2006 Slough Borough Council election

Elections to Slough Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election. This was the 121st Slough general local authority election (including both whole Council elections and elections by thirds) since Slough became a local government unit in 1863.

Overall, the Labour Party gained three seats, the Conservative Party lost two and the Liberal Democrats lost one. This result was slightly unusual compared with the other UK local elections on the same day whereby the Conservative Party generally gained seats at the expense of the Labour Party.

This election filled thirteen seats for the term 2006–2010. The remaining twenty-eight Slough Councillors continued in office. These seats were previously contested in the whole Council election of 2004 following the redrawing of the ward boundaries in the Borough.

Recent political history of Slough

Slough has an unusual balance of political forces. In the twenty-first century the town has developed something that more resembles the party systems of countries like France and Italy, than that typical in England.

The council has, since 2004, had no party in overall control. A coalition of the Britwellian, Independent, Liberal and Liberal Democrat Group (BILLD) and the Conservative Group form the current administration, with the Labour Group in opposition. There were (in April 2006) two non-Group affiliated Independents, one an Independent Conservative and the other an Independent Britwellian Residents Councillor, who is seeking re-election on a Slough Independents ticket.

The BILLD Group is itself a local coalition, containing members from six parties or groups of Independent Councillors based on particular Wards. The existing members of the Group have an electoral pact for the current election, continuing electoral arrangements which started with the 2001 Slough Council election.

A number of Independents and others, not affiliated to BILLD, contested the 2006 election.

In April 2006, the composition of the 41 member council was:-

In the 2006 election 51 candidates were nominated for the 13 seats up for election. The list is broken down by Party or group of Independents, with a residual category of Independent candidates standing without prefix or suffix and not affiliated to BILLD.

Summary of Council composition 2004–2006

Before the elections held on 4 May 2006, the composition of Slough Borough Council was as follows:

Composition Table (as of April 2006)
Party Group Leader Seats 04 % Seats Change (on 2004) Seats 06
Labour Robert Anderson 15 36.59 0 15
Other parties Richard Stokes 11 26.83 +2 13
Conservative Dexter Smith 9 21.95 -2 7
Liberal Democrats Duncan Buchanan 6 14.63 0 6
Total Seats 41

No overall Majority

Note: The Others category in this table includes all non-Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Councillors. Richard Stokes (Liberal-Haymill) is the BILLD Group Leader, which group includes the Liberal Democrats and all the Others category Councillors in 2004. By 2006 two of the Councillors in the Others category are not part of the BILLD Group. Two Councillors left the Conservative group between 2004–2006 (one of whom joined BILLD) and a third Councillor left BILLD, re-joined and then left again.

List of expiring seats before election
WardPartyElectedIncumbentCand.?
Baylis & Stoke Liberal Democrats 2004 Duncan Peter Buchanan * Yes (a)
Britwell Ind. Britwellian Res. 2003 Paul Janik (b) Yes
Central Conservative 2004 Sumander Khan Yes
Chalvey Labour 2004 Shabana Zeib No
Cippenham Green Labour 2002 James Charles Robert Swindlehurst Yes
Cippenham Meadows Labour 2004 Nimrit Chohan Yes
Farnham Labour 2002 Sukhjit Kaur Dhaliwal Yes
Foxborough Liberal Democrats 2004 Robert Clive Plimmer * Yes
Haymill Liberal 2004 Brian Graham Hewitt * Yes
Kedermister Labour 2002 Christine Rita Small Yes
Langley St Mary's Conservative 2000 Derek Ernest Cryer (c) Yes
Upton Conservative 2004 Kevin Charles Pond Yes
Wexham Lea Independent 2004 Mohammed Latif Khan * (d) Yes
  • * Member of the BILLD Group
  • Notes:
  • (a) Candidate in Kedermister Ward.
  • (b) Left the BILLD Group after the 2004 election, re-joined it, then left again. Seeking re-election as a Slough Independents candidate.
  • (c) Formerly served as a Councillor 1967–1974.
  • (d) Formerly served as a Labour Councillor 1999–2002.

Election result summary
Slough Borough Council Election Result 2006 (third of total seats)
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 8 (18) +3 0 +3 61.54 41.14 11,619 +1.39
  Conservative 1 (5) 0 -2 -2 7.69 26.92 7,603 +1.53
  Liberal Democrats 1 (5) 0 -1 -1 7.69 13.73 3,879 +1.99
  Others 3 (13) 0 0 0 23.08 18.21 5,145 -4.91
  • Note: The figures in brackets, in the seats column, are for the overall Councillors after the election.

Ward notes and 2006 results

Slough was first warded in 1930. The town was re-warded 1950, 1983 and 2004.

Britwell and Wexham Court were added to Slough in 1973 (when the two new wards and eleven existing wards were allocated between two and nine seats, instead of the three per ward which had existed previously).

Colnbrook & Poyle was added to Slough in 1995 and became a fourteenth ward, with one member 1995–1996 and two from 1997.

For 2004 Slough Council election the Borough was re-warded. There were still fourteen wards, but only Colnbrook with Poyle (formerly Colnbrook & Poyle) and Haymill had unchanged boundaries.

For brief notes on the individual wards used since 2004, see the individual ward sections below.

The turnout box figures given below include a number of spoilt ballots – see the official results on the Slough Borough Council website for further details.

As the 2004 Slough Council election was for the whole Council, with each ward returning multiple Councillors, no plus or minus percentages are given for individual candidates or majorities nor a swing figure.

Baylis & Stoke

Baylis & Stoke (born 2004) is a three-member ward in the north of the Borough, to the west of Central ward and to the east of Haymill. It broadly combined the former Baylis and Stoke wards. Baylis was named after Baylis House and the estate of Baylis, which from the sixteenth century was a sub-division of the parish of Stoke Poges. Stoke ward was named after the parish, southern parts of which were included in Slough, as part of the 1900 and 1930–1931 extensions of the district boundaries. The Liberal Democrats, (building on the Liberal tradition of the Liberal-Labour marginal Stoke ward) overcame the Labour leanings of the former Baylis ward, to win all three seats in 2004. In 2006, with a new Liberal Democrat candidate, one of the seats was lost to Labour.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Baylis & Stoke
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Azhar Qureshi 1,189 42.63 N/A
Liberal Democrats Shakeel Ashraf * 838 30.05 N/A
Conservative Surinder Singh Jabble 481 17.25 N/A
Respect Ghazi Haider Khan 202 7.24 N/A
Slough Independents Nicholas Trevredy Hoath 79 2.83 N/A
Majority 351 12.59 N/A
Turnout 2,804 42.45 -0.87
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing N/A

Britwell

Britwell (born 1973) is a three-member ward in the north-west of the Borough. It includes Britwell parish, although since 1983 some unparished territory was added. Britwell elected some Liberal Councillors in the 1980s but was otherwise safely Labour until 2000. Since then Britwellian and Independent Britwellian Residents Councillors have become increasingly successful. In 1997 Labour won all three seats, but in 2004 the Residents took the three seats. Patl Janik, the incumbent IBR Councillor, stood for re-election in 2006 as a Slough Independents candidate in opposition to a new IBR nominee, who was elected.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Britwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Britwellian John Joseph Finn * 672 41.58 N/A
Labour Patricia Anne O'Brien 372 23.02 N/A
Slough Independents Paul Janik + 363 22.46 N/A
Conservative Timothy Charles Williams 176 10.89 N/A
Independent Christopher Gary Sliski 33 2.04 N/A
Majority 300 18.56 N/A
Turnout 1,623 29.55 -1.43
Britwellian hold Swing N/A
  • Note: The incumbent Independent Britwellian Residents Councillor was Paul Janik, who stood for re-election as a Slough Independents candidate against a new IBR nominee. The result is categorised as an IBR hold.

Central

Central (1930–1950 and 1983–) has had different boundaries during the three of the four Slough redistributions in which it has existed (it was divided between Central North and Central South wards 1950–1983), but it has always been a three-member ward with Wexham to the north, Langley to the east, Upton to the south, Chalvey to the south-west and Baylis & Stoke to the west. It was part of the original parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey, although the hamlet of Slough (a few scattered houses and coaching inns along the Great West Road and Windsor Road) was smaller than the villages of Upton and Chalvey until the Great Western Railway arrived in the 1840s. It was a safe Labour ward under the 1983 boundaries, but in 2004 the Conservatives won two of the three seats of the revised ward. In 2006 there was a straight fight between the Conservative incumbent and a Labour challenger, which the Labour candidate won. It is noticeable that he was the only Councillor elected in 2006 with more than 50% of the votes cast in his ward.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Shafiq Ahmed Chaudhry 1,656 55.93 N/A
Conservative Sumander Khan + 1,305 44.07 N/A
Majority 351 11.85 N/A
Turnout 3,007 44.33 +0.27
Labour gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Chalvey

Chalvey (born 1930), (in the south of the Borough) is a three-member ward. It was part of the ancient parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey and was an original ward of Slough. The ward has existed in some form continuously since the district was first warded in 1930. Before 1970 Chalvey was Conservative but since then it has been safely Labour. The Liberal Democrats came within ten votes of winning the last seat in the ward in 2004. Labour retained the seat with an increased majority in 2006, so they still hold all three seats.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Chalvey
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mohammed Rasib 943 48.26 N/A
Liberal Democrats Gulshan Nasreen Ali * 680 34.80 N/A
Conservative Carol Ann Stanmore 331 16.94 N/A
Majority 263 13.46 N/A
Turnout 1,971 35.65 +3.41
Labour hold Swing N/A

Cippenham Green

Cippenham Green (born 2004) is a three-member ward in the south-west of the Borough. It was one of the two wards based on the old Cippenham Ward, which was a Labour/Conservative marginal (six Conservative and eleven Labour wins between 1983 and 2003). This area is the western part of the previous ward, incorporates the old Cippenham village area (now a suburb of Slough). This ward includes the village green, which it is named after. In 2004 it elected 1 Conservative (since defected to UKIP) and 2 Labour Councillors. One of the Labour councillors was re-elected in 2006.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Cippenham Green
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Charles Robert Swindlehurst + 1,089 48.88 N/A
Conservative Diana Victoria Dale-Gough 781 35.05 N/A
Liberal Democrats Nasdeem Anwar Rana * 217 9.74 N/A
Independent Dominic James Ashford 122 5.48 N/A
Slough Independents Sukhdev Singh Sohal 19 0.85 N/A
Majority 308 13.82 N/A
Turnout 2,236 39.02 +0.26
Labour hold Swing N/A

Cippenham Meadows

Cippenham Meadows (born 2004) is a three-member ward in the south-west of the Borough. It was one of the two wards based on the old Cippenham Ward, which was a Labour/Conservative marginal (six Conservative and eleven Labour wins between 1983 and 2003). This area is the eastern part of the previous ward, incorporating the Windsor Meadows development. This estate caused the large population growth in the area, since the 1983 redistribution of wards. Presumably these are the Meadows which the ward is named after. The ward elected 3 Labour Councillors in 2004. The Labour incumbent, up for election in 2006, was re-elected.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Cippenham Meadows
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nimrit Chohan + 993 45.16 N/A
Conservative Adrian Hilton 737 33.52 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mohammad Atiq Akbar Sandhu * 469 21.33 N/A
Majority 256 11.64 N/A
Turnout 2,213 34.11 +0.16
Labour hold Swing N/A

Colnbrook with Poyle (no election 2006)

Colnbrook & Poyle (1995–2004), Colnbrook with Poyle (born 2004) is a (since 1997) two-member ward in the furthest east part of the Borough between to the M4 motorway and Greater London. Labour elected some Councillors here, in 1995 and 1997 (1 seat), but by 2004 the ward was safely Conservative. There was no election in this ward in 2006.

Farnham

Farnham (1930–1950 and 1983–) is a three-member ward in the west of the Borough, to the south of Britwell and west of Haymill. It was named after Farnham Royal parish, the southern part of which was incorporated in Slough as part of the 1930–1931 boundary extension. This was an original Slough ward. It was split between Farnham North and Farnham South wards 1950–1983. This was a safe Labour Ward, in 2004 as before. Labour won in 2006, but may be vulnerable to a less fragmented opposition in future elections.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Farnham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sukhjit Kaur Dhaliwal + 935 40.56 N/A
Ind. Farnham Res. Amrik Singh Johal 612 26.55 N/A
Conservative Maurice Arthur Stanmore 438 19.00 N/A
Liberal Democrats Abid Maqbool Malik * 320 13.88 N/A
Majority 323 14.01 N/A
Turnout 2,319 38.18 -1.57
Labour hold Swing N/A

Foxborough

Foxborough (born 1983) is a three-member ward in south-east Langley in the eastern part of the Borough. It is named after a 4-acre (16,000 m2) area mentioned in connection with the inclosure of Langley Marish parish in 1809. This was the ward where the Liberal Democrats won their first election to Slough Borough Council in 2000 and the party held all three seats after the 2004 election. The Liberal Democrats retained one of their seats in 2006.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Foxborough
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Clive Plimmer *+ 854 43.75 N/A
Labour James Lawrence Walsh 715 36.63 N/A
Conservative Marion Edith Williams 321 16.44 N/A
Green Michelle Little 62 3.18 N/A
Majority 139 7.12 N/A
Turnout 1,957 40.02 +2.12
Liberal Democrats hold Swing N/A

Haymill

Haymill (born 1983) is a three-member ward in the west of the Borough (to the east of Farnham ward and west of Baylis & Stoke), which was left unchanged by the 2004 redistribution. It is a safe Liberal ward having last elected a non-Liberal Councillor in 1984. The Liberal Councillors and activists, for this ward, did not join the Liberal Democrats in 1988. In 2006 the Liberal Councillor up for election held his seat, so all three Councillors are still Liberals.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Haymill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Brian Graham Hewitt *+ 755 40.22 N/A
Conservative Peter Dale-Gough 534 28.45 N/A
Labour Patricia Josephine O'Conner 489 26.05 N/A
Independent Marcus Roland Charles Kirby 99 5.27 N/A
Majority 221 11.77 N/A
Turnout 1,887 29.74 +1.87
Liberal hold Swing N/A

Kedermister

Kedermister (sometimes locally pronounced Keddermeister) (1983–) is a three-member ward in south-west Langley, in the eastern part of the Borough. The ward was named after Sir John Kedermister (or Kidderminster), who was Warden of Langley Park and founded some almshouses in Langley in 1617. It is a safe Labour ward and the party held its seat in 2006.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Kedermister
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christine Rita Small + 941 47.07 N/A
Conservative Peter Cruze 752 37.62 N/A
Liberal Democrats Duncan Peter Buchanan * + 306 15.31 N/A
Majority 189 9.45 N/A
Turnout 2,016 35.23 -6.84
Labour hold Swing N/A
  • Note: Councillor Buchanan was the incumbent in Baylis and Stoke ward

Langley St Mary's

Langley St Mary's (born 1983) is a three-member ward in north Langley, in the eastern part of the Borough. St Mary's is named after the church in Langley. This has been a Labour/Conservative marginal ward, but in 2004 the Independent Langley Residents won two seats and tied for the third (which the Conservative candidate won on a roll of dice, so he was credited with an additional vote). The Conservative Councillor increased his majority to seven in 2006 (over Labour, with ILR in third place), for the only Tory victory of the 2006 Slough election.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Langley St Mary's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derek Ernest Cryer + 742 36.71 N/A
Labour Thomas William Dymock Kelly 735 36.37 N/A
Ind. Langley Res. Liam Bernard Meehan * 423 20.93 N/A
Independent Edward Mansel Jones 121 5.99 N/A
Majority 7 0.35 N/A
Turnout 2,025 38.46 -3.80
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Upton

Upton (born 1930), part of the original parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey (in the south of the modern Borough), is a ward which has existed in some form continuously since 1930. It is a three-seat ward. In the early nineteenth century Upton was a village about a mile and a half south-west of the hamlet of Slough (see Central ward). This was the most Conservative area of Slough until demographic change made Labour competitive. Labour won the ward for the first time ever in 1990. In 1997 Labour won two seats and the Conservatives one. At the 2004 election the Conservatives won all three seats, although one Councillor has since become an Independent Conservative. Labour gained a seat from the Tories in 2006.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Upton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Balvinder Singh Bains 846 40.85 N/A
Conservative Kevin Charles Pond + 746 36.02 N/A
Liberal Democrats Helen Linda Edwards * 195 9.42 N/A
Slough Independents Balbir Kalsi 187 9.03 N/A
Green Alan Diarmid Hatch 97 4.68 N/A
Majority 100 4.83 N/A
Turnout 2,078 37.77 -7.09
Labour gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Wexham Lea

Wexham Lea (born 1983) is a three-member ward in the north of the Borough, to the north-east of Baylis & Stoke and the north of Central ward. It combines Wexham Court parish and an area known as Upton Lea. The ward was formerly safely Labour but is now securely held by Independent Councillors who won all three seats in 2004. The Mayor of Slough for 2005–2006 was re-elected in 2006.

Slough Borough Council elections, 2006: Wexham Lea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Mohammed Latif Khan *+ 945 41.56 N/A
Labour Joan Jones 716 31.49 N/A
Independent Martin Joseph Blake 354 15.57 N/A
Conservative Mary Edith Collins 259 11.39 N/A
Majority 229 10.07 N/A
Turnout 2,291 37.22 -3.52
Independent hold Swing N/A
  • Symbols: * BILLD Group candidate, + incumbent

Members of Slough Borough Council 2006–2007
WardPartyElectedTermCouncillor
Baylis & Stoke Liberal Democrats 2004 2008 Rashad Javaid Butt *
Baylis & Stoke Liberal Democrats 2004 2007 Mushtaq Ahmed Hayat *
Baylis & Stoke Labour 2006 2010 Azhar Qureshi
Britwell Ind. Britwellian Res. 2002 2008 Sean Patrick Wright *
Britwell Ind. Britwellian Res. 2002 2007 Patrick Shine *
Britwell Ind. Britwellian Res. 2006 2010 John Joseph Finn *
Central Conservative 2004 2008 Mohammed Aziz
Central Labour 1999 2007 Lydia Emelda Simmons (a)
Central Labour 2006 2010 Shafiq Ahmed Chaudhry
Chalvey Labour 2002 2008 Pervez Choudhry
Chalvey Labour 2001 2007 Raja Mohammad Zarait
Chalvey Labour 2006 2010 Mohammed Rasib
Cippenham Green UK Independence 1995 2008 William Geoffrey Howard * (b)
Cippenham Green Labour 2004 2007 Michael John Holledge
Cippenham Green Labour 2002 2010 James Charles Robert Swindlehurst
Cippenham Meadows Labour 2003 2008 May Dodds
Cippenham Meadows Labour 2001 2007 Satpal Singh Parmar (c)
Cippenham Meadows Labour 2004 2010 Nimrit Chohan
Colnbrook with Poyle Conservative 2000 2008 Dexter Jerome Smith
Colnbrook with Poyle Conservative 1997 2007 Steven John Burkmar
Farnham Labour 1997 2008 Robert Anderson
Farnham Labour 2001 2007 Joginder Singh Bal
Farnham Labour 2002 2010 Sukhjit Kaur Dhaliwal
Foxborough Liberal Democrats 2000 2008 John William Edwards *
Foxborough Liberal Democrats 2004 2007 Sonja Anne Jenkins *
Foxborough Liberal Democrats 2004 2010 Robert Clive Plimmer *
Haymill Liberal 1987 2008 Richard Stanley Stokes * (d)
Haymill Liberal 1990 2007 David John Munkley *
Haymill Liberal 2004 2010 Brian Graham Hewitt *
Kedermister Labour 2002 2008 Jagjit Singh Grewal
Kedermister Labour 1988 2007 Mewa Singh Mann
Kedermister Labour 2002 2010 Christine Rita Small
Langley St Mary's Ind. Langley Res. 2004 2008 Neil James Arnold *
Langley St Mary's Ind. Langley Res. 2004 2007 Pauline Florence Key *
Langley St Mary's Conservative 2000 2010 Derek Ernest Cryer (e)
Upton Conservative 1999 2008 Julia Thomson Long (f)
Upton Ind. Conservative 2004 2007 Balwinder Singh Dhillon (g)
Upton Labour 2006 2010 Balvinder Singh Bains (h)
Wexham Lea Independent 2000 2008 Michael Anthony Haines * (i)
Wexham Lea Independent 2002 2007 David Ian MacIsaac *
Wexham Lea Independent 2004 2010 Mohammed Latif Khan * (j)

Notes:-

  • * Member of the BILLD Group
  • (a) Simmons: Formerly served 1979–1994
  • (b) Howard: Formerly Labour 1995–2001 and Conservative 2001–2005
  • (c) Parmar: Formerly served 1995–2000
  • (d) Stokes: Formerly served as a Labour Councillor 1983–1986
  • (e) Cryer: Formerly served 1967–1974
  • (f) Long: Formerly served 1983–1990
  • (g) Dhillon: Formerly Conservative 2004
  • (h) Bains: Formerly 2003–2004
  • (i) Haines: Formerly served as a Labour Councillor 1987–1991 and 1992–1998
  • (j) Khan: Formerly served as a Labour Councillor 1999–2002

See also

References
  • The History of Slough, by Miss Maxwell Fraser (Slough Corporation 1973)
  • A Short History of Slough, by Kathleen M. Jones (bound typescript volume in Slough Central Library)
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