2002 Hertsmere Borough Council election

The 2002 Hertsmere Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 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]

Map of the results of the 2002 Hertsmere council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2002.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

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Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 22 seats, compared to 10 for Labour, 5 Liberal Democrats and 2 independents.[2] Since the 2000 election 2 Labour councillors, husband and wife Martin and Jean Heywood, had left the party and became independents.[3]

13 of the 15 wards had seats contested in 2002, with only Aldenham East and Aldenham West having no election.[4] The Conservative and Labour parties both had 5 seats up for election, while the Liberal Democrats defended 4 and the independents had 1 seat being contested.[4]

Election result

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The Conservatives increased their majority after gaining 2 seats from Labour to have 24 councillors, compared to 9 for Labour, 5 Liberal Democrats and 1 independent.[2] The Conservatives gained Borehamwood Hillside by 74 votes, with the winning candidate, Sandra Parnell, becoming the first Conservative councillor for Borehamwood since 1976.[2] The other Conservative gain came in Shenley, where Rosemary Gilligan took the seat by 154 votes, after the Conservatives had gained the other seat in the ward at the last election in 2000.[2]

Despite losing 2 seats Labour did gain a seat in Borehamwood Cowley Hill by 193 votes defeating independent Jean Heywood.[2] Heywood had left Labour to sit as an independent in 2001 and both she and the Labour candidate Joe Goldberg accused the other of dirty tricks during the campaign.[2] Overall turnout at the election was 32.6%, an increase from 30.6% in 2000.[5]

Following the election the remaining independent councillor, Martin Heywood, joined the Conservatives, taking the Conservatives to a then record 25 seats on the council.[3]

Hertsmere Local Election Result 2002[6][7]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 7 2 0 +2 46.7 44.8 10,145
  Labour 4 1 2 -1 26.7 28.4 6,425
  Liberal Democrats 4 0 0 0 26.7 22.0 4,988
  Independent 0 0 1 -1 0 3.9 888
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 108
  Socialist Labour 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 95

Ward results

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Borehamwood Brookmeadow[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Len Silverstone 736 60.2
Conservative Simon Rubner 487 39.8
Majority 249 20.4
Turnout 1,223 24.4
Labour hold Swing
Borehamwood Cowley Hill[5][6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Goldberg 886 52.9
Independent Jean Heywood 693 41.4
Socialist Labour James Dry 95 5.7
Majority 193 11.5
Turnout 1,674 29.8 +10.4
Labour gain from Independent Swing
Borehamwood Hillside[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sandra Parnell 1,054 51.8
Labour Anthony Scott-Norman 980 48.2
Majority 74 3.6
Turnout 2,034 35.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Borehamwood Kenilworth (2)[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ernest Butler 463
Labour Francis Ward 457
Conservative David Wernick 231
Conservative Lucy Wernick 208
Independent Peter Hedges 195
Turnout 1,554 22.4
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing
Bushey Heath[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ron Gealy 1,110 67.5
Liberal Democrats Patrick Forsyth 361 22.0
Labour Dinah Hoeksma 173 10.5
Majority 749 45.6
Turnout 1,644
Conservative hold Swing
Bushey North (2)[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Marilyn Colne 1,083
Liberal Democrats Robert Gamble 895
Conservative Trevor Jones 356
Conservative John Slade 318
Labour Sandra Mercado 172
Green Vega Alvarado 108
Turnout 2,932
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bushey Park[6][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Lynn Hodgson 651 46.9
Conservative Anne Swerling 628 45.2
Labour James Sowerbutts 110 7.9
Majority 23 1.7
Turnout 1,389 40.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bushey St James[6][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Zita Hobbs 1,311 59.1
Conservative David Bertin 748 33.7
Labour Christine Sowerbutts 158 7.1
Majority 563 25.4
Turnout 2,217 40.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Elstree[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derrick Gunasekera 768 68.6
Labour Oliver De Peyer 223 19.9
Liberal Democrats Roger Kutchinsky 128 11.4
Majority 545 48.7
Turnout 1,119 30.6
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Furzefield[6][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christine Calcutt 859 54.8
Labour James Fisher 415 26.5
Liberal Democrats Colin Dean 293 18.7
Majority 444 28.3
Turnout 1,567 32
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Oakmere[6][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Shirley Legate 1,125 62.1
Labour Ann Harrison 686 37.9
Majority 439 24.2
Turnout 1.811 32.3
Conservative hold Swing
Potters Bar Parkfield[6][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edwin Roach 1,516 70.0
Labour Liz Savage 383 17.7
Liberal Democrats Peter Bonner 266 12.3
Majority 1,133 52.3
Turnout 2,165 37
Conservative hold Swing
Shenley[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rosemary Gilligan 737 55.8
Labour William Hogan 583 44.2
Majority 154 11.7
Turnout 1,320 34.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

References

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  1. ^ a b "Hertsmere". BBC News Online. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Hertsmere elections 2002: Tories win Borehamwood seat after 26 years". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 8 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Mayor turns blue". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 15 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Hertsmere borough council elections 2002". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 24 April 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Election turn-out". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Election Results". Hertsmere Borough Council. Archived from the original on 8 June 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Tories steal Borehamwood seat". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Hertsmere turns out to vote". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  10. ^ a b c "Potters Bar remains in Conservative hands". Borehamwood & Elstree Times. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
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