2006 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election

Elections for Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council were held on Thursday 4 May 2006. The whole council was up for election. Barking and Dagenham is split up into 17 wards, each electing 3 councillors, so a total of 51 seats were up for election.

2006 Barking and Dagenham Council election

← 2002 4 May 2006 2010 →
All 51 council seats to Barking and Dagenham Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Lab BNP Con Party Labour BNP Conservative Last election 42 seats, 55.6% Did not stand 2 seats, 13.8% Seats won 38 12 1 Seat change 4 12 1 Popular vote 20,611 8,576 9,315 Percentage 41.2 17.2 18.6 Swing 14.4% New party 4.8%
Map of the results of the 2006 Barking and Dagenham council election. Labour in red, British National Party in dark blue and Conservatives in blue.
Leader of Largest Party before election Labour Subsequent Leader of Largest Party Labour

The Labour Party retained control of the council winning 38 seats and 41% of the popular vote. The British National Party won 12 seats in a rare electoral breakthrough for a far-right party, and formed the official opposition winning 17% of the popular vote. The Conservatives won 1 seat.^[1][2]

Background

In the lead up and aftermath of the election, Barking and Dagenham underwent significant demographic change causing a massive rise in support for the British National Party. In the 2001 census, the white British and Irish percent of the borough's population was 82%.

From 2000 to 2011, the proportion of white British residents had decreased from 82% to 49%, the largest decrease of White British residents in any unitary authority across Britain, and the second largest proportional decrease, just behind neighboring Newham. A significant amount of White British residents, who were upset by the massive surge of immigration to the borough, moved out to the home counties, particularly neighbouring Essex, for instance, Cavney Island, a town in Essex, became a hotspot for those moving out of nor only Barking and Dagenham, but also East London boroughs. This trend actually started in the 80s, but accelerated in the 2000s and a significant amount of Essex's population can trace their family links to East London It is also worth noting, the decline was not purely numerical.

The proportion of foreign born residences soared by 205%, the black population increased from 6% to 20%, the Asian population went from 4% to 16% and other white went from 3% to 9%. In 2006 estimates placed the White British percent of the borough at around 65-70%. This rapid demographic change caused a surge in support for the BNP, a far right political party whose main focus was on immigration and demographic change. Many White British residents, most who had lived in the borough for generations, found themselves drawn to the BNP solely by the concern of immigration and demographic change.

As quoted by the Labour MP for Barking at the time, Margaret Hodge, she said "8 out of 10 of my (White British) constituents were considering or plan to vote for the BNP. Between 2001-2011 she tried to balance the new realities facing the borough and the growing resentment of many long term residents. However, her stance was wildly criticized by both sides, both who saw her trying to appeal excessively to the other side. In the run up to the election, numerous other political figures within the borough accused her of "giving" the BNP votes.

115 candidates were nominated in total. Labour again ran a full slate (51) and was the only party to do so. By contrast the Conservative Party ran only 23 candidates, whilst the Liberal Democrats ran 4 and the BNP ran 13.

Election results

2006 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election^[1][2]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	38	8	12	–4	74.5	41.2	20,611	-14.4
	Conservative	1	1	2	–1	2.0	18.6	9,315	+4.8
	BNP	12	12	0	+12	23.5	17.2	8,576	N/A
	UKIP	0	0	0	±0	0.0	13.2	6,598	N/A
	Independent	0	0	0	±0	0.0	4.7	2,353	+3.9
	Green	0	0	0	±0	0.0	3.5	1,730	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	3	–3	0.0	1.6	810	-21.6
	Chadwell Heath RA	0	0	4	–4	0.0	0.0	0	-5.5

Ward results

Map of the results of the 2006 Barking and Dagenham council election with ward names. Coloured by party which topped the poll in each ward. Labour in red and British National Party in dark blue.

Abbey

Abbey (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jeanne Alexander	1,367	64.3	−5.8
	Labour	Mohammed Fani	1,275
	Labour	Graham Bramley	1,241
	Conservative	Foyzur Rahman	765	35.7	N/A
Turnout			2,203	29.9	+7.0
Registered electors			7,379
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Alibon

Alibon (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	William Bailey	1,329	41.7	N/A
	BNP	Claire Doncaster	1,323
	Labour	John Davis	1,071	33.6	−33.8
	Labour	Terry Wade	1,018
	Labour	Dave Miles	957
	UKIP	Margaret Whitson	394	12.4	N/A
	Conservative	Lucy East	393	12.3	−20.3
Turnout			2,759	41.1	+22.0
Registered electors			6,721
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Becontree

Becontree (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alok Agrawal	1,268	47.3	−18.5
	Labour	Evelyn Carpenter	1,240
	Labour	Emmanuel Obasohan	1,058
	UKIP	Daphne Jordon	749	28.1	N/A
	Conservative	Claire Barker	653	24.5	N/A
	Conservative	Malcolm Barker	607
Turnout			2,454	32.4	+15.4
Registered electors			7,578
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Chadwell Heath

Chadwell Heath (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Baillie	1,101	37.7	+6.7
	Labour	Nadine Smith	999
	Labour	Shaun Carroll	987
	Conservative	Terry Justice	873	29.9	−3.6
	Conservative	Maire Justice	734
	Conservative	Sharron Chytry	583
	Independent	Ronald Curtis	560	19.2	−16.4
	UKIP	Doreen Tucker	385	13.2	N/A
	UKIP	Ronald Long	376
Turnout			2,523	36.2	+9.5
Registered electors			6,972
	Labour gain from Residents		Swing
	Labour gain from Residents		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Eastbrook

Eastbrook (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick McCarthy	1,151	50.3	−1.5
	Conservative	Neil Connelly	1,139	49.7	+12.3
	Labour	Bob Little	1,126
	Conservative	Sue Connelly	1,101
	Conservative	Susan Smith	1,067
	Labour	Margaret Mullane	1,036
Turnout			4,070	54.1	+28.5
Registered electors			7,523
	Labour hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Eastbury

Eastbury (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Jeffrey Steed	1,102	32.4	N/A
	Labour	James McDermott	965	28.4	−15.2
	Labour	Patricia Northover	944
	Labour	Hardial Rai	852
	UKIP	Patrick Manley	546	16.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Challis	523	15.4	−41.0
	UKIP	Ashley McIlroy	455
	Liberal Democrats	Ryan Edwards	451
	UKIP	Dorien McIlroy	425
	Green	Geoff Sheridan	260	7.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Stepton	131
Turnout			3,031	39.4	+13.6
Registered electors			7,967
	BNP gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Gascoigne

Gascoigne (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kathleen Flint	1,579	58.8	−5.9
	Labour	Milton McKenzie	1,346
	Labour	Valerie Rush	1,278
	Conservative	Alison Grey	586	21.8	N/A
	Green	Hidir Yildirim	522	19.4	+9.1
Turnout			2,361	33.0	+8.8
Registered electors			7,146
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Goresbrook

Goresbrook (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Richard Barnbrook	1,434	42.4	N/A
	BNP	Tracy Lansdown	1,357
	Labour	Warren Northover	1,204	35.6	−36.4
	Labour	Edna Fergus	1,162
	Labour	Jeffrey Porter	1,135
	Conservative	George Naylor	373	11.0	N/A
	UKIP	Terence Jones	367	10.9	N/A
Turnout			3,021	41.4	+21.1
Registered electors			7,298
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Heath

Heath (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Fairbrass	1,293	48.6	−9.0
	Labour	Linda Reason	1,282
	Labour	Sidney Kallar	1,229
	UKIP	Christine Smith	790	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	Harry East	579	21.8	+0.0
	Conservative	Margaret White	535
Turnout			2,534	34.3	+12.5
Registered electors			7,396
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Longbridge

Longbridge (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sukhninder Gill	1,272	26.2	−16.0
	Labour	Nirmal Gill	1,253
	Labour	Gerald Vincent	1,233
	Conservative	Brian Cook	1,227	25.2	−14.2
	Conservative	Margaret Cook	1,111
	Independent	Anthony Richards	1,072	22.1	N/A
	Conservative	Anthony Chytry	910
	UKIP	James Burchill	701	14.4	N/A
	Green	Laurence Cleeland	588	12.1	N/A
Turnout			3,661	48.5	+18.9
Registered electors			7,543
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Mayesbrook

Mayesbrook (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Robert Buckley	1,145	38.4	N/A
	BNP	Christine Knight	1,070
	Labour	Dee Hunt	845	28.4	−24.0
	UKIP	Vivian Patten	741	24.9	N/A
	UKIP	Kerry Smith	733
	UKIP	John Bolton	697
	Labour	Dominic Twomey	695
	Labour	Ahmed Choudhury	679
	Conservative	Christopher Newton	249	8.4	N/A
Turnout			2,782	40.4	+19.6
Registered electors			6,886
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Parsloes

Parsloes (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Ronald Doncaster	1,120	43.2	N/A
	BNP	Darren Tuffs	1,052
	Labour	Herbert Collins	1,050	40.5	−22.2
	Labour	Frederick Jones	1,026
	Labour	Catherine Osborn	948
	UKIP	Peter Compobassi	423	16.3	N/A
Turnout			2,465	37.1	+17.2
Registered electors			6,643
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

River

River (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liam Smith	1,529	50.9	−18.5
	Labour	Patricia Twomey	1,406
	Labour	Inder Jamu	1,304
	UKIP	Betty Parsons	858	28.6	N/A
	Conservative	Herbert White	617	20.5	N/A
Turnout			2,649	35.7	+15.3
Registered electors			7,419
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Thames

Thames (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Barns	1,264	51.5	−16.1
	Labour	Joan Rawlinson	1,157
	Labour	Barry Poulton	1,127
	Independent	John Dias-Broughton	721	29.4	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Grey	470	19.1	N/A
Turnout			2,224	30.8	+7.1
Registered electors			7,223
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Valence

Valence (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Sandra Doncaster	1,219	40.3	N/A
	BNP	Lawrence Rustem	1,203
	Labour	Donald Hemmett	1,071	35.4	−32.2
	Labour	Dennis O'Brien	1,005
	Labour	Bryan Osborn	915
	UKIP	Angela Lambart	372	12.3	N/A
	Green	Maria Sentivani	360	11.9	N/A
Turnout			2,649	39.8	+19.5
Registered electors			6,662
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Village

Village (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Waker	1,276	37.2	−18.0
	Labour	Lee Waker	1,269
	BNP	Jamie Jarvis	1,227	35.8	N/A
	Labour	Bill Dale	1,209
	BNP	James Webb	1,208
	Conservative	Kenneth Coombs	370	10.8	−12.5
	Liberal Democrats	Fredrick Tindling	287	8.4	−13.1
	UKIP	Leslie Parsons	272	7.9	N/A
Turnout			2,990	42.2	+19.8
Registered electors			7,089
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing

Whalebone

Whalebone (3)^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Denyer	1,304	56.1	+15.5
	Labour	Marie West	1,208
	Labour	John White	1,159
	Conservative	Paul Taylor	1,021	43.9	+26.2
	Conservative	Christine Naylor	1,014
Turnout			2,530	26.2	±0
Registered electors			6,922
	Labour gain from Residents		Swing
	Labour gain from Residents		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

By-elections between 2006 and 2010

Chadwell Heath

Chadwell Heath by-election, 3 July 2008^[3][2][4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terry Justice	842	37.4	+7.5
	Labour	Margaret Mullane	691	30.7	−7.0
	BNP	James Webb	564	25.1	+25.1
	UKIP	Kerry Smith	142	6.3	−6.9
	Independent	Dorien Mcilroy	11	0.5	−18.7
Majority			151	6.7	N/A
Turnout				33.1	−3.1
Registered electors
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Sarah Baillie.^[6]