2011 Gravesham Borough Council election

2011 Gravesham Borough Council election

5 May 2011
All 44 seats in the Gravesham Borough Council 23 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Labour Conservative Last election 16 seats, 35.5% 28 seats, 54.8% Seats before 17^† 27^† Seats won 25 19 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 13,549 15,151 Percentage 45.1% 50.4% Swing 9.6% 4.4%
Map of the results of the 2011 Gravesham council election. Labour in red and Conservatives in blue. ^† Labour gained a seat from the Conservatives in a by-election in 2009[1]
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Labour

The 2011 Gravesham Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Gravesham Borough Council in Kent, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council from the Conservative Party.^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives had run the council since the 2007 election when they won 26 seats, compared to 16 for Labour.^[2] However Labour gained a seat back at a by-election in June 2009 in Painters Ash ward.^[3]

During the campaign the national Labour leader Ed Miliband came to Gravesham twice, while the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron met party activists,^[4] along with visits by other senior figures from the two parties.^[5] Apart from the Conservative and Labour parties there were also candidates from the United Kingdom Independence Party in 5 wards and the Liberal Democrats in 3 wards.^[6]

Election result

Labour gained 8 seats to take control of the council from the Conservatives.^[7] Labour made gains in Central, Painters Ash, Singlewell and Westcourt wards to hold 25 seats, compared to 19 for the Conservatives.^[8]

Following the election Ed Miliband came back to Gravesham and said "Our victory here is both a sign of our progress and a symbol of our task ahead."^[7] Both the local Conservative and Labour leaders on the council, Mike Snelling and John Burden, put the results down to the cuts being made by the national Conservative led government.^[8]

Gravesham Local Election Result 2011^[9]^[10]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	25	8	0	+8	56.8	45.1	13,549	+9.6%
	Conservative	19	0	8	-8	43.2	50.4	15,151	-4.4%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.3	953	+1.3%
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	1.4	416	-4.4%

Ward results

Central (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gurdip Bungar	1,079
	Conservative	Greta Goatley	1,073
	Labour	Derek Sales	1,060
	Labour	Andrew Mylett	1,031
	Conservative	Bronwen McGarrity	1,019
	Conservative	Samir Jassal	971
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Vincent	207
	Liberal Democrats	Gill McGill	150
	Liberal Democrats	Rob McGill	121
Turnout			6,711	52	+9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Chalk^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Hills	562	68.3	−8.3
	Labour	Alexander Wallace	209	25.4	+2.0
	UKIP	Quentin Williamson	52	6.3	+6.3
Majority			353	42.9	−10.3
Turnout			823	48	+10
	Conservative hold		Swing

