The 2008 Hart Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Hart District Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was
Campaign
12 seats were being contested in the election with the Conservatives defending 6 seats, the Liberal Democrats 5 and the Community Campaign (Hart) 1 seat.[3] In total there were 30 candidates standing in the election with the Conservatives the only party to stand in all of the seats.[3] Other candidates included 10 from the Liberal Democrats, 5 from Labour, 2 Community Campaign (Hart) and 1 from the British National Party.[4] Before the election a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Community Campaign (Hart) and the 2 independents ran the council with the Conservatives forming the opposition.[4]
Issues in the election included facilities for teenagers, cleaner streets, recycling and reducing crime.[5] The Conservatives wanted to improve the value for money the council produced, develop the infrastructure for new housing and to keep roads in good condition.[5] However the Liberal Democrats pledged to improve recycling, get more affordable housing and keep crime levels low.[5]
During the campaign the national Conservative leader, David Cameron, visited the area to campaign for the party.[6]
Election result
The results saw the council remain with no party having a majority, but with the Conservatives gaining 2 seats to hold 17 of the 35 seats.[2] Both Conservative gains came from the Liberal Democrats, taking Fleet Courtmoor by 391 votes and Fleet Pondtail by 493 votes.[2] The Conservatives won 60% of the vote and claimed a mandate to take control of the council.[7][8] However the 2 independents held the balance of power between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat/Community Campaign (Hart) alliance.[2] Overall turnout in the election was 36.9%.[9]
At the annual council meeting after the election the Conservatives took control of the council.[8][10] Their leader Ken Crookes won 18 votes compared to 17 for Liberal Democrat leader David Neighbour, with 1 of the 2 independents, Susan Band, backing the Conservatives.[10] The other independent, Denis Gotel, and the Community Campaign (Hart) backed the Liberal Democrat leader.[10] As a result, the council cabinet was made up of all Conservatives, except for independent Susan Band who would continue to be responsible for housing and health.[8][11]
| Hart Local Election Result 2008[2][9] |
| Party |
Seats |
Gains |
Losses |
Net gain/loss |
Seats % |
Votes % |
Votes |
+/− |
| |
Conservative |
8 |
2 |
0 |
+2 |
66.7 |
60.1 |
10,021 |
+9.3% |
| |
Liberal Democrat |
3 |
0 |
2 |
-2 |
25.0 |
28.7 |
4,795 |
-4.3% |
| |
Community Campaign (Hart) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8.3 |
8.7 |
1,459 |
-1.9% |
| |
Labour |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
327 |
-0.9% |
| |
BNP |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
84 |
-1.9% |
Ward results
References
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