The 2015 Woking Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect one third of members to Woking Borough Council in England coinciding with other local elections held simultaneously with a General Election which resulted in increased turnout compared to the election four years before. Elections in each ward are held in three years out of four.[1]

Results

The Conservatives were starting from a high ‘baseline’, having performed very well in the previous equivalent local election in Woking in 2011 (which coincided with the AV Referendum). The Conservatives secured 49% of the vote, gaining two seats from the Liberal Democrats and losing one to Labour. Of the 12 wards up for election, the Conservatives won 10 and the LibDems and Labour won 1 each. This was the best Conservative local Borough election result in Woking, and the worst result for the LibDems, for many years, although the Conservative 49% share of the vote failed to match the 56% share of the vote achieved on the same day by their Parliamentary candidate Jonathan Lord as he secured re-election as Woking’s MP with a landslide majority of 20,810 votes (over the second-placed Labour Party candidate).

The result added one councillor (net) to the Conservative group that had enjoyed overall control of the Council since 2011 and that had been in power locally since 2007 (if one includes a short period of minority administration).[2][3]

Woking Borough Council Election, 2015
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 24 2 1 Increase1 83.33 49 19091
  Liberal Democrats 9 0 2 Decrease2 8.33 17 6808
  Labour 2 1 0 Increase1 8.33 15 5901
  Independent 1 0 0 Steady 0 3 1350
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 11 4390
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 4 1377
  Patriotic Socialist 0 0 0 0 0 0.02 9

Ward by ward

Byfleet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harry Briggs 1445
Independent Amanda Boote 1050
Liberal Democrats Andy Grimshaw 558
UKIP Richard Squire 449
Labour Michael Wood 316
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
Goldsworth East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hilary Addison 1592
Liberal Democrats James Sanderson 859
Labour Jay Butcher 766
UKIP Tim Read 377
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
Hermitage and Knaphill South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Smith 1129
Liberal Democrats Tina Liddington 710
UKIP Troy De Leon 401
Labour Colin Bright 302
Green Vanessa King 118
Majority
Turnout
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Horsell East and Woodham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anne Murray 1849
Liberal Democrats Rosemary Johnson 361
UKIP Terry Knight 264
Labour Elizabeth Evans 241
Green Topher Dykes 140
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
Horsell West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Beryl Hunwicks 2117
Liberal Democrats Anne-Marie Barker 987
UKIP Stephen Herbert 385
Labour John Scott-Morgan 376
Green Joanna Kelly 198
Patriotic Socialist Leo Dix 9
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
Kingfield and Westfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Will Forster 971
Conservative Natalie Bourne 922
Labour Nigel Jackson 440
UKIP Robert Shatwell 396
Majority
Turnout
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Knaphill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Melanie Whitehand 2645
Labour Richard Ford 659
UKIP Bradley Hough 617
Liberal Democrats Syed Jaffri 595
Green James Brierley 304
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
Maybury and Sheerwater
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tahiz Aziz 1913
Conservative Colin Scott 1002
UKIP Judith Squire 416
Independent Ian Vousden 300
Green Will Hemmings 248
Liberal Democrats Norman Johns 214
Majority
Turnout
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
Old Woking
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Lawrence 486
Liberal Democrats Louise Morales 467
UKIP Jim Gore 240
Labour Barney Pimentel 176
Green John Parkin 75
Majority
Turnout
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Pyrford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Chrystie 2076
Liberal Democrats Gareth Davies 366
UKIP Robin Milner 331
Labour Mohammed Khalid 154
Green Joel Street 140
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
St Johns and Hook Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Cundy 1744
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Whale 320
Labour Tom Willis 216
UKIP Marcia Taylor 197
Green Hilary Griffiths 154
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
West Byfleet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Wilson 2084
Liberal Democrats William Wolfe 400
Labour Katherine Kearey 342
UKIP Neil Willetts 317
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Upcoming elections & referendums". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  2. ^ Woking Results Get Surrey, website of Surrey Advertiser/Herald/Guardian Group of newspapers. Accessed 2015-05-20.
  3. ^ Borough composition, showing 24, 9, 2, 1 split of councillors Archived 22 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine WBC. Accessed 2015-05-20