# 2008 Craven District Council election

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 | +/− |
| Conservative | 8 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 72.7 | 55.0 | 6,268 | +9.9% |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 18.2 | 27.4 | 3,124 | +12.8% |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 1,159 | -28.2% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.4 | 843 | +7.4% |

## Ward results

Aire Valley with Lothersdale :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Pat Fairbank | 824 | 63.0 | +16.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Walpole | 307 | 23.5 | −29.5 |
| | Labour | Bob Holland | 177 | 13.5 | +13.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 517 | 39.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,308 | 45.7 | +1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Barden Fell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Chris Knowles-Fitton | 550 | 83.3 | +32.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Rankine | 110 | 16.7 | +5.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 440 | 66.7 | +52.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 660 | 49.6 | −10.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Cowling :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ady Green | 470 | 69.5 | +52.6 |
| | Labour | Paul Routledge | 206 | 30.5 | +30.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 264 | 39.1 | +32.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 676 | 38.9 | −11.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Grassington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Foster | 539 | 77.1 | +3.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Manley | 160 | 22.9 | −3.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 379 | 54.2 | +7.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 699 | 52.4 | −13.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Ingleton and Clapham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | David Ireton | 1,159 | 78.6 |
| | Conservative | Terence Thorpe | 315 | 21.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 844 | 57.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,474 | 46.7 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | |
Settle and Ribblebanks :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Donny Whaites | 860 | 64.3 | +24.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alison Fawcett | 300 | 22.4 | −31.8 |
| | Labour | Edward Saunders | 178 | 13.3 | +13.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 560 | 41.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,338 | 45.3 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Skipton East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Pamela Heseltine | 595 | 50.5 | −3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eric Jaquin | 464 | 39.4 | +39.4 |
| | Labour | Chris Rose | 119 | 10.1 | +10.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 131 | 11.1 | +3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,178 | 42.3 | +1.8 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Skipton North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Whitaker | 737 | 57.4 | +15.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carole Manley | 547 | 42.6 | +15.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 190 | 14.8 | +3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,284 | 46.5 | −3.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Skipton South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Solloway | 391 | 50.4 | +50.4 |
| | Conservative | Charlotte Gott | 222 | 28.6 | +15.0 |
| | Labour | Duncan Hall | 163 | 21.0 | +21.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 169 | 21.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 776 | 27.7 | −8.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Skipton West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul English | 592 | 56.9 | −5.0 |
| | Conservative | John Garton | 449 | 43.1 | +5.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 143 | 13.7 | −10.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,041 | 35.7 | +0.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Upper Wharfedale :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Roberts | 707 | 73.6 | +10.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Bennett | 253 | 26.4 | +26.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 454 | 47.3 | +20.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 960 | 62.5 | +1.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |