2007 Woking Borough Council election

File:Woking 2007 election map.png

Map of the results of the 2007 Woking council election. Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2007.

The 2007 Woking Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 19
• Liberal Democrat 17

Campaign

The election saw 12 seats being contested with 2 sitting councillors standing down, Neville Hinks in Knaphill ward and Mehala Gosling in West Byfleet. Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were hoping to win control of the council, with the Liberal Democrats needing 1 more seat and the Conservatives 4. Labour were defending 3 seats which were all threatened by either the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats. The other parties standing in the election were the United Kingdom Independence Party, which was standing in more seats than Labour, and the UK Community Issues Party.

The Conservative campaign was described as being the strongest in years with the seats in Horsell and Knaphill being seen as critical in deciding who would control the council.

Election result

The Conservatives won the election gaining a majority on the council, the first time any party had a majority since 1998 and the first time the Conservatives had held a majority since 1994. The Conservatives gained 4 seats in Kingfield and Westfield, Maybury and Sheerwater, Knaphill and Horsell to hold 19 seats compared to 17 for the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, Labour lost all 3 of their seats on the council including the party leader, Peter Ford, who lost in Old Woking to the Liberal Democrats. This was the first time Labour had ever failed to have any councillors on Woking council.

The Conservatives won almost 51% of the vote compared to their closest challengers, the Liberal Democrats, on just over 35%, with overall turnout in the election being 43.60%. Following the election the Conservative Anne Murray was expected to take over as leader of the council from Liberal Democrat Sue Smith.

Woking Local Election Result 2007

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		9	4	0	+4	75.0	50.9	12,110	+5.7%
		3	1	2	-1	25.0	35.4	8,426	-5.6%
		0	0	3	-3	0	8.7	2,063	+0.6%
		0	0	0	0	0	4.5	1,062	+1.1%
	UK Community Issues Party	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	110	-0.4%

Ward results

Byfleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Simon Hutton	1,346	57.0
		John Faulkner	1,017	43.0
Majority			329	14.0
Turnout			2,363	44.0
	hold		Swing

Goldsworth East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rob Leach	1,150	51.9
		Hilary Addison	829	37.4
		Colin Bright	163	7.4
		Judith Squire	72	3.3
Majority			321	14.5
Turnout			2,214	40.9
	hold		Swing

Hermitage and Knaphill South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Tina Liddington	925	64.2
		David Bittleston	313	21.7
		Mary Kingston	102	7.1
		Graeme Carman	101	7.0
Majority			612	42.5
Turnout			1,441	36.3
	hold		Swing

Horsell East and Woodham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Anne Murray	1,186	71.1
		John Doran	307	18.4
		Marion Free	108	6.5
		John Pitt	66	4.0
Majority			879	52.7
Turnout			1,667	47.9
	hold		Swing

Horsell West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Beryl Hunwicks	1,395	50.7
		Gareth Davies	1,093	39.8
		Timothy Shaw	116	4.2
		Janice Worgan	98	3.6
	UK Community Issues Party	Katrina Osman	47	1.7
Majority			302	10.9
Turnout			2,749	51.8
	gain from		Swing

Kingfield and Westfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stewart Brown	602	36.4
		Paul Owen	527	31.9
		John Martin	417	25.2
		Dennis Davey	106	6.4
Majority			75	4.5
Turnout			1,652	43.0
	gain from		Swing

Knaphill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Melanie Whitehand	1,158	44.3
		Christian Morgan-Jones	1,113	42.5
		Matthew Davies	203	7.8
		Christopher Martin	142	5.4
Majority			45	1.8
Turnout			2,616	37.2
	gain from		Swing

Maybury and Sheerwater

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Muzaffar Ali	1,177	38.8
		Mohammed Bashir	1,040	34.2
		Elizabeth Evans	665	21.9
		Rob Burberry	92	3.0
	UK Community Issues Party	Michael Osman	63	2.1
Majority			137	4.6
Turnout			3,037	45.8
	gain from		Swing

Old Woking

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Colin Scott	337	39.7
		Peter Ford	325	38.3
		Ashley Bowes	187	22.0
Majority			12	1.4
Turnout			849	41.0
	gain from		Swing

Pyrford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Peter Ankers	1,560	76.3
		John Magid	359	17.6
		Robin Milner	126	6.2
Majority			1,201	58.7
Turnout			2,045	51.4
	hold		Swing

St Johns and Hook Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Graham Cundy	1,044	72.6
		Andrew Larkham	326	22.7
		Marcia Taylor	68	4.7
Majority			718	49.9
Turnout			1,438	41.2
	hold		Swing

West Byfleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard Wilson	1,313	77.2
		Rashad Raja	232	13.6
		Mike Kelly	86	5.1
		Richard Squire	69	4.1
Majority			1,081	63.6
Turnout			1,700	43.2
	hold		Swing