# 2007 Woking Borough Council election

The 2007 Woking Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, 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 19
* Liberal Democrat 17

## Campaign

The election saw 12 seats being contested with 2 sitting councillors standing down, Neville Hinks in Knaphill ward and Mehala Gosling in West Byfleet. Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were hoping to win control of the council, with the Liberal Democrats needing 1 more seat and the Conservatives 4. Labour were defending 3 seats which were all threatened by either the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats. The other parties standing in the election were the United Kingdom Independence Party, which was standing in more seats than Labour, and the UK Community Issues Party.
The Conservative campaign was described as being the strongest in years with the seats in Horsell and Knaphill being seen as critical in deciding who would control the council.

## Election result

The Conservatives won the election gaining a majority on the council, the first time any party had a majority since 1998 and the first time the Conservatives had held a majority since 1994. The Conservatives gained 4 seats in Kingfield and Westfield, Maybury and Sheerwater, Knaphill and Horsell to hold 19 seats compared to 17 for the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, Labour lost all 3 of their seats on the council including the party leader, Peter Ford, who lost in Old Woking to the Liberal Democrats. This was the first time Labour had ever failed to have any councillors on Woking council.
The Conservatives won almost 51% of the vote compared to their closest challengers, the Liberal Democrats, on just over 35%, with overall turnout in the election being 43.60%. Following the election the Conservative Anne Murray was expected to take over as leader of the council from Liberal Democrat Sue Smith.
Woking Local Election Result 2007 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 9 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 75.0 | 50.9 | 12,110 | +5.7% |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 25.0 | 35.4 | 8,426 | -5.6% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 | 8.7 | 2,063 | +0.6% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 1,062 | +1.1% |
| UK Community Issues Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 110 | -0.4% |

## Ward results

Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Simon Hutton | 1,346 | 57.0 | +11.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Faulkner | 1,017 | 43.0 | −2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 329 | 14.0 | +13.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,363 | 44.0 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Goldsworth East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rob Leach | 1,150 | 51.9 | +1.3 |
| | Conservative | Hilary Addison | 829 | 37.4 | −3.0 |
| | Labour | Colin Bright | 163 | 7.4 | −2.0 |
| | UKIP | Judith Squire | 72 | 3.3 | +3.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 321 | 14.5 | +4.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,214 | 40.9 | +1.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Hermitage and Knaphill South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tina Liddington | 925 | 64.2 | +10.2 |
| | Conservative | David Bittleston | 313 | 21.7 | −16.3 |
| | UKIP | Mary Kingston | 102 | 7.1 | +7.1 |
| | Labour | Graeme Carman | 101 | 7.0 | −1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 612 | 42.5 | +26.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,441 | 36.3 | +0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Horsell East and Woodham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Anne Murray | 1,186 | 71.1 | +13.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Doran | 307 | 18.4 | −5.6 |
| | UKIP | Marion Free | 108 | 6.5 | −6.6 |
| | Labour | John Pitt | 66 | 4.0 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 879 | 52.7 | +19.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,667 | 47.9 | +1.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Horsell West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Beryl Hunwicks | 1,395 | 50.7 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gareth Davies | 1,093 | 39.8 | |
| | UKIP | Timothy Shaw | 116 | 4.2 | |
| | Labour | Janice Worgan | 98 | 3.6 | |
| | UK Community Issues Party | Katrina Osman | 47 | 1.7 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 302 | 10.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,749 | 51.8 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Kingfield and Westfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Stewart Brown | 602 | 36.4 | +10.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Owen | 527 | 31.9 | −6.7 |
| | Labour | John Martin | 417 | 25.2 | +3.8 |
| | UKIP | Dennis Davey | 106 | 6.4 | −5.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 75 | 4.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,652 | 43.0 | +2.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Knaphill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Melanie Whitehand | 1,158 | 44.3 | +7.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christian Morgan-Jones | 1,113 | 42.5 | −6.9 |
| | UKIP | Matthew Davies | 203 | 7.8 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | Christopher Martin | 142 | 5.4 | −0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 45 | 1.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,616 | 37.2 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Maybury and Sheerwater :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Muzaffar Ali | 1,177 | 38.8 | −9.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Bashir | 1,040 | 34.2 | +20.3 |
| | Labour | Elizabeth Evans | 665 | 21.9 | −10.2 |
| | UKIP | Rob Burberry | 92 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| | UK Community Issues Party | Michael Osman | 63 | 2.1 | −3.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 137 | 4.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,037 | 45.8 | +3.6 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Old Woking :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Colin Scott | 337 | 39.7 | +0.7 |
| | Labour | Peter Ford | 325 | 38.3 | −4.3 |
| | Conservative | Ashley Bowes | 187 | 22.0 | +3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12 | 1.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 849 | 41.0 | +3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Pyrford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Ankers | 1,560 | 76.3 | +13.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Magid | 359 | 17.6 | −6.2 |
| | UKIP | Robin Milner | 126 | 6.2 | −3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,201 | 58.7 | +19.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,045 | 51.4 | +2.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St Johns and Hook Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Graham Cundy | 1,044 | 72.6 | +9.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Larkham | 326 | 22.7 | +4.9 |
| | UKIP | Marcia Taylor | 68 | 4.7 | +1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 718 | 49.9 | +4.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,438 | 41.2 | −2.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
West Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Wilson | 1,313 | 77.2 | +10.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rashad Raja | 232 | 13.6 | −0.5 |
| | Labour | Mike Kelly | 86 | 5.1 | +0.2 |
| | UKIP | Richard Squire | 69 | 4.1 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,081 | 63.6 | +10.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,700 | 43.2 | −1.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |