tory rule is so bad for Health". Birmingham Mail. p. 14.

[predicting-6] Kirkup, James (2 May 2008). "Cameron's Tories predicting more than 200 gains". The Daily Telegraph. p. 4.

[tide-7] "Local elections: Blue tide sweeps 23-year-old into council seat". Birmingham Post. 3 May 2008. p. 3.

[weathervane-8] "Tories gain 'weathervane' council". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.

[overall-9] "Tories take overall control of Wyre Forest". Malvern Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[hammer-10] Walker, Jonathan (3 May 2008). "Local elections: Conservatives hammer Labour". Birmingham Post. p. 4.

[results-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "District Council Election Results 2008". Wyre Forest District Council. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

[lickhill-12] "ICHC candidate wins Lickhill by-election". The Shuttle. NewsBank. 11 September 2009.

[shock-13] "Town's shock at sudden death of popular former mayor". Worcester News. NewsBank. 22 October 2009.

[boost-14] Land, Jon (11 December 2009). "Huge boost for Labour in latest council by-elections". 24dash.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[areley-15] "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Wyre Forest District Council. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

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