# 2002 Wokingham District Council election

The 2002 Wokingham District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, 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 30
* Liberal Democrat 22
* Labour 1
* Independent 1

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives win a majority on the council, after having had the same number of seats as the Liberal Democrats for the previous 2 elections. The Conservatives won 14 of the 20 seats which were up for election, including one uncontested seat in Wokingham Without. They made 4 gains from the Liberal Democrats in the wards of Coronation, Finchampstead North and Little Hungerford to finish the election with 30 seats as compared to 22 for the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, Labour won their first seat on the council since 1994 after making a gain in Bulmershe ward from the Liberal Democrats. Overall turnout was 32.8%.
The Conservatives said they were delighted with the results which they put down to their campaign on issues including green fields, crime and transport, and to the Liberal Democrats being out of touch with local residents. They said that now they had control of the council they would take action on crime and traffic congestion and review the number of new houses planned. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy described the results in Wokingham as predictable and a "slight set-back", which he put down to them defending seats from when the Conservatives were performing much less strongly nationally.
Wokingham Local Election Result 2002 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 14 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 73.7 | 49.1 | 16,030 | +6.6% |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 21.1 | 38.4 | 12,544 | -1.5% |
| Labour | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.3 | 8.9 | 2,921 | -8.2% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 | 862 | +2.6% |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 | 306 | +0.8% |
One Conservative candidate was unopposed in the election.

## Ward results

Arborfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gary Cowan | 503 | 85.8 | +20.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Eastwell | 83 | 14.2 | −20.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 420 | 71.6 | +40.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 586 | 37.5 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bulmershe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Nelson Bland | 503 | 42.0 | +6.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Edward Preston | 467 | 38.9 | +2.2 |
| | Conservative | William Henderson | 168 | 14.0 | −13.4 |
| | UKIP | Jeremy Allison | 61 | 5.1 | +5.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 36 | 3.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,199 | 38.9 | −25.1 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Coronation (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | David Ashman | 1,102 | |
| | Conservative | Paul Swaddle | 1,041 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Glover | 863 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Thomas McCann | 811 | |
| | UKIP | Amy Thornton | 230 | |
| | Labour | Ian Hills | 218 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,265 | 36.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | |
Emmbrook :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Raymond Eke | 966 | 51.7 | +10.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Josephine Shockley | 606 | 32.4 | −14.5 |
| | UKIP | Ann Davis | 163 | 8.7 | +8.7 |
| | Labour | John Woodward | 133 | 7.1 | −4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 360 | 19.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,868 | 39.5 | −28.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Evendons :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Denis Morgan | 1,349 | 49.9 | +3.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Griffin | 1,060 | 39.2 | −2.9 |
| | Labour | Paul French | 159 | 5.9 | −6.0 |
| | UKIP | Franklin Carstairs | 135 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 289 | 10.7 | +6.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,703 | 31.6 | −34.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Finchampstead North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Robert Stanton | 1,194 | 57.5 | +4.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Roland Cundy | 884 | 42.5 | −4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 310 | 15.0 | +9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,078 | 46.1 | −22.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Finchampstead South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gerald Cockroft | 1,012 | 71.5 | +9.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Philip Bristow | 403 | 28.5 | −9.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 609 | 43.0 | +19.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,415 | 29.9 | +0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Little Hungerford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Christopher Edmunds | 1,417 | 50.8 | +12.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Caroline Smith | 1,106 | 39.6 | −4.3 |
| | Labour | Jacqueline Rupert | 268 | 9.6 | −7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 311 | 11.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,791 | 33.9 | −29.8 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Loddon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Denis Thair | 710 | 47.9 | +6.0 |
| | Conservative | Joanna Vosser | 478 | 32.2 | −1.6 |
| | Labour | Janice Kite | 224 | 15.1 | −9.2 |
| | UKIP | Noel Squire | 71 | 4.8 | +4.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 232 | 15.7 | +7.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,483 | 23.0 | −37.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Norreys :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Marian Robertson | 1,241 | 59.0 | +8.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark Gray | 392 | 18.6 | −8.8 |
| | Labour | Paul Sharples | 372 | 17.7 | −4.0 |
| | UKIP | Antony Whitfield | 97 | 4.6 | +4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 849 | 40.4 | +16.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,102 | 33.6 | −31.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Redhatch :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Spratling | 1,607 | 53.2 | +7.8 |
| | Conservative | Norman Jorgensen | 1,111 | 36.8 | +1.4 |
| | Labour | Nirmala Harlow | 305 | 10.1 | −4.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 496 | 16.4 | +6.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,023 | 24.8 | −34.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Remenham & Wargrave :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Robert Haacke | 973 | 69.0 | −5.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lindsay Ferris | 437 | 31.0 | +13.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 536 | 38.0 | −19.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,410 | 41.8 | +9.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Shinfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Anthony Pollock | 1,075 | 63.9 | +11.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rebecca Rowland | 351 | 20.9 | −5.0 |
| | Labour | Owen Waite | 256 | 15.2 | −6.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 724 | 43.0 | +12.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,682 | 28.0 | −32.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
South Lake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Elizabeth Rowland | 596 | 53.0 | +1.8 |
| | Conservative | William Soane | 223 | 19.8 | −5.2 |
| | Labour | David Kay | 201 | 17.9 | −5.9 |
| | UKIP | Peter Williams | 105 | 9.3 | +9.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 373 | 33.2 | +7.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,125 | 24.2 | −34.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Swallowfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Diana Beatty | 419 | 78.8 | +1.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Harper | 113 | 21.2 | +10.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 306 | 57.6 | −7.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 532 | 36.0 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Twyford & Ruscombe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Deirdre Tomlin | 1,415 | 61.6 | +4.4 |
| | Conservative | John Jarvis | 707 | 30.8 | −1.3 |
| | Labour | Roy Mantel | 175 | 7.6 | −3.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 708 | 30.8 | +5.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,297 | 39.7 | −27.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Winnersh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Ball | 1,051 | 50.0 | +0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Morag Ward | 640 | 30.4 | −9.1 |
| | Independent | Robert Turner | 306 | 14.5 | +14.5 |
| | Labour | Robert Woodrow | 107 | 5.1 | −6.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 411 | 19.6 | +9.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,104 | 34.8 | −27.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Wokingham Without :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Angus Ross | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |