2007 Rother District Council election

The 2007 Rother District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Rother District Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Background

At the last election in 2003 the Conservatives retained control of the council with 25 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 8, Labour had 3 and there were 2 independents.^[2] However, by the time of the 2007 election the Liberal Democrat group had been reduced to 6 councillors, while 2 of the 3 Labour councillors, Helen and Keith Bridger, had left the Labour party in December 2006 and stood at the election as independents.^[3] Meanwhile, the Conservative leader of the council Graham Gubby stood down at the election.^[3]

Election result

The Conservatives increased their majority on the council after making a net gain of 2 seats to have 28 of the 38 councillors.^[4]^[5] The Conservatives narrowly defeated Liberal Democrat councillor John Kemp in Crowhurst by 2 votes after 3 recounts,^[6] while also taking out the only Labour councillor Samuel Souster in Rye.^[5] This meant Rother was one of more than 10 councils in which Labour lost their last presence on the council in the 2007 local elections.^[7]

The Liberal Democrats also gained 2 seats to have 8 councillors, after defeating Conservative councillors in Bexhill St Michael's and Battle Town ward.^[5] Meanwhile, the independents were reduced from 5 to 2 councillors,^[4] with Keith and Helen Bridger being defeated in Bexhill Sidley, while Eric Armstrong lost in Bexhill Old Town.^[6]

Following the election Conservative Carl Maynard became the new leader of the council.^[8]

Rother local election result 2007^[9]^[10]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	28	4	2	+2	73.7	59.7	27,840	+2.2%
Liberal Democrats	8	3	1	+2	21.1	27.2	12,670	-3.0%
Independent	2	0	3	-3	5.3	6.0	2,784	+1.7%
Labour	0	0	1	-1	0	6.6	3,071	-1.4%
Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	252	+0.5%

Ward results

Battle Town (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kathryn Field	892
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Dixon	759
	Conservative	Paula Fisher	649
	Conservative	Bob White	532
	Labour	John Gately	165
Turnout			2,997	42.6	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Bexhill Central (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ensor	672
	Conservative	Joy Hughes	667
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Francis	420
	Labour	Maurice Watson	252
Turnout			2,011	33.7	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill Collington (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Dyason	1,159
	Conservative	Christopher Starnes	1,158
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Warburton	497
Turnout			2,814	44.4	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill Kewhurst (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Kentfield	1,237
	Conservative	Martin Kenward	1,096
	Liberal Democrats	Joseph Ammoun	468
Turnout			2,801	42.3	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill Old Town (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Wood	454
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Winterborn	419
	Conservative	Richard Carroll	351
	Conservative	Annabelle West	332
	Independent	Eric Armstrong	295
	Labour	Mark Sivyer	135
Turnout			1,986	37.3	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Bexhill Sackville (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Deirdre Williams	660
	Conservative	Keith Standring	642
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Forster	564
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Hollington	533
	Independent	Peter Webb	200
	Labour	Abdullah Khan	114
Turnout			2,713	40.9	+7.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill Sidley (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Jim Carroll	489
	Conservative	Robert Wheeler	425
	Independent	Keith Bridger	415
	Independent	Helen Bridger	402
	Labour	Philipa Coughlan	252
	Labour	Stephanie Webb	225
	Liberal Democrats	Brett Mclean	192
Turnout			2,400
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Bexhill St Marks (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joanne Gadd	1,136
	Conservative	Patrick Douart	990
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Hills	605
	Labour	John Heasman	133
Turnout			2,864	44.7	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill St Michaels (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Charles Clark	787
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Forster	565
	Conservative	Peter Fairhurst	493
Turnout			1,845	36.2	+5.6
	Independent hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Bexhill St Stephens (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bridget George	722
	Conservative	Paul Lendon	690
	Liberal Democrats	Molly Webb	381
	Liberal Democrats	John Zipperlen	340
	Labour	Dominic Coughlan	211
Turnout			2,344	36.3	-2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brede Valley (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Johnson	905
	Conservative	Carl Maynard	873
	Liberal Democrats	John Smith	459
	Liberal Democrats	Frances James	431
	Labour	Mark Kenward	127
Turnout			2,795	40.6	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crowhurst^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angharad Davies	416	46.3	+10.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Kemp	414	46.1	-9.4
	Labour	Tim MacPherson	69	7.7	-0.8
Majority			2	0.2
Turnout			899
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Darwell (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Vereker	1,072
	Independent	Wendy Miers	685
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Sayer	469
Turnout			2,226	42.0	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Eastern Rother (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Osborne	970
	Conservative	Nick Ramus	939
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Cleveland-Stevens	394
	Labour	Jan Mears	350
Turnout			2,653	44.2	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ewhurst and Sedlescombe^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Ganly	657	66.4	-1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Hardy	332	33.6	+1.1
Majority			325	32.9	-2.1
Turnout			989	49.5	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Marsham (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robin Patten	1,120
	Conservative	Roger Bird	1,063
	Labour	Nicholas Warren	264
Turnout			2,447	45.5	-2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rother Levels (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Mooney	1,006
	Conservative	Ron Parren	1,000
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Als	492
	Labour	Marie Hodgson	199
Turnout			2,697	43.1	+8.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rye (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sonia Holmes	691
	Conservative	David Russell	684
	Labour	Samuel Souster	575
Turnout			1,950	43.7	-0.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Salehurst (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Prochak	857
	Liberal Democrats	George Hearn	668
	Conservative	Graham Browne	661
	Conservative	Geoffrey Goodsell	578
Turnout			2,764	45.8	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ticehurst and Etchingham (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Elliston	993
	Conservative	Ian Jenkins	803
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Seemann	374
	Green	Don Nicholls	252
Turnout			2,422	41.1	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2007 and 2011

Bexhill Collington

A by-election was held in Bexhill Collington on 12 June 2008 after the death of Conservative councillor Ron Dyason.^[11]^[12] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Gillian Wheeler with a majority of 677 votes over the Liberal Democrats.^[12]

Bexhill Collington by-election 12 June 2008^[13]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gillian Wheeler	893	75.2	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Purdy	216	18.2	-11.8
	Labour	Nicholas Coughlan	78	6.6	+6.6
Majority			677	57.0
Turnout			1,187	31.8	-12.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill Sackville

A by-election was held in Bexhill Sackville on 3 July 2008 after Conservative councillor Keith Standring resigned from the council.^[15]^[16] The seat was held for the Conservatives by Richard Carroll with a majority of 80 votes over the Liberal Democrats.^[16]^[17]

Bexhill Sackville by-election 3 July 2008^[13]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Carroll	571	49.4	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Webb	491	42.5	+5.8
	Labour	Paul Theaker	93	8.1	+0.6
Majority			80	6.9
Turnout			1,155	31.5	-9.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

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