2014 Harlow District Council election

The 2014 Harlow District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

2014 Harlow District Council election

← 2012 22 May 2014 2015 →
12 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Conservative UKIP Seats before 20 13 0 Seats won 4 3 5 Seats after 17 11 5 Seat change 3 2 5 Popular vote 7,564 6,238 7,768 Percentage 33.4% 27.5% 34.3%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2014 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election Labour Council control after election Labour

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 17
• Conservative 11
• UK Independence Party 5^[2]

Background

At the last election in 2012 Labour gained control of Harlow Council from the Conservative Party and finished with 20 councillors compared to 13 for the Conservatives.^[3] The Conservative group was reduced in May 2013 when Great Parndon councillor Joshua Jolles resigned from the party to sit as an independent, after being unhappy with having to follow national Conservative policies.^[4] Joshua Jolles would go on to found a political party, the Harlow Independent Party, which stood candidates at the 2014 Harlow Council elections.^[5]

A total of 47 candidates stood at the election,^[1] including full slates from the Conservatives, Labour and UK Independence Party, along with 7 candidates from the Liberal Democrats, 3 from the Harlow Independent Party and 1 other independent.^[6] An extra seat was contested in Mark Hall ward after Labour councillor Paul Schroder resigned from the council in April 2014.^[7] Another 3 councillors stood down at the election, Mike Garnett, Guy Mitchinson and Paul Sztumpf, while Mark Wilkinson stepped down as council leader at the election.^[8]

Election result

Labour remained in control of Harlow council, but with only a 1-seat majority after the UK Independence Party gained 5 seats.^[9][10] The UK Independence Party gains in Bush Fair, Great Parndon, Mark Hall and Staple Tye included taking 3 seats from Labour, 1 from the Conservatives and 1 from the Harlow Independent Party.^[11][12] Meanwhile, Labour retained 4 seats and the Conservatives kept 3 seats to leave Labour with 17 councillors, compared to 11 Conservatives and 5 for the UK Independence Party.^[12] Overall turnout at the election was 33.5%.^[13]

Following the election Jon Clempner was chosen as the leader of the Labour group and became the new council leader.^[14][15]

Harlow local election result 2014^[2][13]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UKIP	5	5	0	5	41.7	34.3	7,768	33.0
	Labour	4	0	3	3	33.3	33.4	7,564	18.7
	Conservative	3	0	1	1	25.0	27.5	6,238	10.5
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0	3.0	687	4.9
	Harlow Independent Party	0	0	1	1	0	1.4	321	1.4
	Independent	0	0	0		0	0.3	68	0.5

Ward results

Bush Fair

Location of Bush Fair ward

Bush Fair^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Dan Long	744	38.2
	Labour	Daniella Pritchard	694	35.7
	Conservative	Ash Malik	326	16.8
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Robins	102	5.2
	Harlow Independent Party	Bob McKenzie	80	4.1
Majority			50	2.5
Turnout			1,946	33.4	+5.4
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing

Church Langley

Location of Church Langley ward

Church Langley^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Hall	964	45.5	−19.8
	UKIP	Mark Gough	739	34.9	+34.9
	Labour	Ken Lawrie	417	19.7	−9.7
Majority			225	10.6	−25.2
Turnout			2,120	33.1	+8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Great Parndon

Location of Great Parndon ward

Great Parndon^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Terry Spooner	674	33.2	+33.2
	Conservative	Clive Souter	598	29.4	−18.4
	Labour	Karen Clempner	596	29.3	−16.9
	Harlow Independent Party	Joshua Jolles	165	8.1	+8.1
Majority			76	3.8
Turnout			2,033	39.0	+7.4
	UKIP gain from Independent		Swing

Harlow Common

Location of Harlow Common ward

Harlow Common^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maggie Hulcoop	700	36.6	−14.7
	UKIP	Sam Stopplecamp	674	35.3	+35.3
	Conservative	John Steer	417	21.8	−14.4
	Independent	Gary Roberts	68	3.6	−4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kuzna Jackson	51	2.7	−1.4
Majority			26	1.4	−13.7
Turnout			1,910	33.8	+2.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Little Parndon and Hare Street

Location of Little Parndon and Hare Street ward

Little Parndon and Hare Street^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Durcan	879	43.9	−20.0
	UKIP	Harry Saunders	680	34.0	+34.0
	Conservative	Shona Johnson	442	22.1	−8.2
Majority			199	9.9	−23.7
Turnout			2,001	31.9	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Mark Hall (2 seats)

Location of Mark Hall ward

Mark Hall (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Jerry Crawford	662	35.7
	UKIP	Janet Doyle	646	34.9
	Labour	Sheila Sullivan	602	32.5
	Labour	Danny Purton	599	32.3
	Conservative	Emily Cross	346	18.7
	Conservative	Jane Steer	346	18.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rideout	137	7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Thurston	124	6.7
Turnout			1,853	34.3	+3.8
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing

Netteswell

Location of Netteswell ward

Netteswell^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Danvers	739	41.6	−13.8
	UKIP	Patsy Long	548	30.9	+30.9
	Conservative	Jim Pailing	401	22.6	−13.8
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Millington	87	4.9	−3.2
Majority			191	10.8	−8.2
Turnout			1,775	31.5	+4.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Old Harlow

Location of Old Harlow ward

Old Harlow^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joel Charles	918	42.1	−9.5
	Labour	Tom Newens	602	27.6	−15.0
	UKIP	Steven Witt	557	25.6	+25.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Wiltshire	102	4.7	−1.1
Majority			316	14.5	+5.5
Turnout			2,179	37.6	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Staple Tye

Location of Staple Tye ward

Staple Tye^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Bill Pryor	538	35.5	+35.5
	Labour	John Strachan	477	31.4	−19.5
	Conservative	Stevie Souter	342	22.5	−12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Jackson	84	5.5	−8.8
	Harlow Independent Party	Zulqar Cheema	76	5.0	+5.0
Majority			61	4.1
Turnout			1,517	28.3	+4.0
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing

Sumners and Kingsmoor

Location of Summers and Kingsmoor ward

Sumners and Kingsmoor^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Churchill	686	36.7	−12.4
	UKIP	Alexander Addison	628	33.6	+33.6
	Labour	Efua Koi-Larbi	553	29.6	−15.0
Majority			58	3.1	−1.5
Turnout			1,867	33.7	+8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Toddbrook

Location of Toddbrook ward

Toddbrook^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rod Truan	706	38.5	−15.7
	UKIP	Peter Buss	678	36.9	+36.9
	Conservative	Michael Hardware	452	24.6	−14.7
Majority			28	1.5	−13.4
Turnout			1,836	31.9	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing

By-elections between 2014 and 2015

A by-election was held in Mark Hall ward on 12 February 2015 following the resignation of UK Independence Party councillor Jerry Crawford due to illness.^[16] The seat was gained for Labour by Danny Purton with a majority of 233 votes over UK Independence Party candidate Mark Gough, increasing the number of Labour councillors to 18, compared to 11 Conservatives and 4 for the UK Independence Party.^[13][17]

Mark Hall by-election 12 February 2015^[13][17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Danny Purton	586	42.6	+8.2
	UKIP	Mark Gough	353	25.7	−12.2
	Conservative	Jane Steer	334	24.3	+4.5
	Green	Murray Sackwild	55	4.0	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rideout	47	3.4	−4.4
Majority			233	16.9
Turnout			1,375	26.4	−7.9
	Labour gain from UKIP		Swing	+10.1