2006 Wyre Forest District Council election

2006 UK local government election

The 2006 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, 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:

Campaign

Before the 2006 election the Conservatives had 18 seats on the council, both Health Concern and the Liberals had 8 seats, Labour had 4 seats and both the Liberal Democrats and independents had 2 seats. Since the last election in 2004 one Conservative councillor, Louise Edginton, had left the party to become an independent, after not being selected as a candidate for the 2005 Worcestershire County Council election.

14 seats were contested in the election with the Conservatives defending 7, Health Concern 4 and the Liberals 3. 50 candidates, including the leader of the council Stephen Clee, stood in the election with the Conservatives hoping to take overall control.

Local health services continued to be the major issue in the campaign after the local NHS trust announced in April 2006 that it would have to cut 720 jobs in order to save money. Other issues in the election included council tax, with the Conservatives saying they had reduced its burden since they began running the council in 2004, and a lack of affordable housing which Labour wanted to address.

Election result

There was a net change of only one seat with Health Concern moving to 9 seats at the expense of the Liberals. Health Concern's gain from the Liberals came in Broadwaters ward where the sitting Liberal councillor, Amanda Poole, stood down at the election. Health Concern saw the election results as being excellent, with the health issue in the lead up to the election seen as having helped the party.

As a result, the Conservatives failed to take the majority they had been aiming for with the Conservative leader of the council, Stephen Clee, disappointed at failing to make gains but pleased that they remained the largest party. The Labour leader on the council, Jamie Shaw, described the results as "very bad indeed" after the party failed to win any seats. Overall voter turnout at the election was 37.5%.

Wyre Forest local election result 2006
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	7	2	2	0	50.0	39.5	10,229	+0.9%
Health Concern	5	3	2	+1	35.7	32.3	8,362	+6.5%
Liberal	2	0	1	-1	14.3	8.8	2,267	-2.9%
Labour	0	0	0	0	0	15.9	4,124	-0.2%
Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	3.1	815	-2.7%
Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	60	-1.8%
Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	42	+0.2%

Ward results

Aggborough and Spennells
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Aston	858	46.5
	Liberal Democrats	Samantha Walker	440	23.9
	Health Concern	John Griffiths	387	21.0
	Labour	Adrian Sewell	117	6.3
	Green	Katherine Spohrer	42	2.3
Majority			418	22.6
Turnout			1,844	35.7	−3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Areley Kings
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Nigel Thomas	667	38.8
	Conservative	Michael Partridge	657	38.2
	Labour	Cedric Smith	396	23.0
Majority			10	0.6
Turnout			1,720	37.5	−3.2
	Health Concern gain from Conservative		Swing

Bewdley and Arley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Clee	1,018	45.7
	Health Concern	Elizabeth Davies	732	32.9
	Labour	Paul Gittins	476	21.4
Majority			286	12.8
Turnout			2,226	42.2	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blakedown and Chaddesley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pauline Hayward	1,036	66.4
	Health Concern	Anthony Williams	376	24.1
	Labour	James Brown	148	9.5
Majority			660	42.3
Turnout			1,560	47.8	+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Broadwaters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Howard Martin	601	32.6
	Conservative	Mumshad Ahmed	506	27.5
	Liberal	Timothy Ingram	475	25.8
	Labour	Stephen Hill	261	14.2
Majority			95	5.1
Turnout			1,843	32.5	+0.4
	Health Concern gain from Liberal		Swing

Franche
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Michael Shellie	861	39.1
	Conservative	Gordon Hinton	751	34.1
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	590	26.8
Majority			110	5.0
Turnout			2,202	41.2	+3.1
	Health Concern hold		Swing

Greenhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rachel Lewis	935	49.9
	Health Concern	Margaret Bradley	430	22.9
	Conservative	Geoffrey Bulmer	289	15.4
	Labour	Dean Cox	160	8.5
	Independent	Tavis Pitt	60	3.2
Majority			505	27.0
Turnout			1,874	32.2	−1.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

Habberley and Blakebrook
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	George Eeles	834	38.9
	Conservative	Arthur Buckley	765	35.7
	Labour	David Prain	543	25.4
Majority			69	3.2
Turnout			2,142	41.8	−2.3
	Health Concern gain from Conservative		Swing

Lickhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Dixon Sheppard	1,042	53.7
	Conservative	Christopher Rogers	654	33.7
	Labour	Donovan Giles	245	12.6
Majority			388	20.0
Turnout			1,941	35.6	+1.3
	Health Concern hold		Swing

Mitton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Salter	833	44.0
	Health Concern	Patricia Rimell	822	43.4
	Labour	Gary Watson	238	12.6
Majority			11	0.6
Turnout			1,893	34.9	−0.2
	Conservative gain from Health Concern		Swing

Offmore and Comberton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Siriol Hayward	857	37.9
	Conservative	Tracey Onslow	773	34.2
	Health Concern	Keith Robertson	395	17.5
	Labour	Roy Darkes	235	10.4
Majority			84	3.7
Turnout			2,260	42.7	+2.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Oldington and Foley Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Meekings	417	38.5
	Health Concern	Caroline Godfrey	249	23.0
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Beavis	236	21.8
	Labour	Paul Mills	180	16.6
Majority			168	15.5
Turnout			1,082	31.1	−0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sutton Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John-Paul Campion	912	49.5
	Health Concern	Raymond Barber	540	29.3
	Labour	Leroy Wright	251	13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Parsons	139	7.5
Majority			372	20.2
Turnout			1,842	34.5	−0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wribbenhall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Yarranton	760	51.7
	Health Concern	Anne Mace	426	29.0
	Labour	Jennifer Knowles	284	19.3
Majority			334	22.7
Turnout			1,470	38.5	−0.5
	Conservative gain from Health Concern		Swing

References

"Local elections: Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
^ "Local elections". The Times. 5 May 2006. p. 9.
^ "Tories seeking overall control". Malvern Gazette. 6 April 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
Evans, Oliver (10 March 2005). "Selection row Tory stalwart quits party". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank.
^ Brady, Emma (5 May 2006). "Health still dominates political landscape ; Wyre Forest". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
"West Midlands: Health matters". BBC News Online. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
"Labour lose control of Redditch". BBC News Online. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
^ "Health Concern move up". Malvern Gazette. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
"West Midlands: Crown jewels". BBC News Online. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
^ "District Council Election Results 2006". Wyre Forest District Council. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2010.

v t e Council elections in Worcestershire
Worcestershire CC	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 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Bromsgrove	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Malvern Hills	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1997 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Redditch	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 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Worcester	1973 1975 1976 1978 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 2021 2022 2023 2024
Wychavon	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Wyre Forest	1973 1975 1976 1978 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 2023
Hereford & Worcester CC	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (2005 ←) 2006 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2007)
London boroughs	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Blackburn with Darwen Bristol Derby Halton Hartlepool Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Slough Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Thurrock Warrington Wokingham
District councils (England)	Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Brentwood Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Castle Point Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gloucester Gosport Great Yarmouth Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest

Categories: