2003 North Hertfordshire District Council election

2003 North Hertfordshire District Council election

1 May 2003 (2003-05-01)
16 of 49 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con Lab LD Leader F. John Smith David Kearns Steve Jarvis Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Seats before 28 17 4 Seats after 27 16 6 Seat change 1 1 2
Leader before election F. John Smith Conservative Leader after election F. John Smith Conservative

The 2003 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 1 May 2003, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. 16 of the 49 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council.^[1]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[2]

2003 North Hertfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	56.3	18	27	55.1	9,737	46.0	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	4	2	25.0	2	6	12.2	6,389	30.2	+8.4
	Labour	3	1	18.8	13	16	32.7	4,663	22.0	-9.0
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	363	1.7	-0.5

Ward Results

The results for each ward were as follows. An asterisk(*) indicates a sitting councillor standing for re-election. A double dagger (‡) indicates a sitting councillor contesting a different ward.^[3][4]

Arbury ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Dempster Young*	744	61.5	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Geoffrey Marshall	466	38.5	+16.1
Turnout				59.7
Registered electors			2,030
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.1

Baldock East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Cecil Hollands	363	53	+31.6
	Conservative	Leslie Wilsher	322	47	−9.4
Turnout				38.8
Registered electors			1,775
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+20.5

Baldock Town ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Edwin Weeks ‡	982	57.5	−7.9
	Labour	Paul David Burgin	465	27.2	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Stephen White	260	15.2	+4.1
Turnout				29.9
Registered electors			5,728
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.9

Cadwell ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Winifred Gibbs* (Tricia Gibbs)	383	57.1	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Oliver Canning	142	21.2	+8.4
	Labour	Tarnjeet Kaur Rehal	117	17.4	−18.6
	Green	George Winston Howe	29	4.3	+4.3
Turnout				37.4
Registered electors			1,799
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.2

Ermine ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Maycroft Marshall*	675	65.5	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Simpson	319	30.9	+7.2
	Labour	Kenneth Garland	37	3.6	−9.4
Turnout				52.4
Registered electors			1,972
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.5

Graveley and Wymondley ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Margaret Jarvis*	595	68.2	+7.6
	Conservative	Juli Marie Dear	224	25.7	−5.0
	Labour	Philip Anthony Vale	54	6.2	−2.6
Turnout				29.9
Registered electors			2,930
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+6.3

Hitchin Bearton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judi Billing*	782	50.1	−0.3
	Conservative	Kevin David Banks	421	27	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ingeborg Sutcliffe	232	14.9	+3.8
	Green	Stuart Wanstall Madgin	127	8.1	−0.3
Turnout				29.3
Registered electors			5,366
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

Hitchin Highbury ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lawrence William Oliver	1,123	52.1	−11.3
	Conservative	David Miller	892	41.4	+9.2
	Labour	Kusminder Singh Sahasi	141	6.5	+6.5
Turnout				39.7
Registered electors			5,443
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	-10.3

Hitchin Walsworth ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Nigel Sheard	679	42.5	−4.3
	Conservative	Raymond Lawrence Shakespeare-Smith	583	36.5	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Shirley	214	13.4	+4.1
	Green	Evelyn Grace Howe	123	7.7	+3.4
Turnout				29.5
Registered electors			5,435
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-0.6

Hoo ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David John Barnard*	587	68.7	+12.8
	Labour	Roger Aubrey Wood	208	24.3	−19.9
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Ircha	60	7	+7.0
Turnout				47.5
Registered electors			1,807
	Conservative hold		Swing	+16.4

Letchworth East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Paterson	566	39.3	+13.2
	Labour	Arthur Jarman*	519	36	−11.5
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Gammell	272	18.9	+1.2
	Green	Eric Morris Blakeley	84	5.8	−2.9
Turnout				27.2
Registered electors			5,299
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+12.4

Letchworth Grange ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Peter Kearns*	683	43.6	−15.6
	Conservative	Simon Nicholas Bloxham	626	39.9	+11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Butcher	259	16.5	+4.0
Turnout				30.7
Registered electors			5,111
	Labour hold		Swing	-13.7

Letchworth South East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julian Michael Cunningham	826	46.6	+2.1
	Labour	John Henry Davies	652	36.8	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Winder	295	16.6	−2.8
Turnout				34.4
Registered electors			5,162
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+0.7

Letchworth South West ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynda Ann Needham*	1,246	49.4	+5.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Paul Winder	1,063	42.2	−5.7
	Labour	Philip Edward Ross	211	8.4	−0.3
Turnout				44.6
Registered electors			5,666
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8

Offa ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claire Patricia Annette Strong*	438	63.5	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Donald Johnson	160	23.2	+4.5
	Labour	Rob Whatson	92	13.3	−8.6
Turnout				42.3
Registered electors			1,629
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

Weston and Sandon ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Kenneth Jarvis*	566	69.8	+5.3
	Conservative	Margaret Mary Darby	222	27.4	+27.4
	Labour	David Alexander Stears	23	2.8	+0.4
Turnout				52.3
Registered electors			1,553
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-11.1

References

1. "The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/2555, retrieved 14 March 2023
2. Andrew, Teale. "Local Election Results 2003: North Hertfordshire". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
3. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
4. "Election Results May 2003". North Hertfordshire District Council. Archived from the original on 21 June 2003. Retrieved 17 March 2023.