2003 West Oxfordshire District Council election

The 2003 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2003 West Oxfordshire District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow, independents in light grey and Labour in red. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2003.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 32 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 10 seats, independents had 5 seats and the Labour party had 2 seats.[3] 16 seats were contested in 2003, with 13 of the sitting councillors defending their seats.[3][4]

A total of 53 candidates stood for election, 15 Liberal Democrats, 14 Conservatives, 9 Greens, 8 Labour, 6 independents and 1 UK Independence Party.[3][4]

Election result

The Conservatives retained control of West Oxfordshire District Council with a reduced majority of nine seats.[5] They won 9 of the 16 seats contested, but lost three seats, two to the Liberal Democrats and one to an independent candidate.[4][5] This left the Conservatives with 29 councillors, while the Liberal Democrat gains moved them to 12 seats on the council.[5] In total 11 of the 13 sitting councillors who stood again in 2003 won re-election.[4]

The independent gain from the Conservatives came in Witney Central, where first time candidate Harriet Ryley was elected after campaigning against the redevelopment of the Marriotts Close area for either a superstore or housing.[4][6] Meanwhile, Labour kept two seats on the council, after Eve Coles held a seat in Chipping Norton ward for the party, while none of the Green party candidates were elected.[4][5] Overall turnout at the election was 32.89%.[4]

West Oxfordshire local election result 2003[4][7]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 9 0 3 -3 56.3 38.6 6,400 -5.0%
  Liberal Democrats 4 2 0 +2 25.0 30.5 5,047 +3.0%
  Independent 2 1 0 +1 12.5 14.0 2,320 +1.9%
  Labour 1 0 0 0 6.3 11.2 1,860 -2.5%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 4.8 788 +1.9%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 0.9 145 +0.7%

Ward results
Alvescot and Filkins[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Angela Neale 384 72.3 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Anna Fairhurst 107 20.2 -8.8
Green Xanthe Bevis 40 7.5 +7.5
Majority 277 52.2 +10.2
Turnout 531 39.8 -3.1
Conservative hold Swing
Bampton and Clanfield[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Booty 576 53.4
Liberal Democrats Nicholas Locke 503 46.6
Majority 73 6.8
Turnout 1,079 38.4 +0.6
Conservative hold Swing
Carterton North East[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Stone 235 70.6
Liberal Democrats Christopher Tatton 98 29.4
Majority 137 41.1
Turnout 333 17.4
Conservative hold Swing
Carterton North West[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Handley 458 54.3
Independent Paul Wesson 288 34.1
Labour William Tumbridge 98 11.6
Majority 170 20.1
Turnout 844 26.5 -2.0
Conservative hold Swing
Carterton South[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harry Watts 430 49.4
Liberal Democrats Peter Madden 364 41.8
Labour Duncan Enright 77 8.8
Majority 66 7.6
Turnout 871 28.5 -2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Charlbury and Finstock[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Breakell 735 62.2
Independent Robert Potter 386 32.7
Green Tracy Dighton-Brown 60 5.1
Majority 349 29.6
Turnout 1,181 41.2 -9.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Chipping Norton[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Evelyn Coles 744 46.6
Conservative Carolyn Hazeel 631 39.5
Liberal Democrats Katharine Southey 223 14.0
Majority 113 7.1
Turnout 1,598 35.9 -2.7
Labour hold Swing
Eynsham and Cassington[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Rossiter 838 57.8
Conservative Frances Pike 498 34.3
Green Jill Jones 114 7.9
Majority 340 23.4
Turnout 1,450 32.5 -5.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Warwick Robinson 714 65.0
Liberal Democrats Malcolm West 384 35.0
Majority 330 30.1
Turnout 1,098 36.3 -2.8
Conservative hold Swing
Kingham, Rollright and Enstone[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Rose 660 60.9
Liberal Democrats Amanda Epps 217 20.0
Labour Georgina Burrows 206 19.0
Majority 443 40.9 -1.4
Turnout 1,083 34.7
Conservative hold Swing
Stonesfield and Tackley[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Charles Cottrell-Dormer 782 69.9
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Leffman 184 16.5
Green Susan Turnbull 152 13.6
Majority 598 53.5
Turnout 1,118 36.0 -11.4
Independent hold Swing
Witney Central[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Harriet Ryley 351 30.1
Conservative Andrew Creery 335 28.7
Labour Richard Kelsall 290 24.9
Liberal Democrats Paul Slamin 154 13.2
Green Paul Creighton 37 3.2
Majority 16 1.4
Turnout 1,167 39.4 -1.7
Independent gain from Conservative Swing
Witney East[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Nicholson 571 50.9
Conservative Robert Barton 366 32.6
Labour Mark Albert 118 10.5
Green Christopher Marchant 66 5.9
Majority 205 18.3
Turnout 1,121 31.5 -1.7
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Witney North[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Serena Martin 439 41.7
Conservative Roger Curry 405 38.5
Green Richard Dossett-Davies 208 19.8
Majority 34 3.2
Turnout 1,052 34.7 +1.3
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Witney South[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ross McFarlane 408 31.0
Independent Thomas Titherington 334 25.4
Labour Phillip Edney 224 17.0
UKIP James Robertshaw 145 11.0
Liberal Democrats Olive Minett 139 10.6
Green Stephen Mohammad 66 5.0
Majority 74 5.6
Turnout 1,316 29.5 -3.1
Conservative hold Swing
Witney West[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alvin Adams 300 41.8
Independent Ian Lucas 179 24.9
Labour David Wesson 103 14.3
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Branner 91 12.7
Green Colette Jones 45 6.3
Majority 121 16.9
Turnout 718 24.0 -2.5
Conservative hold Swing

References
  1. "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. "Election Results - English Councils". The Times. NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 17.
  3. "Polls open for local elections". Oxfordshire County Publications. NewsBank. 1 May 2003.
  4. "West Oxfordshire District Council Election Results 1998 - 2010" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  5. "West Oxfordshire -- Superstore battle proves the ticket". Oxfordshire County Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
  6. "Election 2003: Tories tighten grip on county". Oxfordshire County Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
  7. "Elections: Election results". Financial Times. NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 4.
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