2003 Craven District Council election

2003 UK local government election

The 2003 Craven District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 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:

Background

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest group with 13 seats, while there 9 Liberal Democrats and 8 independents. However the council was controlled by an alliance between independents and Liberal Democrats.

10 of the 30 seats on the council were elected in 2003, with the Conservatives defending 6, independents 3 and the Liberal Democrats defended 1 seat. Two of the three independents were re-elected without opposition.

Election result

Independents gained 2 seats from the Conservatives to mean there were 10 independent councillors on the council. The independent gains from the Conservatives came in Skipton East where Mike Hill was elected, and in West Craven where Robert Mason gained a seat. Meanwhile, another independent, Robert Heseltine, regained a seat on the council 3 years after having been forced to resign his seat due to being convicted of falsifying accounts, after defeating the sitting independent councillor Frances Cook by 217 votes in Skipton South.

Despite losing 2 seats the Conservatives remained the largest group on the council with 11 councillors, after holding another 4 seats. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats stayed on 9 seats, after holding the only seat they had been defending in Skipton West.

Craven local election result 2003
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Independent	5	2	0	+2	50.0	30.0	2,020	-0.9%
Conservative	4	0	2	-2	40.0	45.7	3,079	+5.6%
Liberal Democrats	1	0	0	0	10.0	24.3	1,633	-3.8%

Ward results

Bentham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gerald Hurtley	521	51.5
	Independent	Manuel Camacho	490	48.5
Majority			31	3.1
Turnout			1,011
	Conservative hold		Swing

Embsay with Eastby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Quinn	404	67.0
	Independent	Dennis Hall	199	33.0
Majority			205	34.0
Turnout			603
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gargrave and Malhamdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Crawford	596	58.5
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Wood	422	41.5
Majority			174	17.1
Turnout			1,018
	Conservative hold		Swing

Glusburn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Roger Nicholson	unopposed
	Independent hold		Swing

Skipton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Hill	423	41.7
	Conservative	Pamela Heseltine	320	31.5
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Moorby	272	26.8
Majority			103	10.1
Turnout			1,015
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Skipton North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Marcia Turner	604	56.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Rankine	466	43.6
Majority			138	12.9
Turnout			1,070
	Conservative hold		Swing

Skipton South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Robert Heseltine	412	57.5
	Independent	Frances Cook	195	27.2
	Conservative	Kenneth Creek	110	15.3
Majority			217	30.3
Turnout			717
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

Skipton West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline English	473	67.0
	Conservative	Paul Whitaker	233	33.0
Majority			240	34.0
Turnout			706
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Sutton-in-Craven
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Kenneth Hart	unopposed
	Independent hold		Swing

West Craven
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Robert Mason	301	50.8	+16.2
	Conservative	John Binns	291	49.2	+5.6
Majority			10	1.7
Turnout			592
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

By-elections between 2003 and 2004

A by-election was held in Bentham on 13 November 2003 after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor John Pilkington on his being charged by police with child pornography. The seat was gained by an independent Manuel Camacho with a majority of 107 votes over Conservative John Jackson.

Bentham by-election 13 November 2003
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Manuel Camacho	474	56.4	+7.9
	Conservative	John Jackson	367	43.6	−7.9
Majority			107	12.8	N/A
Turnout			841	29.6
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

References

"Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
^ "Election results". Financial Times. NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 4.
^ "Craven: Contests in 8 wards". Cumbria County Publications. NewsBank. 11 April 2003.
Robinson-Tate, Michaela (2 May 2003). "Election: Craven results". Cumbria County Publications. NewsBank.
^ "Councillor wins back seat after criminal conviction". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
^ "Craven District Council - Election results". Craven District Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
^ "Election for seat of accused councillor". West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 24 October 2003.
^ "Independents win in byelection polls". Press Association. The Guardian. 14 November 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

Council elections in North Yorkshire

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Former councils
North Riding County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970
Cleveland County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993
Craven District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019
Hambleton District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Harrogate Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018
Richmondshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Ryedale District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Scarborough Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Selby District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019

See also: Wards
Boundary changes

v t e (2002 ←) 2003 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2004)
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