2004 Hertsmere Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2004 Hertsmere council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Labour in red. Wards in grey were not contested in 2004.

The 2004 Hertsmere Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Hertsmere Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 25
• Labour 7
• Liberal Democrat 7^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 25 councillors, compared to 8 for Labour and 6 Liberal Democrats.^[3] 39 candidates stood for the 13 seats being contested, with 13 each from the Conservative and Labour parties, 12 Liberal Democrats and 1 from the Socialist Labour Party.^[3]

Election result

The Conservative party remained on 25 seats, after both gaining and losing 2 seats.^[4] Labour finished 1 down on 7 seats, to be level with the Liberal Democrats for the first time, after the Liberal Democrats picked up a seat.^[4]

The Conservative gains from Labour came in Borehamwood Hillside where they won by 235 votes and in the former Labour stronghold of Borehamwood Brookmeadow, which had been held by Tim Sandle since 1995 (the area had been subject to a recent boundary change, with the main Labur voting part of the ward being reallocated to Cowley ward).^[4] Labour did take one seat back from the Conservatives in Borehamwood Cowley Hill by 87 votes, after the sitting Conservative councillor for Cowley Hill, Martin Heywood, contested and held Potters Bar Oakmere instead with a 709-vote majority for the Conservatives.^[4] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats picked up a seat from the Conservatives in Bushey St James by 59 votes.^[5]

Following the election the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties shared the main opposition role as both parties were on the same number of seats.^[6] Meanwhile, Labour chose a new leader, Leon Reefe, after Len Silverstone stood down as leader of the group.^[6]

Hertsmere Local Election Result 2004^[2]^[7]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	10	2	2	0	76.9	56.5	13,358	+3.7%
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	0	+1	15.4	22.8	5,396	+2.3%
	Labour	1	1	2	-1	7.7	19.9	4,704	-5.5%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	181	-0.3%

Ward results

Aldenham East^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Graham	1,319	77.5	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Silverman	199	11.7	+1.3
	Labour	Brian Levy	185	10.9	+0.5
Majority			1,120	65.8	−3.0
Turnout			1,703	44.0	+9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aldenham West^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Saunders	882	65.2	−3.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Bird	242	17.9	+2.3
	Labour	Sandra Huff	228	16.9	+1.5
Majority			640	47.3	−6.1
Turnout			1,352	38.0	+6.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Borehamwood Brookmeadow^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Segall	758	47.5	+15.6
	Labour	Tim Sandle	548	34.4	−21.8
	Liberal Democrats	Audrey McCracken	289	18.1	+6.2
Majority			210	13.2
Turnout			1,595	33.0	+10.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Borehamwood Cowley Hill^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ann Harrison	654	38.8	−28.1
	Conservative	Howard Rosen	567	33.6	+15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Brass	284	16.8	+16.8
	Socialist Labour	James Dry	181	10.7	−4.2
Majority			87	5.2	−43.6
Turnout			1,686	30.5	+8.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Borehamwood Hillside^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hannah David	1,055	48.2	+0.3
	Labour	Peter Hedges	820	37.4	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Zissis Kakoulakis	316	14.4	+4.7
Majority			235	10.7	+5.3
Turnout			2,191	38.1	+4.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bushey Heath^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seamus Quilty	1,425	68.8	−3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Kutchinsky	423	20.4	+3.1
	Labour	David Bearfield	222	10.7	+0.5
Majority			1,002	48.4	−6.7
Turnout			2,070	40.0	+17.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bushey North^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Gamble	905	56.8	−12.0
	Conservative	John Slade	520	32.7	+11.6
	Labour	George Bath	167	10.5	+3.6
Majority			385	24.2	−23.5
Turnout			1,592	35.4	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bushey Park^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Pitfield	842	56.0	+10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Vincent Turner	550	36.6	−10.3
	Labour	James Sowerbutts	111	7.4	−0.5
Majority			292	19.4
Turnout			1,503	46.0	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bushey St James^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kim Boughton	1,058	46.4	−6.8
	Conservative	Carey Keates	999	43.8	+4.3
	Labour	Dinah Hoeksma	223	9.8	+2.4
Majority			59	2.6	−11.1
Turnout			2,280	42.1	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Potters Bar Furzefield^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Foy	1,080	57.9	−0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Dean	443	23.7	+1.5
	Labour	James Fisher	343	18.4	−1.4
Majority			637	34.1	−1.8
Turnout			1,866	38.4	+12.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Potters Bar Oakmere^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Heywood	1,311	68.5	−0.4
	Labour	Russell Ramshaw	602	31.5	+0.4
Majority			709	37.1	−0.6
Turnout			1,913	35.7	+10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Potters Bar Parkfield^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Donne	1,661	68.1	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Bonner	445	18.3	−0.5
	Labour	Elizabeth Savage	332	13.6	+3.0
Majority			1,216	49.9	−1.8
Turnout			2,438	40.2	+8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shenley^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rodney Saunders	939	64.8	+9.0
	Labour	Anthony Scott-Norman	269	18.6	−25.6
	Liberal Democrats	Anita Ownsworth	242	16.7	+16.7
Majority			670	46.2	+34.5
Turnout			1,450	36.6	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Hertsmere council". BBC News. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
2. "Local elections 2004" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
3. Kent, Martyn (2 June 2004). "Make your votes count in the borough elections". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
4. Compton, Louise (16 June 2004). "Voters go back to polls". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
5. "Hertsmere Tory loses to Lib Dems". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
6. Whitney, Charles (16 June 2004). "Level parties to share opposition". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
7. "Borough Council elections – 10/06/2004". Hertsmere Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2011 – via Political Science Resources.