# 2008 Stroud District Council election

The 2008 Stroud Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Stroud District Council in Gloucestershire, 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 31
* Labour 7
* Green 6
* Liberal Democrat 5
* Independent 2

## Background

Before the election the council had 31 Conservative, 9 Labour, 5 Green, 4 Liberal Democrat and 2 independents. 61 candidates stood for the 17 seats that were being contested, with the Green party contesting every seat for the first time. Councillors standing down at the election included Conservative Sue Fellows and the Labour Party's Hilary Fowles and Mattie Ross.

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control with 31 seats, after both gaining and losing 2 seats, while increasing their vote share to 51%. The Conservatives gained the seats of Dursley and Stonehouse from Labour, after the sitting Labour councillors had stood down, reducing Labour to 7 seats. However the Conservatives also lost Nailsworth by 28 votes to the Greens and Wotton-under-Edge by 25 votes to the Liberal Democrats. This meant the Greens went up to 6 seats and the Liberal Democrats up to 5 seats, while there remained 2 independents who had not defended seats in the election. Turnout in the election varied from a high of 50.03% in Painswick to a low of 33% in Cainscross.
The local Labour member of parliament David Drew blamed the defeats for Labour on "general disillusionment with the Government" and the issues of government assistance after the 2007 floods and the abolition of the 10 pence income tax rate.
Stroud local election result 2008 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 70.6 | 51.2 | 13,231 | +10.8% |
| Labour | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 11.8 | 17.4 | 4,491 | -5.7% |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 11.8 | 12.2 | 3,142 | -1.3% |
| Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.9 | 17.8 | 4,595 | -1.1% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 300 | -0.5% |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 67 | +0.3% |

## Ward results

Amberley and Woodchester :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Stephen Glanfield | 452 | 54.3 | −1.7 |
| | Green | Jennifer Whiskerd | 151 | 18.1 | +2.6 |
| | Labour | Jo Smith | 131 | 15.7 | +0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Adrian Walker-Smith | 98 | 11.8 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 301 | 36.2 | −4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 832 | 49.4 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Berkeley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tim Archer | 861 | 67.2 | −2.7 |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Wheeler | 295 | 23.0 | −7.1 |
| | Green | Chris Keppie | 126 | 9.8 | +9.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 566 | 44.1 | +4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,282 | 39.0 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Cainscross :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tom Williams | 757 | 42.2 | −7.1 |
| | Conservative | Norma Rodman | 648 | 36.2 | +1.4 |
| | Green | Helen Royall | 195 | 10.9 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sylvia Bridgland | 192 | 10.7 | +10.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 109 | 6.1 | −8.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,792 | 33.3 | −3.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Chalford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Debbie Young | 1,217 | 56.2 | +0.9 |
| | Green | Carolyn Billingsley | 633 | 29.2 | +4.8 |
| | Labour | Malcolm Perry | 195 | 9.0 | −3.4 |
| | UKIP | Leslie Banstead | 121 | 5.6 | −2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 584 | 27.0 | −3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,166 | 43.2 | +2.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Dursley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Alex Stennett | 647 | 34.4 | −0.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Marsh | 608 | 32.3 | +0.5 |
| | Labour | Daryl Matthews | 531 | 28.2 | −5.5 |
| | Green | Gillian Stott | 97 | 5.2 | +5.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 39 | 2.1 | +1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,883 | 39.0 | −1.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Eastington and Standish :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ken Stephens | 288 | 44.5 | +3.4 |
| | Conservative | Ian Robinson | 277 | 42.8 | +3.4 |
| | Green | Gerald Hartley | 82 | 12.7 | +2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11 | 1.7 | +0.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 647 | 45.9 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Hardwicke :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Len Tomlins | 875 | 69.3 | +0.9 |
| | Labour | Miranda Williams | 227 | 18.0 | +3.4 |
| | Green | Sally Pickering | 160 | 12.7 | +12.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 648 | 51.3 | −0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,262 | 33.8 | −1.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Kingswood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Hemming | 309 | 50.3 | −0.7 |
| | Conservative | Michael Howard | 187 | 30.5 | −12.1 |
| | Green | Sue Fleming | 118 | 19.2 | +19.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 122 | 19.9 | +11.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 614 | 40.3 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Minchinhampton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Joe Forbes | 1,112 | 71.2 | +8.0 |
| | Green | Marie Gwynn | 275 | 17.6 | +6.3 |
| | Labour | Joan Moore | 175 | 11.2 | −1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 837 | 53.6 | +3.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,562 | 44.6 | −4.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Nailsworth :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Green | Fi MacMillan | 1,028 | 43.1 | +5.2 |
| | Conservative | Dorcas Binns | 1,000 | 41.9 | +3.5 |
| | Labour | Sally Thorpe | 229 | 9.6 | −3.7 |
| | BNP | Alan Lomas | 67 | 2.8 | +2.8 |
| | UKIP | Maureen Upchurch | 61 | 2.6 | −2.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 28 | 1.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,385 | 46.4 | +2.6 |
| | Green gain from Conservative | Green gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Painswick :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Barbara Tait | 1,228 | 69.0 | +1.9 |
| | Green | Elinor Croxall | 371 | 20.8 | −1.5 |
| | Labour | David Heyes | 181 | 10.2 | −0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 857 | 48.1 | +3.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,780 | 50.0 | −0.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Rodborough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nigel Cooper | 516 | 32.1 | +1.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Fisk | 465 | 29.0 | −1.8 |
| | Green | Phil Blomberg | 446 | 27.8 | +1.7 |
| | Labour | John Appleton | 178 | 11.1 | −1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 51 | 3.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,605 | 46.4 | +1.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Severn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Norman-Leonard Smith | 961 | 60.6 | +3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Howe | 306 | 19.3 | −7.2 |
| | Labour | John Greenwood | 206 | 13.0 | −1.9 |
| | Green | Annie Finlay-Trotter | 114 | 7.2 | +7.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 655 | 41.3 | +10.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,587 | 42.9 | +0.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Stonehouse :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Phil Bevan | 843 | 42.1 | +5.1 |
| | Labour | Gary Powell | 806 | 40.2 | −1.1 |
| | Green | Clare Sheridan | 237 | 11.8 | −2.1 |
| | UKIP | Adrian Blake | 118 | 5.9 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 37 | 1.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,004 | 34.1 | −1.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
The Stanleys :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ray Apperley | 718 | 52.3 | −1.4 |
| | Labour | Lesley Williams | 316 | 23.0 | +3.3 |
| | Green | Tony Mcnulty | 190 | 13.8 | +0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gavin Owen | 150 | 10.9 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 402 | 29.3 | −4.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,374 | 41.2 | −1.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Upton St Leonards :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Keith Pearson | 710 | 78.9 | +0.4 |
| | Green | Peter Adams | 114 | 12.7 | +12.7 |
| | Labour | Ela Pathak-Sen | 76 | 8.4 | −13.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 596 | 66.2 | +9.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 900 | 48.9 | +1.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Wotton-Under-Edge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | June Cordwell | 1,014 | 45.0 | −7.2 |
| | Conservative | John Gowers | 979 | 43.5 | +18.4 |
| | Green | Martin Harvey | 258 | 11.5 | −5.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 35 | 1.6 | −25.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,251 | 45.0 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |