2007 Maidstone Borough Council election

The 2007 Maidstone Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

Map of the results of the 2007 Maidstone council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independent in white. Wards in grey were not contested in 2007.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 26
• Liberal Democrat 21
• Labour 4
• Independent 4^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest party on the council with 27 seats, compared to 20 Liberal Democrats, 4 Labour and 4 independent councillors.^[3] 20 seats were up for election, with 2 of these in Bridge and South wards being by-elections after the resignation of the previous councillors.^[3]

The Conservatives held the seats of Detling and Thurnham and Sutton Valence and Langley without a contest after no other candidates stood in those seats.^[3] In total 64 candidates stood in the election, comprising 20 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats, 11 Green party, 10 Labour, 5 independents and 2 British National Party.^[3] As well as the by-elections, 2 sitting councillors did not stand in the election, Liberal Democrat John Williams from Coxheath and Hunton ward and independent Janetta Sams from Harrietsham and Lenham ward.^[3]

Election result

The results saw no party win a majority on the council after the Liberal Democrats made a net gain of 1 seat from the Conservatives.^[4] This reduced the Conservatives to 26 seats and was a disappointment for them as Maidstone had been one of the party's top 10 targets in the 2007 local elections.^[4] Overall turnout in the election was 37.68%.^[3]

Maidstone Local Election Result 2007^[3][5]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	2	-1	45.0	49.2	15,968	+2.5%
	Liberal Democrats	9	2	1	+1	45.0	33.2	10,773	+2.5%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	10.0	5.4	1,762	-0.2%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	5.9	1,905	-5.3%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	5.3	1,722	+0.8%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	329	+1.0%

Ward results

Allington^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Cynthia Robertson	1,517	63.9	+1.3
	Conservative	Jeff Curwood	684	28.8	+2.6
	Labour	Marianna Poliszczuk	174	7.3	+1.3
Majority			833	35.1	−1.3
Turnout			2,375	42.7	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bearsted^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Bradshaw	1,935	70.0	+28.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Chittenden	510	18.5	+18.5
	Green	Edward Wallace	319	11.3	+6.8
Majority			1,425	51.5
Turnout			2,764	42.9	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boxley^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Greer	1,415	67.2	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Doherty	534	25.3	+1.5
	BNP	Gareth Veitch	158	7.5	+7.5
Majority			881	41.8	−0.1
Turnout			2,107	32.9	+4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bridge^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Pickett	746	50.5	+12.8
	Conservative	Martin Cluett	611	41.4	−2.0
	Green	Andrew Waldie	120	8.1	−2.8
Majority			135	9.1
Turnout			1,477	34.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Coxheath and Hunton^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Parr	1,239	47.8	−0.3
	Conservative	John Wilson	1,221	47.1	+0.4
	Labour	Michael Casserley	130	5.0	−0.2
Majority			18	0.7	−0.8
Turnout			2,590	47.7	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Detling and Thurnham^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horne	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downswood and Otham^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Marchant	405	50.8	−25.5
	Independent	Gordon Newton	230	28.9	+28.9
	Conservative	Mark Hodges	162	20.3	+1.6
Majority			175	22.0	−35.6
Turnout			797	37.9	+8.9
	Independent hold		Swing

East^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Naghi	1,386	54.1	+16.5
	Conservative	Jamie Devlin	912	35.6	−16.0
	Labour	Michael Beckwith	167	6.5	−0.3
	Green	James Shalice	97	3.8	+3.8
Majority			474	18.5
Turnout			2,562	41.4	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Fant^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Schnell	773	40.2	+2.9
	Conservative	James Ross	454	23.6	−2.5
	Green	Stuart Jeffery	342	17.8	+5.1
	Labour	Keith Adkinson	245	12.7	−4.4
	Independent	Carol Vizzard	109	5.7	−1.1
Majority			319	16.6	+5.5
Turnout			1,923	33.6	+4.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harrietsham and Lenham^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tom Sams	941	45.8	+45.8
	Conservative	Gary Cooke	834	40.6	−16.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Morris	230	11.2	+11.2
	Green	Sarah Goodwin	50	2.4	+2.4
Majority			107	5.2
Turnout			2,055	48.1	+7.0
	Independent hold		Swing

High Street^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Fran Wilson	758	46.8	+0.6
	Conservative	Paul Butcher	533	32.9	−1.3
	Labour	Richard Coates	182	11.2	−1.3
	Green	Wendy Lewis	148	9.1	+9.1
Majority			225	13.9	+1.9
Turnout			1,621	27.8	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Leeds^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Parvin	639	84.7	+15.8
	Labour	Elizabeth Stevens	115	15.3	+2.3
Majority			524	69.5	+18.7
Turnout			754	40.1	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loose^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ben Sherreard	413	50.4	+7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Laing	358	43.7	−8.2
	Green	Angela Wooi	48	5.9	+5.9
Majority			55	6.7
Turnout			819	44.5	+3.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Marden and Yalding^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annabelle Blackmore	1,324	62.7	−9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Jacques	422	20.0	−7.6
	Labour	Edith Davis	216	10.2	+10.2
	Green	Ian McDonald	151	7.1	+7.1
Majority			902	42.7	−2.2
Turnout			2,113	36.5	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

North^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Marvyn Warner	973	54.0	−3.4
	Conservative	Jeff Tree	500	27.8	−0.4
	Green	Derek Eagle	145	8.1	+0.6
	Labour	Patrick Coates	106	5.9	−1.0
	Independent	Maureen Cleator	77	4.3	+4.3
Majority			473	26.3	−2.8
Turnout			1,801	32.0	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Shepway North^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marion Ring	989	53.8	+6.3
	Labour	James Carney	359	19.5	−4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Samme	201	10.9	+10.9
	BNP	William Hitches	171	9.3	+9.3
	Green	Stephen Muggeridge	119	6.5	−3.1
Majority			630	34.3	+10.6
Turnout			1,839	30.0	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

South (2)^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Wilson	1,234
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Chittenden	1,139
	Conservative	Keith Andrews	1,113
	Conservative	Alan Chell	1,102
	Green	Penny Kemp	183
Turnout			4,771	40.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Staplehurst^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Lusty	1,127	70.1	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Burnham	270	16.8	−3.8
	Labour	John Randall	211	13.1	+0.4
Majority			857	53.3	+7.2
Turnout			1,608	35.7	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sutton Valence and Langley^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paulina Stockell	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Maidstone". BBC News Online. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
2. "National: Elections 2007: Town and country go to the polls". The Guardian. 4 May 2007. p. 6.
3. "Maidstone Borough Council Election Results - Thursday 3 May 2007" (PDF). Maidstone Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
4. "Lib Dems victory in Prescott's back yard". The Press and Journal. 4 May 2007. p. 13.
5. "Results". The Times. 5 May 2007. p. 83.