# 2006 Welwyn Hatfield District Council election

The 2006 Welwyn Hatfield District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Welwyn Hatfield District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Conservative 32
* Labour 12
* Liberal Democrat 3
* Green 1

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives increase their majority on the council to 16 seats after gaining 2 seats from Labour. The Conservative gains came in Haldens and Howlands wards, but they did lose one seat to the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats won Handside and came within 6 votes of taking Peartree from Labour after 4 recounts. Overall turnout in the election was 38.11%.
Welwyn Hatfield Local Election Result 2006 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 13 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 76.5 | 55.8 | 15,617 | +8.4% |
| Labour | 3 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 17.6 | 22.5 | 6,309 | -4.0% |
| Liberal Democrats | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.9 | 21.1 | 5,898 | -2.9% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 174 | +0.1% |

## Ward results

Brookmans Park and Little Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Dean | 1,630 | 80.4 | +6.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jennifer Blumsom | 286 | 14.1 | −3.1 |
| | Labour | Margaret White | 111 | 5.5 | −3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,344 | 66.3 | +9.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,027 | 45.5 | −2.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Haldens :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Martyn Levitt | 641 | 41.7 | +6.9 |
| | Labour | Bhavna Joshi | 520 | 33.8 | −4.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Win Smith | 377 | 24.5 | −2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 121 | 7.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,538 | 35.5 | −1.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Handside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nigel Quinton | 1,127 | 45.0 | −0.5 |
| | Conservative | Sue Collins | 1,103 | 44.1 | +0.5 |
| | Labour | Sarah Carthew | 273 | 10.9 | 0.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24 | 0.9 | −1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,503 | 50.0 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Hatfield Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Colin Croft | 521 | 41.1 | +6.6 |
| | Conservative | Douglas Berry | 425 | 33.5 | +5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lis Meyland-Smith | 322 | 25.4 | −11.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 96 | 7.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,268 | 31.4 | −1.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Hatfield East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicola Dorrington | 826 | 56.1 | +4.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Roger Cashmore | 324 | 22.0 | +2.9 |
| | Labour | Constance Elliott | 322 | 21.9 | +0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 502 | 34.1 | +4.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,472 | 37.1 | −3.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Hatfield North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Clare Berry | 1,081 | 55.1 | +11.4 |
| | Labour | Anthony Wilder | 535 | 27.3 | −10.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Griffiths | 345 | 17.6 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 546 | 27.8 | +21.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,961 | 32.4 | −4.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Hatfield West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Atkinson | 757 | 49.7 | +4.5 |
| | Labour | Dean Archer | 531 | 34.9 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Archer | 235 | 15.4 | −7.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 226 | 14.8 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,523 | 37.7 | −1.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Hollybush :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Margarita Birleson | 617 | 44.8 | −1.5 |
| | Conservative | Stephen Battaglia | 521 | 37.8 | +3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hazel Jacquemain | 239 | 17.4 | −2.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 96 | 7.0 | −5.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,377 | 30.7 | −4.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Howlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Warren Davies | 821 | 45.7 | +6.9 |
| | Labour | Alan Chesterman | 634 | 35.3 | −2.8 |
| | Green | Mark Knight | 174 | 9.7 | +9.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Arch | 167 | 9.3 | −13.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 187 | 10.4 | +9.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,796 | 41.1 | +0.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Northaw :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Nicholls | 1,455 | 82.2 | +20.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nigel Bain | 203 | 11.5 | +2.7 |
| | Labour | Alex Breed | 111 | 6.3 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,252 | 70.7 | +33.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,769 | 42.4 | −1.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Panshanger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Sara Johnston | 904 | 56.8 | +10.2 |
| | Labour | William Longbottom | 409 | 25.7 | −1.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Marcel Naseby | 279 | 17.5 | −9.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 495 | 31.1 | +11.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,592 | 33.5 | −2.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Peartree :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jacqueline Russell | 453 | 36.5 | −8.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Frank Marsh | 447 | 36.0 | +5.8 |
| | Conservative | Bernard Rosewall | 341 | 27.5 | +3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6 | 0.5 | −14.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,241 | 27.3 | −3.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Sherrards :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Christine Wheeler | 1,100 | 54.5 | +10.2 |
| | Labour | Margaret Hurst | 571 | 28.3 | −8.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Louise Lotz | 346 | 17.2 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 529 | 26.2 | −25.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,017 | 47.3 | −4.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Welham Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter O'Brien | 707 | 66.6 | 0.0 |
| | Labour | Bridgit Croft | 198 | 18.7 | +1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sheila Archer | 156 | 14.7 | −1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 509 | 47.9 | −1.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,061 | 38.1 | −3.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Welwyn North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Steven Markiewicz | 987 | 72.3 | +7.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Helen Bassett | 241 | 17.6 | −4.1 |
| | Labour | Anthony Crump | 138 | 10.1 | −3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 746 | 54.7 | +11.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,366 | 39.5 | −3.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Welwyn South (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Mandy Perkins | 1,183 | | |
| | Conservative | Carl Storer | 1,135 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Blackburn | 408 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Skidmore | 396 | | |
| | Labour | Sheila Jones | 191 | | |
| | Labour | Sheila Wilder | 174 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,487 | 42.0 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |