2024 St Albans City and District Council election

2024 St Albans City and District Council election

2 May 2024 (2024-05-02)
21 out of 56 seats to St Albans City and District Council 29 seats needed for a majority
Registered	104,563
Turnout	43.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Chris White Brian Ellis Simon Grover Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Green Last election 49 seats, 50.4% 4 seats, 26.8% 2 seat, 12.8% Seats before 45 4 3 Seats after 47 3 3 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 22,472 9,596 6,591 Percentage 49.7% 21.3% 14.6% Swing 0.7 5.5 1.8   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 0 seat, 9.8% 1 seat, 0% Seats before 0 1 Seats after 2 1 Seat change 2 Popular vote 5,443 279 Percentage 12.0% 0.6% Swing 2.2 0.6
Winner of each seat at the 2024 St Albans City and District Council election
Leader before election Chris White Liberal Democrats Leader after election Paul De Kort Liberal Democrats

The 2024 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect members of St Albans City and District Council in Hertfordshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

There were 21 members of the council up for election, being the usual approximate third of the council plus three by-elections. The council remained under Liberal Democrat majority control.

Summary

Prior to the election, the council was under Liberal Democrat majority control. The leader of the council, Chris White, did not stand for re-election in 2024.^[1]

Following the election, the Liberal Democrats retained their majority. They chose Paul De Kort to be their new group leader, who was formally appointed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 22 May 2024.^[2]

Candidates by party

Liberal Democrats (21/21)

Green Party (21/21)

Labour Party (20/21)

Conservative Party (19/21)

Reform UK (5/21)

Independent (2/21)

Communist (1/21)

Election result

2024 St Albans City and District Council election[3]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	17	2	80.9	30	47	83.9	22,472	49.7	–0.7
	Conservative	1	1	4.8	2	3	5.4	9,596	21.3	–5.5
	Green	1	1	4.8	2	3	5.4	6,591	14.6	+1.8
	Labour	2	2	9.5	0	2	3.6	5,443	12.0	+2.2
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	776	1.7	+1.6
	Independent	0		0.0	1	1	1.8	279	0.6	+0.6
	Communist	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	17	0.1	±0.0

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by St Albans City and District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2024.^[4]

Batchwood

Batchwood (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lynn Cunningham	1,015	43.7	−12.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sinéad Howland	970	41.8	−14.6
	Green	Damian Gaskin	928	40.0	+29.8
	Green	Matthew Thomas	432	18.6	+8.4
	Conservative	Joshua Varghese	256	11.0	−3.7
	Labour	Mal Pakenham	255	11.0	−5.4
	Labour	Janet Smith	240	10.3	−6.1
	Independent	Gerry Foster	85	3.7	N/A
Majority
Turnout			2,322	41.19
Registered electors			5,637
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bernards Heath

Bernards Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jez Levy	1,257	55.8	–4.9
	Conservative	John Page	305	13.5	–3.8
	Green	Gabriel Roberts	267	11.9	+0.1
	Labour	Jane Cloke	229	10.1	+0.1
	Independent	Gee Smedley	194	8.6	N/A
Majority			952	42.3	–1.1
Turnout			2,252	38.4	–2.0
Registered electors			5,892
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Clarence

Clarence

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joanna Meaden	1,347	46.6	+10.8
	Green	Lucy Swift	1,211	42.0	–8.9
	Conservative	Lyn Bolton	166	5.7	–1.0
	Labour	Martin Mcgrath	164	5.7	–0.9
Majority			136	4.6
Turnout			2,888	47.3	–1.2
Registered electors			6,134
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cunningham

Cunningham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Roly Everall	1,189	56.7	–2.9
	Conservative	Jordan Sweeny	284	13.5	–5.5
	Labour	John Paton	281	13.4	–0.2
	Green	Caroline Hall	220	10.5	+2.7
	Reform UK	Larraine Charters	123	5.7	N/A
Majority			905	43.2	+2.6
Turnout			2,097	37.1	–0.9
Registered electors			5,677
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harpenden East

Harpenden East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul de Kort	1,081	54.4	–3.6
	Conservative	Mitchell Kieran	539	27.1	±0.0
	Labour	Neil Mulcock	197	9.9	+1.7
	Green	Louise Schlich	170	8.6	+1.9
Majority			542	27.3	–3.6
Turnout			1,987	34.9	–2.4
Registered electors			5,716
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harpenden North & Rural

Harpenden North & Rural

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Beth Fisher	1,161	53.7	+0.6
	Conservative	Samuel Spiri	662	30.6	–1.5
	Labour	Ross Harper	186	8.7	+1.4
	Green	Mario May	152	7.0	–0.5
Majority			499	23.1	–2.1
Turnout			2,161	36.6	–2.7
Registered electors			5,921
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harpenden South

Harpenden South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Matt Cowley	1,097	46.2	–5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Denise Bowser	1,039	43.7	+6.0
	Labour	James Morrell	146	6.1	+0.4
	Green	Gordon Baisley	94	4.0	–0.6
Majority			58	2.5	–11.8
Turnout			2,376	42.9	+0.7
Registered electors			5,572
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harpenden West

Harpenden West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Galvin	1,327	49.1	+3.7
	Conservative	Clark Alex	1,027	38.0	–4.9
	Labour	Victoria Thompson	220	8.1	+3.8
	Green	Kyle Riley	131	4.8	–2.6
Majority			300	11.1	+8.6
Turnout			2,705	44.5	–1.4
Registered electors			6,108
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

London Colney

London Colney (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hobday Mike	835	46.7	+12.6
	Labour	Emma Turnbull	684	36.2	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Karl Mugele	487	27.2	−8.4
	Conservative	Simon Calder	463	25.9	±0.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Onamusi	433	24.2	−11.4
	Conservative	Ambrose Killen	268	15.0	−10.9
	Reform UK	Eleanor Jackson	164	9.2	N/A
	Green	Matt Maddock	160	8.9	+4.8
	Green	Rosalind Paul	85	4.7	+0.6
Turnout			3579	33.21	+2.51
Registered electors			5,857
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hill End

Hill End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Rowlands	1,584	70.5	+4.0
	Conservative	Sudha Bharadia	256	11.4	–1.9
	Green	Marianne Jordan	223	9.9	–1.4
	Labour	Steven Clark	185	8.2	–0.7
Majority			1,328	59.1	+5.9
Turnout			2,248	40.2	+0.5
Registered electors			5,623
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Marshalswick East & Jersey Farm

Marshalswick East & Jersey Farm

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ahmed Raihaanah	1,069	46.7	–3.2
	Conservative	Frances Leonard	855	37.3	+3.3
	Green	James Lomas	187	8.2	–0.2
	Labour	Nick Pullinger	178	7.8	+0.1
Majority			214	9.4	–6.5
Turnout			2,289	40.4	+0.5
Registered electors			5,932
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Marshalswick West

Marshalswick West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Mostyn	1,035	63.0	+5.3
	Conservative	Don Deepthi	342	20.8	−4.4
	Green	Rachel Timbs	158	9.6	+1.1
	Labour	Sarah Heiser	108	6.6	−0.4
Majority			693	42.2
Turnout			1,643	42.8
Registered electors			3,856
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Park Street

Park Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Smith Terrie	1,087	50.7	–4.1
	Conservative	Richard Curthoys	519	24.2	–7.1
	Reform UK	Roger Gray	201	9.4	N/A
	Labour	Laurence Chester	178	8.3	+0.7
	Green	Mark Park-Crowne	159	7.4	+1.1
Majority			568	26.5	+3.0
Turnout			2,144	33.0	–2.2
Registered electors			6,532
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Sandridge & Wheathampstead

Sandridge & Wheathampstead (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Owain McKenzie	1,003	46.0	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Johns	990	45.8	−3.0
	Conservative	Claudio Duran	743	34.4	−4.2
	Labour	Hannah Thornley Hill	349	16.2	+10.2
	Green	Danielle Durant-Taylor	277	12.8	+6.1
	Green	Oliver Hitch	217	10.0	+3.3
Majority
Turnout			2,160	35.32
Registered electors			6,115
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Sopwell

Sopwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jesús Pastor	968	50.5	–5.0
	Labour	Iain Grant	376	19.6	–0.5
	Green	Deborah McGettrick	226	11.9	+2.5
	Conservative	Heather Rench	203	10.6	–2.9
	Reform UK	Lexine Savva	125	6.5	N/A
	Communist	Mark Ewington	17	0.9	–0.6
Majority			592	30.9	–4.5
Turnout			1,915	35.5	–2.2
Registered electors			5,419
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Peters

St Peters

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Juliet Voisey	918	43.9	–2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Naina Bloom	758	36.2	+2.8
	Labour	David Byatt	225	10.8	+1.3
	Conservative	Graham Leonard	190	9.1	–1.9
Majority			160	7.7	–5.0
Turnout			2,091	34.2	–2.7
Registered electors			6,136
	Green gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

St Stephen

St Stephen

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Giles Fry	1,066	43.3	–4.4
	Conservative	James Cook	866	35.3	–6.1
	Labour	Janet Blackwell	216	8.8	+2.8
	Reform UK	David Thurston	163	6.6	N/A
	Green	Meryl Burleigh	145	6.0	+1.1
Majority			200	8.0	+1.7
Turnout			2,456	36.8	–2.6
Registered electors			6,690
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Verulam

Verulam

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Edgar Hill	1,606	62.2	+0.8
	Conservative	June Reid	555	21.5	–3.1
	Green	Candy Whittome	231	8.9	+0.9
	Labour	Geoff Meade	191	7.4	+1.4
Majority			1,051	40.7	+3.9
Turnout			2,583	45.3	–0.8
Registered electors			5,746
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

By-elections

Harpenden North & Rural

A by-election was held in the Harpenden North and Rural ward on 17 October 2024, after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Beth Fisher.^[5]

Harpenden North and Rural: 17 October 2024^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Griffiths	661	49.3	+18.7
	Liberal Democrats	James Robertson	546	40.7	−13.0
	Green	Mario May	82	6.1	−0.9
	Labour	Ross Harper	51	3.8	−4.9
Majority			115	8.6
Turnout			1,340
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

References

1. Mountney, Dan (8 April 2024). "St Albans: Council leader Chris White to step down". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
2. Mountney, Dan (23 May 2024). "St Albans City and District Council elects new leader". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
3. Bates, Pearce (3 May 2024). "The 2024 St Albans City & District local election results". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
4. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). St Albans City and District Council. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
5. Wootton, Doug (17 September 2024). "By-election called after councillor's resignation". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
6. "Local Elections Archive Project — Harpenden North and Rural Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2024.