# 2004 Eastbourne Borough Council election

The 2004 Eastbourne Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Eastbourne Borough Council in East Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from the Liberal Democrats.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Conservative 14
* Liberal Democrats 13

## Background

10 seats were contested at the election, with 2 seats being available in Old Town ward after Liberal Democrat councillor Bert Leggett stood down.
During the campaign both the national Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and Conservative leader Michael Howard came to Eastbourne to support their parties.

## Election result

The Conservatives gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats to take a one-seat majority on the council with 14 councillors, compared to 13 for the Liberal Democrats. The Conservative gain came in Old Town ward, where Conservative Simon Herbert gained one of the two seats from the Liberal Democrats with 1,926 votes, while Liberal Democrat Maurice Skilton held the other seat with 1,854 votes. Overall turnout at the election was 40.97%, up from 33.6% at the 2003 election.
Eastbourne local election result 2004 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 5 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 50.0 | 50.3 | 15,709 | +0.8 |
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 50.0 | 36.0 | 11,230 | -3.2 |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7.9 | 2,464 | +3.8 |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.9 | 1,827 | -0.8 |

## Ward results

Devonshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Margaret Bannister | 1,177 | 44.7 | −13.4 |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Graham | 1,040 | 39.5 | +5.2 |
| | Green | Clive Gross | 239 | 9.1 | +1.5 |
| | Labour | Richard Goude | 178 | 6.8 | +6.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 137 | 5.2 | −18.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,634 | 35.3 | +8.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Hampden Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Thompson | 988 | 44.9 | −5.0 |
| | Conservative | Edward Abella | 636 | 28.9 | +7.3 |
| | Labour | David Brinson | 356 | 16.2 | −6.7 |
| | Green | Leslie Dalton | 222 | 10.1 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 352 | 16.0 | −10.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,202 | 31.6 | +5.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Langney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Irene Sims | 1,210 | 49.8 | +2.9 |
| | Conservative | Thomas Walters | 921 | 37.9 | −3.0 |
| | Labour | Steven Scott | 164 | 6.7 | −2.0 |
| | Green | Christine Quarrington | 137 | 5.6 | +2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 289 | 11.9 | +5.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,432 | 34.1 | +10.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Meads :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Barry Taylor | 2,672 | 71.2 | −0.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Steven Wallis | 589 | 15.7 | −1.1 |
| | Green | Kate Arnold | 271 | 7.2 | +2.2 |
| | Labour | Dennis Scard | 221 | 5.9 | −1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,083 | 55.5 | +1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,753 | 49.6 | +10.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Old Town (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Simon Herbert | 1,926 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Maurice Skilton | 1,854 | | |
| | Conservative | John Stanbury | 1,816 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Patricia Habets | 1,739 | | |
| | Green | Catharine Birchwood | 355 | | |
| | Green | Jocelyn McCarthy | 289 | | |
| | Labour | Jonathan Pettigrew | 155 | | |
| | Labour | Robert Rossetter | 132 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,266 | 54.9 | +8.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Ratton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Barbara Goodall | 2,227 | 65.8 | +1.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Durrant | 702 | 20.7 | −2.7 |
| | Labour | Martin Falkner | 233 | 6.9 | −0.5 |
| | Green | Kevin Moore | 225 | 6.6 | +2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,525 | 45.0 | +3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,387 | 44.7 | +8.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St Anthony's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jon Harris | 1,441 | 47.1 | −7.1 |
| | Conservative | Judith Kim-Symes | 1,200 | 39.2 | +6.6 |
| | Green | Hugh Norris | 242 | 7.9 | +7.9 |
| | Labour | Nora Ring | 176 | 5.8 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 241 | 7.9 | −13.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,059 | 38.4 | +7.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Sovereign :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Christopher Williams | 1,517 | 59.4 | +4.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Margaret Salsbury | 806 | 31.6 | −13.7 |
| | Green | Nancy Dalton | 229 | 9.0 | +9.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 711 | 27.9 | +18.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,552 | 38.1 | +0.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Upperton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Robert Lacey | 1,754 | 59.6 | +3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Patrick Rodohan | 724 | 24.6 | −7.6 |
| | Green | Finbar O'Shea | 255 | 8.7 | +3.2 |
| | Labour | Margaret Pettigrew | 212 | 7.2 | +1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,030 | 35.0 | +10.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,945 | 40.1 | +5.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |