2008_Craven_District_Council_election
The 2008 Craven District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was
Before the election an alliance between 9 of the 10 independents and the 6 Liberal Democrats controlled the council, with independent Carl Liss as council leader.[3] The 14 Conservative councillors were in opposition, supported by the remaining independent councillor, Ken Hart.[3]
The Conservatives won 8 of the 11 seats contested, including gaining one seat, to have exactly half of seats on the council.[4] The Conservative gain came in Skipton East where Pam Heseltine took the seat from the Liberal Democrats.[4] This reduced the Liberal Democrats to 5 councillors after they held the other 2 seats they were defending.[4] The only independent councillor to be defending a seat, David Ireton, retained it in Ingleton and Clapham, while the 5 Labour candidates came last in each of the wards they contested.[4]
Following the election Conservative Chris Knowles-Fitton became leader of the council, taking over from independent Carl Lis.[5]
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 8 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 72.7 | 55.0 | 6,268 | +9.9% | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 18.2 | 27.4 | 3,124 | +12.8% | |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 1,159 | -28.2% | |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.4 | 843 | +7.4% | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Pat Fairbank | 824 | 63.0 | +16.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Stephen Walpole | 307 | 23.5 | -29.5 | |
| Labour | Bob Holland | 177 | 13.5 | +13.5 | |
| Majority | 517 | 39.5 | |||
| Turnout | 1,308 | 45.7 | +1.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Chris Knowles-Fitton | 550 | 83.3 | +32.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andrew Rankine | 110 | 16.7 | +5.2 | |
| Majority | 440 | 66.7 | +52.8 | ||
| Turnout | 660 | 49.6 | -10.3 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ady Green | 470 | 69.5 | +52.6 | |
| Labour | Paul Routledge | 206 | 30.5 | +30.5 | |
| Majority | 264 | 39.1 | +32.1 | ||
| Turnout | 676 | 38.9 | -11.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Foster | 539 | 77.1 | +3.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Manley | 160 | 22.9 | -3.9 | |
| Majority | 379 | 54.2 | +7.7 | ||
| Turnout | 699 | 52.4 | -13.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | David Ireton | 1,159 | 78.6 | ||
| Conservative | Terence Thorpe | 315 | 21.4 | ||
| Majority | 844 | 57.2 | |||
| Turnout | 1,474 | 46.7 | |||
| Independent hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Donny Whaites | 860 | 64.3 | +24.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Alison Fawcett | 300 | 22.4 | -31.8 | |
| Labour | Edward Saunders | 178 | 13.3 | +13.3 | |
| Majority | 560 | 41.9 | |||
| Turnout | 1,338 | 45.3 | -1.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Pamela Heseltine | 595 | 50.5 | -3.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eric Jaquin | 464 | 39.4 | +39.4 | |
| Labour | Chris Rose | 119 | 10.1 | +10.1 | |
| Majority | 131 | 11.1 | +3.2 | ||
| Turnout | 1,178 | 42.3 | +1.8 | ||
| Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Paul Whitaker | 737 | 57.4 | +15.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Carole Manley | 547 | 42.6 | +15.0 | |
| Majority | 190 | 14.8 | +3.2 | ||
| Turnout | 1,284 | 46.5 | -3.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Andrew Solloway | 391 | 50.4 | +50.4 | |
| Conservative | Charlotte Gott | 222 | 28.6 | +15.0 | |
| Labour | Duncan Hall | 163 | 21.0 | +21.0 | |
| Majority | 169 | 21.8 | |||
| Turnout | 776 | 27.7 | -8.4 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Paul English | 592 | 56.9 | -5.0 | |
| Conservative | John Garton | 449 | 43.1 | +5.0 | |
| Majority | 143 | 13.7 | -10.1 | ||
| Turnout | 1,041 | 35.7 | +0.3 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | John Roberts | 707 | 73.6 | +10.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Bennett | 253 | 26.4 | +26.4 | |
| Majority | 454 | 47.3 | +20.3 | ||
| Turnout | 960 | 62.5 | +1.4 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
- "Craven". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- "Full election results". The Guardian. NewsBank. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0261-3077.
- "Conservative likely to become leader". The Yorkshire Post. NewsBank. 3 May 2008. ISSN 0963-1496.
- "Tories gain one Craven Council seat but fail to take control". Craven Herald & Pioneer. NewsBank. 2 May 2008. ISSN 0961-1908.
- Tate, Lesley (23 May 2008). "Tories take over leadership of council". Craven Herald & Pioneer. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Craven District Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.