2008 Thurrock Council election

The 2008 Thurrock Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Thurrock Council in Essex, 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

Campaign

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The 2008 election in Thurrock was seen as one of the key national contests with the Conservatives needing to gain one seat to take overall control.[3][4] Important issues in the election included recycling, local bus services and race relations.[3]

18 seats were contested in the election with the Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park seat being a by-election after the previous councillor resigned.[5] The Conservatives, Labour and British National Party contested all 18 seats except in East Tilbury where the Conservatives did not put up a candidate.[6] There were also 8 Liberal Democrats and 2 other candidates.[6]

Election results

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The results saw the council stay under no overall control but with the British National Party gaining a seat.[7][8] The Conservatives remained the largest party on the council after winning 10 of the seats contested as compared to 6 for Labour.[9] The final seat was won by independent Barry Palmer in East Tilbury.[10]

While the Conservatives were still just short of an overall majority they remained in control of the council due to their existing agreement with the 2 independent councillors.[11] Both main parties said they would not work with the new British National Party councillor, although she said she did not want to work with them anyway.[11]

Following the election in March 2009, Terry Hipsey, the then Conservative leader of the council, defected from the Conservatives to Labour, leaving each of the major parties with 23 councillors.[12]

Thurrock Local Election Result 2008[5]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 10 1 1 0 55.6 37.2 11,900 +6.5%
  Labour 6 2 2 0 33.3 32.6 10,416 -1.5%
  BNP 1 1 0 +1 5.6 21.3 6,827 -3.3%
  Independent 1 0 0 0 5.6 3.5 1,115 -0.7%
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0 0 0 4.0 1,265 +0.0%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 372 -0.5%
  Ind. Working Class 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 98 -0.2%
  Independent Socialist 0 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0

Ward results

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Aveley & Uplands[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Amanda Wilton 845 45.5 +8.5
BNP Dave Strickson 521 28.1 −2.9
Labour John Garner 363 19.5 −4.5
Liberal Democrats John Livermore 128 6.9 −1.1
Majority 324 17.4 +11.4
Turnout 1,857 29.0 +1.0
Conservative hold Swing
Belhus[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sue Gray 786 42.8 +6.8
Conservative Georgette Polley 549 29.9 −4.6
BNP Lauren Kay 387 21.1 −1.6
Liberal Democrats John Biddall 115 6.3 −0.5
Majority 237 12.9 +11.4
Turnout 1,837 28.6 +1.5
Labour hold Swing
Chadwell St. Mary[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gerard Rice 925 42.0 −1.3
BNP Bryn Robinson 645 29.3 −3.5
Conservative Amanda Redsell 515 23.4 +5.8
Liberal Democrats Peter Saunders 119 5.4 −0.9
Majority 280 12.7 +2.2
Turnout 2,204 30.7 −0.3
Labour hold Swing
Chafford & North Stifford[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Garry Hague 866 52.6 +16.1
Liberal Democrats Earnshaw Palmer 390 23.7 −5.2
BNP Sandra Strickson 201 12.2 −2.6
Labour Martin Healy 188 11.4 −3.7
Majority 476 28.9 +21.3
Turnout 1,645 31.1 +2.4
Conservative hold Swing
Corringham & Fobbing[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Harrison 837 49.2 +7.7
Labour John Cecil 560 32.9 +0.9
BNP Warren Parish 303 17.8 −8.7
Majority 277 16.3 +6.8
Turnout 1,700 38.2 −1.5
Conservative hold Swing
East Tilbury[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Barry Palmer 923 64.6 −1.7
BNP Bradley Elvin 286 20.0 −4.2
Labour Felton Flavius 220 15.4 +5.9
Majority 637 44.6 +2.5
Turnout 1,429 31.0 +0.2
Independent hold Swing
Grays Riverside[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Kent 720 41.8 −1.9
Conservative Paul Coutts 473 27.5 +6.8
BNP Jamie Strickson 398 23.1 −2.6
Liberal Democrats Claire Jones 130 7.6 −2.3
Majority 247 14.3 −3.7
Turnout 1,721 23.8 +0.6
Labour hold Swing
Grays Thurrock[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yash Gupta 1,011 47.3 −1.2
Conservative Leo Milan-Vega 555 25.9 −0.8
BNP Ricky-Lee Strickson 445 20.8 −4.0
Liberal Democrats William Jackson 128 6.0 +6.0
Majority 456 21.4 −0.4
Turnout 2,139 33.9 −0.3
Labour hold Swing
Little Thurrock Blackshots[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joycelyn Redsell 735 46.8 −18.0
Labour Bob Moorman 279 17.8 −4.0
BNP Dean Kay 243 15.5 +15.5
UKIP Alan Broad 207 13.2 +13.2
Liberal Democrats Thomas Kelly 106 6.8 −6.6
Majority 456 29.0 −14.0
Turnout 1,570 35.0 −2.7
Conservative hold Swing
Ockendon[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Amanda Arnold 1,016 45.3 +10.5
Labour Wendy Curtis 806 35.9 +1.8
BNP Sophie Agass 422 18.8 −1.9
Majority 210 9.4 +8.7
Turnout 2,244 33.9 +2.8
Conservative hold Swing
Orsett[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Diane Revell 1,103 59.5 −13.9
Labour Angela Gaywood 420 22.7 +6.9
BNP Derek Beackon 330 17.8 +17.8
Majority 683 36.8 −20.8
Turnout 1,853 40.0 −4.3
Conservative hold Swing
South Chafford[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Veryard 547 55.0 +8.6
Labour David Hooper 188 18.9 −4.2
Liberal Democrats Adedoyin Ogunfemi 149 15.0 −15.5
BNP Donna Strickson 111 11.2 +11.2
Majority 359 36.1 +20.2
Turnout 995 21.5 −3.9
Conservative hold Swing
Stanford East & Corringham Town[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Danny Nicklen 1,069 43.5 +8.3
Labour Gordon Gambier 949 38.6 +0.9
BNP Danny Brown 344 14.0 −7.1
Ind. Working Class Dave Amis 98 4.0 −2.0
Majority 120 4.9
Turnout 2,460 38.0 +1.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Stanford-Le-Hope West[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Terry Hipsey 718 44.7 +5.0
Labour Anita Nuss 450 28.0 +0.3
BNP Anita Jessup 275 17.1 −0.9
UKIP Clive Broad 165 10.3 −4.3
Majority 268 16.7 +4.7
Turnout 1,608 33.9 +2.7
Conservative hold Swing
The Homesteads[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Suzanne MacPherson 1,203 45.5 +4.2
Labour Anthony Sharp 901 34.1 +0.4
BNP Paul Woodley 542 20.5 −4.5
Majority 302 11.4 +3.8
Turnout 2,646 39.5 +0.5
Conservative hold Swing
Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BNP Emma Colgate 530 39.9 +9.7
Labour Paul Martin 463 34.8 +0.9
Independent June Brown 192 14.4 −9.4
Conservative Lee Dove 144 10.8 −1.3
Majority 67 5.1
Turnout 1,329 30.9 +5.9
BNP gain from Labour Swing
Tilbury St. Chads[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Lynn Worrall 519 46.5 −1.2
BNP Angela Daly 458 41.0 +14.0
Conservative Kay Mangion 139 12.5 −0.9
Majority 61 5.5 −15.2
Turnout 1,116 27.8 −0.3
Labour gain from Independent Swing
West Thurrock & South Stifford[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oliver Gerrish 668 40.7 −1.2
Conservative Gareth Davies 586 35.7 +7.2
BNP Ken Daly 386 23.5 −6.1
Majority 82 5.0 −7.3
Turnout 1,640 25.9 −0.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

References

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  1. ^ "Thurrock". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  2. ^ "National: Full election results". The Guardian. 3 May 2008. p. 45.
  3. ^ a b "The key battlegrounds". The Sunday Telegraph. 13 April 2008. p. 8.
  4. ^ Beattie, Jason (28 April 2008). "Cutting truth of voting Tory". The Daily Mirror. p. 6.
  5. ^ a b "News Archive - Thurrock Council election night". Thurrock Council. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  6. ^ a b "BNP to fight all seats in Thurrock election". Clacton Gazette. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Cecil, Nicholas (2 May 2008). "Cameron steps up march across country". Evening Standard. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Ups and downs for Tories in Essex". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  9. ^ "Thurrock: BNP take Tilbury seat". Evening Echo. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  10. ^ "Conservatives hold on to power in Thurrock". Thurrock Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  11. ^ a b "Tory chief's delight at two more years". Thurrock Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  12. ^ "Party switch for council leader". BBC News Online. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Full election results, 01/05/2008" (PDF). Thurrock Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2009.