An election for the Borough Council in Slough, England, was held on 6 May 2010.[1] This was the 124th Slough general local authority election (including both whole council elections and elections by thirds) since Slough became a local government unit in 1863.[2]
The regular 2010 election was to fill thirteen seats, one from each ward except Colnbrook with Poyle, for the 2010–2014 term. These thirteen seats were last contested in the Council election of 2006.
The remaining twenty-seven Slough Councillors will continue in office, for seats which will be next contested in 2011 or 2012.
Recent political history of Slough
Between 2004 and 2008, Slough council had no party in overall control. A coalition of the Britwellian, Independent, Liberal and Liberal Democrats Group (BILLD) and the Conservative Group formed a joint administration. In the 2008-2010 period the Labour Group had a majority and was in control of the council.
The BILLD Group is itself a local coalition, containing members from four parties or groups of independents. The organisations represented in the group, as at April 2010, were the Slough Liberal Democrats, the Slough Liberals, the Independent Britwellian Residents and Independents from Wexham Lea ward. The existing members of the Group have an electoral pact for the 2010 election, continuing electoral arrangements which started with the 2001 Slough Council election.
The Slough Party and a number of Independents, not affiliated with any of the three existing council groups, are also contesting the 2010 election.
At the time of the 2008 election there were twenty councillors each supporting the joint administration and the Labour opposition, with one vacancy. After the election count Labour secured four net gains, to give the party a 23:18 margin and a majority of five for the start of the 2008-2009 municipal year.
Shortly after the 2008 election, following some rapid defections and re-defections (see 2008 Slough Council election for additional details), a newly re-elected Labour Councillor (Pervez Choudhry who represents Central Ward) joined the Conservative Group. As a result, the Labour majority fell to three.
For the 2010-2011 municipal year, Councillor Choudhry was named as the Conservative group leader. The former Tory leader (Derek Cryer representing Langley St Mary's ward) left the Conservative council group, but remained a member of the Conservative Party.
Total valid votes: 49,166
Total spoilt votes: 509
Slough BC turnout:
New Council by group: Labour 24, BILLD 9 (Liberal Democrats 3, Independent 2, Independent Britwellian Residents 2, Liberal 2), Conservative 8. Total 41.
Note: The 2004 election was for the whole Council. Other elections are for a third of the Council. For them the overall totals, after the election, are given in brackets.
List of Councillors whose terms expired in 2010
Ward
Party
Elected
Incumbent
Cand.?
Re-elected?
Baylis & Stoke
Labour
2006
Azhar Qureshi
Yes
Yes
Britwell
Ind. Britwellian Res.
2006
John Joseph Finn *
Yes
No
Central
Labour
2006
Shafiq Ahmed Chaudhry
Yes
Yes
Chalvey
Labour
2006
Mohammed Rasib
Yes
Yes
Cippenham Green
Labour
2002
James Charles Robert Swindlehurst
Yes
Yes
Cippenham Meadows
Labour
2004
Nimrit Chohan
Yes
Yes
Farnham
Labour
2002
Sukhjit Kaur Dhaliwal
Yes
Yes
Foxborough
Liberal Democrats
2004
Robert Clive Plimmer *
Yes
Yes
Haymill
Liberal
2004
Brian Graham Lacey Hewitt *
Yes
No
Kedermister
Labour
2002
Christine Rita Small
Yes
Yes
Langley St Mary's
Independent Conservative
2000
Derek Ernest Cryer
No
N/A
Upton
Labour
2006
Balvinder Singh Bains
Yes
Yes
Wexham Lea
Independent
2004
Mohammed Latif Khan *
No
N/A
* Member of the Britwellian, Independent, Liberal and Liberal Democrats Group (BILLD)
Ward results
Candidates nominated for the 2010 election are named in this section, using the version of their name to be used on the ballot paper.
A candidate who was an incumbent Councillor for the ward being contested has an * following their name.
Figures for the total published electorate are given, at 1 March 2010.[3] The number given is derived from the full register, not the edited register available to the general public. The spoilt votes and turnout figures were taken from the Slough Council website.
The change columns record alterations from the previous local election results.
Swing figures are only calculated when the same two parties shared the first two places in both the 2007 and 2008 elections. The swing given is two party or Butler swing, ignoring votes for other candidates. Swing is not calculated for Central Ward, for the same reasons why changes are not calculated. Contrary to the usual convention a positive swing figure is towards Labour and a negative swing towards Conservative (or other party as specified in the result).
Total eligible electorate for the Borough (including Colnbrook with Poyle): 88,967
Central (2008-2012 term: Labour gain from Conservative; 2008-2011 term: Labour gain from vacant)
As two seats were filled at the 2008 election, the bloc vote electoral system was used. Each elector was entitled to cast up to two votes. The candidate with most votes was elected to the four-year term and the one in second place was returned for three years.
Councillor Pervez Choudhry was an incumbent councillor for the Chalvey ward, at the time of the election. A.S. Dhaliwal had represented the ward from 2000 until the 2004 Slough Council election.