Coldharbour (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Howes	735
	Labour	Rosemary Leadley	675
	Conservative	Carol Fisher	429
	Conservative	Heather Frost	421
Turnout			2,260	37	+6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Higham (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Pearton	1,021
	Conservative	Harold Craske	871
	Labour	Eileen Rice	429
	Labour	Jenny Wallace	428
Turnout			2,749	47	+6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Istead Rise (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Turner	1,067
	Conservative	Bryan Sweetland	1,034
	Labour	Jenny Beardsall	294
	Labour	Pam Sales	236
Turnout			2,631	50	+6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Meopham North (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Snelling	1,220
	Conservative	Laura Hryniewicz	1,051
	Labour	Douglas Christie	497
	Labour	Brian Newell	389
Turnout			3,157	51	+22
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Meopham South and Vigo (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley Boycott	1,098
	Conservative	Derek Shelbrooke	1,042
	Labour	Mary Williams	266
	Labour	Dick Target	265
Turnout			2,671	42	+6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Northfleet North (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrea Webb	1,106
	Labour	Tanmanjeet Dhesi	1,103
	Labour	Peter Rayner	1,101
	Conservative	Clarice Masterson	508
	Conservative	Eileen Tuff	489
	Conservative	David Garside	466
	UKIP	Geoffrey Clark	218
Turnout			4,911	37	+5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Northfleet South (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Loughlin	1,105
	Labour	John Burden	1,095
	Labour	Narinder-Jit Thandi	1,061
	Conservative	Julia Burgoyne	552
	Conservative	Teresa Sweetland	527
	Conservative	Brenda Pritchard	520
	UKIP	Dave Thomas	206
Turnout			5,066	38	+7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Painters Ash (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Dennis	1,235
	Labour	Les Howes	1,214
	Labour	Caroline Shelton	1,128
	Conservative	Karen Hurdle	830
	Conservative	Diane Marsh	809
	Conservative	Alan Ridgers	803
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Stevenson	111
	Liberal Democrats	Carrie Abraham	93
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Wilson	69
Turnout			6,292	50	+7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Pelham (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Sangha	1,327
	Labour	Makhan Singh	1,300
	Labour	Jane Cribbon	1,270
	Conservative	Jack Bearman	766
	Conservative	Jasmail Dosanjh	739
	Conservative	Peter Harris	706
	UKIP	Simon Johnston	235
Turnout			6,343	45	+6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Riverside (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lyn Milner	1,156
	Labour	Lee Croxton	1,143
	Labour	Dick Smith	1,135
	Conservative	Helen Skellorn	520
	Conservative	Chaz Sidhu	444
	Conservative	Amrik Jandoo	442
Turnout			4,840	35	+6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Riverview (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Lambert	902
	Conservative	David Hurley	800
	Labour	Michael Coulter	483
	Labour	Jason MCCrossan	420
Turnout			2,605	42	+6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shorne, Cobham & Luddesdown (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alex Moore	1,271
	Conservative	Robin Theobald	1,234
	Labour	Ernie Brook	315
	Labour	Maureen Newell	284
Turnout			3,104	51	+3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Singlewell (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Francis	1,074
	Labour	Rob Halpin	1,000
	Labour	Jean Averibou	994
	Conservative	Graeme Biggs	806
	Conservative	John Cubitt	788
	Conservative	Conrad Broadley	776
Turnout			5,438	39	+7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Westcourt (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Caller	1,056
	Labour	John Caller	1,038
	Labour	Val Ashenden	1,012
	Conservative	Sean Long	654
	Conservative	Philip Hales	651
	Conservative	Sandra Garside	617
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Moreton	98
	Liberal Democrats	James Willis	69
Turnout			5,195	39	+10
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Whitehill (2)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glen Handley	734
	Conservative	Senja Compton	732
	Labour	Surinder Dale	523
	Labour	Brigitte Steer	513
Turnout			2,502	43	+3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Woodlands (3)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sara Langdale	1,141
	Conservative	Mick Wenban	1,112
	Conservative	Anthony Pritchard	1,045
	Labour	Sarah Shepherd	660
	Labour	Jean Christie	658
	Labour	Mary Pratley	613
	UKIP	David Beattie	242
Turnout			5,471	42	+5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Labour councillor wins Painters Ash by-election". kentnews.co.uk. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
2. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
3. "Labour win narrow victory in by-election". Gravesend Messenger. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
4. Stewart, Louise (7 May 2011). "Labour's big push in the South East reaps mixed results". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
5. Hitchens, Nick (5 May 2011). "Voters go to the polls in Gravesham Dartford and Sevenoaks". Gravesend Reporter. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
6. Maden, Sophie (5 May 2011). "Gravesham Council elections could see Labour claw back rule from the Tories". News Shopper. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
7. "Labour gains control of Gravesham from Conservatives". BBC News Online. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
8. "Labour win Gravesham but Conservatives hold Dartford in local elections". Gravesend Reporter. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
9. "Borough Elections - Thursday, 5 May 2011". Gravesham Borough Council. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
10. "Election results 2011: English council summary results". guardian.co.uk. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.