2004 Craven District Council election

File:Craven UK local election 2004 map.svg

Map of the results of the 2004 Craven District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2004.

The 2004 Craven District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was as follows:

• Conservative 13
• Independent 11
• Liberal Democrats 6

Background

After the last election in 2003, the Conservatives had 11 seats, compared to 10 for independents and 9 Liberal Democrats. However, in November 2003 an independent candidate gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats at a by-election in Bentham.

At the 2004 election two long serving councillors stood down, Beth Graham from Settle and Ribblesbanks ward, who had been a councillor since 1976, and Peter Walbank of Grassington ward. Candidates at the election included the first Labour Party candidate for a few years, James Black in Skipton South, while the Green Party also stood a candidate in Aire Valley with Lothersdale.

Election result

The Conservatives gained 2 seats at the election to have 13 councillors, compared to 11 independents and 6 Liberal Democrats. Overall turnout at the election reached 50% after being held with all postal voting, only 9% below the turnout nationally at the 2001 general election, with the high turnout leading to a delay in the counting of the results.

Craven local election result 2004

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		6	2	0	+2	54.5	41.6	5,549	-4.1%
		3	0	2	-2	27.3	29.9	3,982	+5.6%
		2	0	0	0	18.2	24.9	3,318	-5.1%
		0	0	0	0	0	2.1	285	+2.1%
		0	0	0	0	0	1.5	204	+1.5%

Ward results

Aire Valley with Lothersdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Patricia Fairbank	725	52.7
		John Manley	365	26.5
		John Akroyd	285	20.7
Majority			360	26.2
Turnout			1,375	51.7
	hold		Swing

Barden Fell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Christopher Knowles-Fitton	414	51.2
		Cecil Hammond	302	37.3
		Darren Moorby	93	11.5
Majority			112	13.9
Turnout			809	59.9
	hold		Swing

Cowling

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Alderson	374	45.1
		Alan Perrow	316	38.1
		Geoffrey Dunn	140	16.9
Majority			58	7.0
Turnout			830	50.1
	hold		Swing

Grassington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard Foster	616	73.2
		Andrew Rankine	225	26.8
Majority			391	46.5
Turnout			841	65.4
	hold		Swing

Ingleton and Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ireton	1,403	81.9
		Alex Bentley	310	18.1
Majority			1,093	63.8
Turnout			1,713	56.9
	hold		Swing

Settle and Ribblebanks

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Donald Whaites	740	50.5
		Ronald Graveson	726	49.5
Majority			14	1.0
Turnout			1,466	53.3
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Skipton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Eric Jaquin	728	51.1
		Christopher Harbron	697	48.9
Majority			31	2.2
Turnout			1,425	52.0
	hold		Swing

Skipton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Paul Whitaker	679	41.7
		Michael Doyle	549	33.7
		John Kerwin-Davey	399	24.5
Majority			130	8.0
Turnout			1,627	59.7
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Skipton South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Andrew Solloway	501	44.8
		Kenneth Creek	224	20.0
		James Black	204	18.2
		Dennis Hall	190	17.0
Majority			277	24.8
Turnout			1,119	41.5
	hold		Swing

Skipton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Paul English	795	65.3
		Norman Spence	423	34.7
Majority			372	30.5
Turnout			1,218	43.0
	hold		Swing

Upper Wharfedale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Sayer	581	63.5
		Kenneth Luty	334	36.5
Majority			247	27.0
Turnout			915	61.1
	hold		Swing

By-elections between 2004 and 2006

Upper Wharfedale by-election 2 March 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Julia Mulligan	394	54.7
			326	45.3
Majority			68	9.4
Turnout			720	47.0
	hold		Swing