2008 Craven District Council election

File:Craven UK local election 2008 map.svg

Map of the results of the 2008 Craven District Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2008.

The 2008 Craven District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 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

• Conservative 15
• Independent 10
• Liberal Democrats 5

Background

Before the election an alliance between 9 of the 10 independents and the 6 Liberal Democrats controlled the council, with independent Carl Liss as council leader. The 14 Conservative councillors were in opposition, supported by the remaining independent councillor, Ken Hart.

Election result

The Conservatives won 8 of the 11 seats contested, including gaining one seat, to have exactly half of seats on the council. The Conservative gain came in Skipton East where Pam Heseltine took the seat from the Liberal Democrats. This reduced the Liberal Democrats to 5 councillors after they held the other 2 seats they were defending. The only independent councillor to be defending a seat, David Ireton, retained it in Ingleton and Clapham, while the 5 Labour candidates came last in each of the wards they contested.

Following the election Conservative Chris Knowles-Fitton became leader of the council, taking over from independent Carl Lis.

Craven local election result 2008

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		8	1	0	+1	72.7	55.0	6,268	+9.9%
		2	0	1	-1	18.2	27.4	3,124	+12.8%
		1	0	0	0	9.1	10.2	1,159	-28.2%
		0	0	0	0	0	7.4	843	+7.4%

Ward results

Aire Valley with Lothersdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Pat Fairbank	824	63.0
		Stephen Walpole	307	23.5
		Bob Holland	177	13.5
Majority			517	39.5
Turnout			1,308	45.7
	hold		Swing

Barden Fell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chris Knowles-Fitton	550	83.3
		Andrew Rankine	110	16.7
Majority			440	66.7
Turnout			660	49.6
	hold		Swing

Cowling

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ady Green	470	69.5
		Paul Routledge	206	30.5
Majority			264	39.1
Turnout			676	38.9
	hold		Swing

Grassington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard Foster	539	77.1
		John Manley	160	22.9
Majority			379	54.2
Turnout			699	52.4
	hold		Swing

Ingleton and Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ireton	1,159	78.6
		Terence Thorpe	315	21.4
Majority			844	57.2
Turnout			1,474	46.7
	hold		Swing

Settle and Ribblebanks

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Donny Whaites	860	64.3
		Alison Fawcett	300	22.4
		Edward Saunders	178	13.3
Majority			560	41.9
Turnout			1,338	45.3
	hold		Swing

Skipton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Pamela Heseltine	595	50.5
		Eric Jaquin	464	39.4
		Chris Rose	119	10.1
Majority			131	11.1
Turnout			1,178	42.3
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Skipton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Paul Whitaker	737	57.4
		Carole Manley	547	42.6
Majority			190	14.8
Turnout			1,284	46.5
	hold		Swing

Skipton South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Andrew Solloway	391	50.4
		Charlotte Gott	222	28.6
		Duncan Hall	163	21.0
Majority			169	21.8
Turnout			776	27.7
	hold		Swing

Skipton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Paul English	592	56.9
		John Garton	449	43.1
Majority			143	13.7
Turnout			1,041	35.7
	hold		Swing

Upper Wharfedale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Roberts	707	73.6
		John Bennett	253	26.4
Majority			454	47.3
Turnout			960	62.5
	hold		Swing