# 2012 Watford Borough Council election

Elections to Watford Borough Council were held on 3 May 2012. Three years in every four, a third of the council (12 councillors) retires and elections are held (in the fourth year, elections are held for county councillors).
In this council election, the Labour Party gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats; the Liberal Democrats gained one from the Conservatives. However, the Liberal Democrats remained firmly in control of the council. Four parties, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservative and Green, all put up candidates in every seat. There were also three UKIP candidates.
In the year following this election there will not be elections to the Borough Council (apart from by-elections) and Hertfordshire County elections will be held in May 2013. In the years 2010 to 2012, although the Labour Party recovered from its worst position, in 2010, it has only won seats in its three strongest wards and has yet to challenge the Liberal Democrats grip on votes and power. Labour has, however, supplanted the Conservatives as the main opposition party (albeit still 15 seats short of the Liberal Democrats) and the Greens continue to hold their own in Callowland ward, pushing the Conservatives into the smallest party position.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Liberal Democrat: 23
* Labour: 8
* Green: 3
* Conservative: 2

## Council election result

Watford Local Election Result 2012 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes |
| Liberal Democrats | 8 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 66.7 | 41.3 | 8378 |
| Labour | 3 | 2 | - | +2 | 25.0 | 28.6 | 5799 |
| Conservative | 0 | - | -1 | -1 | | 18.2 | 3699 |
| Green | 1 | - | - | - | 8.3 | 10.2 | 2073 |
| UKIP | | | | | | 1.8 | 358 |

## Ward results

Callowland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Green | Ian Brandon | 793 | 53.7 | −4.9 |
| | Labour | Guru Awasthi | 415 | 28.1 | +5.6 |
| | Conservative | Sally Anne Punter | 147 | 10.0 | −2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Patricia Gollop | 121 | 8.2 | +1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 378 | 25.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1476 | 26.50 | |
| | Green hold | Green hold | Swing | | |
Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rabi Martins | 816 | 47.6 | +5.5 |
| | Labour | Fred Grindrod | 532 | 31.0 | −5.1 |
| | Conservative | Carole Ann Bamford | 186 | 10.8 | −2.2 |
| | Green | Su Murray | 106 | 6.2 | +0.7 |
| | UKIP | Renie Price | 76 | 4.4 | +1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 284 | 16.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1716 | 27.15 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Holywell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Matt Turmaine | 1016 | 62.9 | −5.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Umar | 306 | 19.0 | +3.1 |
| | Conservative | Neil John Punter | 165 | 10.2 | −1.5 |
| | Green | Nigel Anthony Filer | 127 | 7.9 | +3.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 710 | 42.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1614 | 26.15 | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Leggatts :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anne Joynes | 784 | 45.1 | +9.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dennis Wharton | 536 | 30.8 | +11.0 |
| | Green | Alison Jane Wiesner | 239 | 13.8 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative | Youseffe Fahmy | 179 | 10.3 | −19.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 248 | 14.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1738 | 31.76 | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Meriden :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jan Brown | 690 | 43.0 | −0.6 |
| | Labour | Seamus Williams | 445 | 27.7 | −0.8 |
| | UKIP | Nicholas Richard Lincoln | 198 | 12.3 | +12.3 |
| | Conservative | Penelope Anne Mortimer | 196 | 12.2 | −10.7 |
| | Green | Paula Mary Evelyn Brodhurst | 75 | 4.7 | −0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 245 | 15.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1604 | 27.51 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Nascot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark John Hofman | 983 | 42.8 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Graham Mortimer | 931 | 40.5 | +4.2 |
| | Labour | Michael Harry Barnes | 217 | 9.4 | −2.3 |
| | Green | Sally Rose Ivins | 168 | 7.3 | +0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 52 | 2.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2299 | 37.74 | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Oxhey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Taylor | 1058 | 63.2 | +8.0 |
| | Conservative | Dick Bamford | 301 | 18.0 | −4.7 |
| | Labour | Sue Sleeman | 244 | 14.6 | −1.7 |
| | Green | Eric Weatherly | 72 | 4.3 | −1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 757 | 45.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1675 | 32.01 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Derbyshire | 1168 | 47.7 | +4.4 |
| | Conservative | Linda Ann Topping | 863 | 35.3 | −3.4 |
| | Labour | David Corbet Connal | 234 | 9.6 | −1.4 |
| | Green | Dorothy Mary Nixon | 99 | 4.0 | −0.4 |
| | UKIP | David Penn | 84 | 3.4 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 305 | 12.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2448 | 40.47 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Stanborough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tim Williams | 885 | 58.6 | +5.9 |
| | Labour | Mark John Nicholas | 289 | 19.1 | +2.0 |
| | Conservative | Chris Hawes | 259 | 17.1 | −8.0 |
| | Green | George Mathew Ryan | 78 | 5.2 | +0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 596 | 39.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1511 | 28.03 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Tudor :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Darren Walford | 709 | 48.6 | +6.9 |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Pearce | 326 | 22.3 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative | Richard Lloyd Vaughan Southern | 323 | 22.1 | −0.9 |
| | Green | Clare Victoria Pitkin | 101 | 6.9 | −0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 383 | 26.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1459 | 30.71 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Vicarage :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Mo Mills | 1044 | 59.4 | +9.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mehran Nawabi | 438 | 24.9 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative | Dave Ealey | 171 | 9.7 | +0.5 |
| | Green | Helen Elizabeth Wynne | 105 | 6.0 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 606 | 34.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1758 | 29.95 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Woodside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Gordon Brown | 668 | 44.6 | +3.8 |
| | Conservative | Tony Rogers | 466 | 31.1 | +2.1 |
| | Labour | Omar Ismail | 253 | 16.9 | −6.5 |
| | Green | Christina Patricia Murphy | 110 | 7.3 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 202 | 13.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1497 | 27.80 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |