# 2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election

The 2008 Rushmoor Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, 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 29
* Liberal Democrat 8
* Labour 5

## Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives held 26 seats, the Liberal Democrats 7, Labour 6 and a further 3 vacant. 15 seats were up for election with 2 seats in St Johns ward being contested after the death of Conservative councillor Graham Tucker. The other 2 vacant seats were in Cove and Southwood, and Empress wards, where Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors respectively stood down at the election.
50 candidates were standing including 4 from the British National Party and 1 from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party as well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour parties. The candidates included a 19-year-old Conservative in Heron Wood ward who was hoping to become the youngest ever councillor in Rushmoor.
Issues in the election included local developments, an increase in flights at Farnborough Airfield, the recent trial of alternate weekly rubbish collection, anti-social behaviour, spending cuts and councillors' expenses.

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council with 29 seats compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 5 Labour. The Conservatives gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats in Cove and Southwood and West Heath wards to increase their majority. However the Liberal Democrats did take one seat back in St Marks ward defeating the Conservative councillor for the previous 10 years Nigel Baines. Meanwhile, in Heron Wood ward the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Aldershot for the first time since 2006 after defeating the sitting Labour councillor. Labour easily held their only other seat in North Town, while narrowly failed to gain Wellington from the Conservatives by 50 votes; however Labour came last in all 9 wards in Farnborough.
Overall turnout was down from the 2007 election at 33.7% with the lowest turnout in Wellington ward at 19.8%. Following the election the Liberal Democrats elected a new group leader with Sue Gadsby taking over from Craig Card who had been party leader for the previous 9 years.
Rushmoor Local Election Result 2008 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 11 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 73.3 | 52.9 | 11,817 | +4.3% |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20.0 | 29.9 | 6,664 | -0.8% |
| Labour | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 6.7 | 13.6 | 3,039 | -1.2% |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 | 733 | -0.8% |
| Monster Raving Loony | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 67 | -0.2% |

## Ward results

Cove & Southwood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Susan Carter | 960 | 63.5 | +9.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anoop Verma | 475 | 31.4 | −9.1 |
| | Labour | Edward Shelton | 77 | 5.1 | −0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 485 | 32.1 | +18.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,512 | 35.4 | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Empress :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gareth Lyon | 1,158 | 68.1 | +4.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Margaret Doubell | 405 | 23.8 | −2.9 |
| | Labour | Christopher Wright | 138 | 8.1 | −1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 753 | 44.3 | +7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,701 | 37.1 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Fernhill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Marsh | 906 | 65.3 | +7.5 |
| | BNP | Cheryl Glass | 200 | 14.4 | −2.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Josephine Murphy | 190 | 13.7 | −4.7 |
| | Labour | Martin Coule | 92 | 6.6 | +0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 706 | 50.9 | +11.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,388 | 33.7 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Grange :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Steve Masterson | 669 | 43.9 | +6.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Philip Thompson | 546 | 35.8 | −4.9 |
| | BNP | Janette Brunning | 179 | 11.7 | −1.4 |
| | Labour | June Smith | 130 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 123 | 8.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,524 | 37.3 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Heron Wood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Bowers | 564 | 41.8 | +15.9 |
| | Labour | Terry Bridgeman | 404 | 30.0 | −9.0 |
| | Conservative | Simon Poole | 380 | 28.2 | −6.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 160 | 11.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,348 | 29.5 | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Knellwood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Taylor | 1,153 | 69.8 | +13.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Derek Purdey | 395 | 23.9 | +4.9 |
| | Labour | William Tootill | 105 | 6.4 | −1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 758 | 45.9 | +8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,653 | 39.3 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Manor Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Paparesti | 869 | 61.7 | +5.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Laura Kilburn | 399 | 28.3 | −4.8 |
| | Labour | Lesley Pestridge | 140 | 9.9 | −0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 470 | 33.4 | +10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,408 | 30.6 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Mayfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Charlie Fraser-Fleming | 491 | 44.4 | −0.3 |
| | Conservative | Roderick Baulk | 302 | 27.3 | +2.8 |
| | BNP | Warren Glass | 191 | 17.3 | −0.2 |
| | Labour | Clive Grattan | 123 | 11.1 | −2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 189 | 17.1 | −3.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,107 | 27.9 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
North Town :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sue Dibble | 885 | 59.8 | +3.2 |
| | Conservative | Sabaah Choudhary | 446 | 30.1 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nick Burfield | 149 | 10.1 | −5.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 439 | 29.7 | +1.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,480 | 28.2 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Rowhill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Welch | 928 | 67.4 | +7.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Pete Pearson | 217 | 15.8 | −3.8 |
| | Labour | Jill Clark | 164 | 11.9 | −2.0 |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Professor Nabob | 67 | 4.9 | −1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 711 | 51.7 | +11.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,376 | 33.1 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St John's (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Peter Moyle | 1,005 | |
| | Conservative | Jacqui Vosper | 934 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Leola Card | 631 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Janet Gardner | 621 | |
| | Labour | Sean Clarke | 94 | |
| | Labour | Leslie Taylor | 91 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,376 | 34.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
St Mark's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Crispin Allard | 984 | 53.9 | +8.6 |
| | Conservative | Nigel Baines | 741 | 40.6 | −7.0 |
| | Labour | Barry Jones | 100 | 5.5 | −1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 243 | 13.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,825 | 40.1 | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Wellington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Neil Watkin | 461 | 47.1 | −2.1 |
| | Labour | Alex Crawford | 411 | 42.0 | +3.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Woodcock | 107 | 10.9 | −0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 50 | 5.1 | −5.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 979 | 19.8 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
West Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Steve Smith | 905 | 55.1 | +9.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Shaun Murphy | 490 | 29.8 | −7.3 |
| | BNP | Garry Brunning | 163 | 9.9 | −1.3 |
| | Labour | Philip Collins | 85 | 5.2 | −1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 415 | 25.3 | +17.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,643 | 39.8 | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |