# Mayor of Watford

The Mayor of Watford is the head of the borough council of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The holder of the position is a directly elected mayor using the supplementary vote every four years. The current mayor of Watford is Peter Taylor, who was elected in May 2018 for the Liberal Democrats.

## History

Dorothy Thornhill was the first directly elected mayor of Watford; she was elected in May 2002. Thornhill was the first female directly elected mayor in England and the Liberal Democrats' first directly elected mayor. She was re-elected in May 2006, May 2010 and May 2014.
In the 2018 election, Peter Taylor, also member of the Liberal Democrats, was elected as Mayor of Watford.

## Referendum

Mayor of Watford referendum 12 June 2001 :
| Choice | Votes | % |
| Elected Mayor | 7,636 | 51.7 |
| Cabinet System | 7,140 | 48.3 |
| Required majority | 50 | 50 |
| Total votes | 14,776 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 60,630 | 24.5 |
| Source: House of Commons Library |||

## Election results

The position was established after a referendum in 2001 and the first election was held in 2002.

### 2002

Watford Mayoral Election 2 May 2002 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 10,954 | 49.4% | 2,519 | 13,473 | 71.9% | ​​ |
| | Labour | Vince Muspratt | 4,899 | 22.1% | 370 | 5,269 | 28.1% | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Gary Ling | 4,746 | 21.4% | | | | ​​ |
| | Green | Stephen Rackett | 851 | 3.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Socialist Alliance | Paul Woodward | 390 | 1.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Fat Cat | Tristram Cooke | 330 | 1.5% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win | Liberal Democrats win |

### 2006

Watford Mayoral Election 4 May 2006 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 11,963 | 51.2% | | | | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Stephen O'Brien | 4,838 | 20.7% | | | | ​​ |
| | Labour | Ruth Ellis | 4,062 | 17.4% | | | | ​​ |
| | Green | Stephen Rackett | 2,522 | 10.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold |

### 2010

Watford Mayoral Election 6 May 2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 19,153 | 45.9% | 4,276 | 23,429 | 67.1% | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Stephen Johnson | 10,403 | 24.9% | 1,105 | 11,508 | 32.9% | ​​ |
| | Labour | Nigel Bell | 10,029 | 24.0% | | | | ​​ |
| | Green | Alex MacGregor-Mason | 2,173 | 5.2% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold |

### 2014

Watford Mayoral Election 22 May 2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 11,741 | 45.90% | 2,452 | 14,193 | 65.4% | ​​ |
| | Labour | Jagtar Dhindsa | 6,577 | 25.71% | 927 | 7,504 | 34.6% | ​​ |
| | UKIP | Philip Cox | 3,789 | 14.81% | | | | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Linda Topping | 3,470 | 13.57% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold |

### 2018

Watford Mayoral Election 3 May 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Taylor | 13,274 | 48.7% | 2,657 | 15,931 | 61.6% | ​​ |
| | Labour | Jagtar Dhindsa | 9,223 | 33.8% | 728 | 9,951 | 38.4% | ​​ |
| | Conservative | George Jabbour | 4,787 | 17.5% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold |

### 2022

Watford Mayoral Election 5 May 2022 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Taylor | 12,895 | 54.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Labour Co-op | Asif Khan | 6,234 | 26.5% | | | | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Binita Mehta-Parmar | 4,404 | 18.7% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold |