2007 Craven District Council election

Map of the results of the 2007 Craven District Council election. Independents in light grey, Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2007.

The 2007 Craven District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 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

Background

Before the election the council was run by an alliance between the 11 independents and the 6 Liberal Democrats, while the 13 Conservative councillors were in opposition.[3] 10 seats were contested at the election with the Conservatives needing to make at least 2 gains to take control.[4]

Candidates at the election included Conservative candidates in every ward, while there were no candidates from the Labour party.[3] The British National Party meanwhile stood their first candidate in an election for Craven council in Skipton South.[3]

Election result

There was no change to the party balance on the council, after the Conservatives gained a seat from an independent, but also lost a seat to another independent candidate.[5] The Conservative gain came in Skipton South, where they defeated the vice-chairman of the council, Mike Hill, while they lost Bentham to an independent by 5 votes after 3 recounts.[6]

Craven local election result 2007[2][7]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Independent 5 1 1 0 50.0 38.4 4,149 +8.1%
  Conservative 4 1 1 0 40.0 45.1 4,866 -0.3%
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 0 0 10.0 14.6 1,581 -8.7%
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0 1.9 200 +1.9%

Ward results

Bentham[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Lin Barrington 686 50.2 −7.4
Conservative Felicity Hey 681 49.8 +7.4
Majority 5 0.4 −14.7
Turnout 1,367 46.5 +5.2
Independent gain from Conservative Swing
Embsay with Eastby[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andy Quinn 409 63.4 −3.6
Liberal Democrats John Manley 236 36.6 +36.6
Majority 173 26.8 −7.2
Turnout 645 45.7
Conservative hold Swing
Gargrave and Malhamdale[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Crawford 802 70.4 +3.8
Liberal Democrats Stephen Walpole 337 29.6 −3.8
Majority 465 40.8 +7.6
Turnout 1,139 47.1 −0.5
Conservative hold Swing
Glusburn[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Graham Beck 776 58.9 −14.9
Conservative Jenny Wood 541 41.1 +14.9
Majority 235 17.8 −29.8
Turnout 1,317 42.8 +1.6
Independent hold Swing
Skipton East[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Harbron 610 53.9 +5.0
Independent Michael Hill 521 46.1 +46.1
Majority 89 7.9
Turnout 1,131 40.5 −11.5
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Skipton North[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Marcia Turner 577 42.0 +0.3
Independent John Kerwin-Davey 418 30.4 +5.9
Liberal Democrats Andrew Rankine 379 27.6 −6.1
Majority 159 11.6 +3.6
Turnout 1,374 50.0 −9.7
Conservative hold Swing
Skipton South[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Heseltine 659 66.3 +49.3
BNP Gary Beresford 200 20.1 +20.1
Conservative Robert Firth 135 13.6 −6.4
Majority 459 46.2
Turnout 994 36.1 −5.4
Independent hold Swing
Skipton West[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Polly English 629 61.9 −3.4
Conservative Pamela Heseltine 387 38.1 +3.4
Majority 242 23.8 −6.7
Turnout 1,016 35.4 −7.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Sutton-in-Craven[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Ken Hart 687 64.9 −1.1
Conservative David Harrison-Young 372 35.1 +1.1
Majority 315 29.7 −2.4
Turnout 1,059 38.6 −1.3
Independent hold Swing
West Craven[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Mason 402 53.3 +2.5
Conservative Terry Thorpe 352 46.7 −2.5
Majority 50 6.6 +4.9
Turnout 754 50.6
Independent hold Swing

By-elections between 2007 and 2008

A by-election was held in Cowling on 12 July 2007 after independent councillor John Alderson resigned from the council after moving away from the area.[8] The seat was gained for the Conservatives by Jan Ackroyd with a majority of 215 votes over Craven Ratepayers' Action Group candidate Alan Perrow.[8]

Cowling by-election 12 July 2007[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jan Ackroyd 351 64.3 +47.4
Craven Ratepayers' Action Group Alan Perrow 136 24.9 −13.2
Independent Peter Seward 59 10.8 −34.3
Majority 215 39.4
Turnout 546 31.2 −18.9
Conservative gain from Independent Swing

References

  1. ^ "Craven". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Results - Election 2007". The Times. NewsBank. 5 May 2007. p. 83. ISSN 0140-0460.
  3. ^ a b c "BNP field first candidate in Skipton election". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 4 April 2007.
  4. ^ "Conservatives need two seats to win Craven council". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 3 May 2007.
  5. ^ "Conservatives fail to take Craven council". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 4 May 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "District Council election" (PDF). Craven District Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Tories win council seat". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 19 July 2007.