# 2008 Great Yarmouth Borough Council election

The 2008 Great Yarmouth Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Great Yarmouth Borough Council in Norfolk, 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 24
* Labour 15

## Background

13 seats were contested at the election with both the Conservative and Labour parties contesting every seat, while the Liberal Democrats had 6 candidates, the United Kingdom Independence Party 3 and the Green Party 2.

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives increase their majority on the council after gaining two seats from Labour. This took the Conservatives to 24 seats, compared to 15 for Labour, while none of the other parties who contested the election won any seats. Overall turnout at the election was 30.02%, slightly down on the over 31% in 2007.
One of the two Conservatives gains came in Bradwell North, where the leader of the Labour group on the council, Trevor Wainwright, lost by 48 votes. Wainwright put his defeat down to national issues and in particular the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax. The other Conservative gain came in Magdalen ward where councillor Colleen Walker was defeated by Patricia Page by 64 votes. Among those to hold their seats were the Conservative leader of the council Barry Coleman and the Conservative mayor Paul Garrod. Coleman agreed that national events had effected the election saying "You can't help but think national issues came into play in this vote".
Following the election Mick Castle returned as leader of the Labour group on the council, after previously having been group leader from 2004 to 2006.
Great Yarmouth Local Election Result 2008 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 9 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 69.2 | 54.7 | 9,393 | +1.7% |
| Labour | 4 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 30.8 | 34.3 | 5,899 | -1.7% |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 1,053 | +3.5% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | 467 | -0.6% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 370 | -1.3% |

## Ward results

Bradwell North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Alan Grey | 761 | 47.0 | −9.6 |
| | Labour | Trevor Wainwright | 713 | 44.0 | +0.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Loades | 146 | 9.0 | +9.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 48 | 3.0 | −10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,620 | 32.7 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Bradwell South and Hopton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Stephen Ames | 814 | 48.0 | −5.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Aleck Buchanan | 381 | 22.5 | +22.5 |
| | Labour | Joanne Vriesema | 325 | 19.2 | −8.7 |
| | UKIP | Colin Aldred | 177 | 10.4 | −8.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 433 | 25.5 | +0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,697 | 33.8 | +1.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Central and Northgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Michael Taylor | 636 | 43.1 | +0.7 |
| | Conservative | Thomas Garrod | 560 | 38.0 | +6.4 |
| | UKIP | Gabriele Baugh | 143 | 9.7 | −0.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Harris | 135 | 9.2 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 76 | 5.2 | −5.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,474 | 26.7 | −1.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Claydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anthony Blyth | 704 | 45.1 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative | Margaret Greenacre | 604 | 38.7 | −3.0 |
| | Green | Ralph Woodcock | 252 | 16.2 | +1.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 100 | 6.4 | +4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,560 | 28.4 | −1.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
East Flegg :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Jermany | 930 | 66.9 | −7.4 |
| | Labour | Jamie Smith | 242 | 17.4 | −8.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rodney Cole | 218 | 15.7 | +15.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 688 | 49.5 | +0.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,390 | 36.4 | −0.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Gorleston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Bertie Collins | 991 | 76.6 | +25.8 |
| | Labour | Rex Tyrrell | 303 | 23.4 | +8.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 688 | 53.2 | +36.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,294 | 32.8 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Magdalen :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Patricia Page | 816 | 52.0 | +3.8 |
| | Labour | Colleen Walker | 752 | 48.0 | −3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 64 | 4.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,568 | 30.6 | +0.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Nelson :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Michael Jeal | 487 | 45.3 | +2.9 |
| | Conservative | Joy Cosaitis | 377 | 35.1 | +7.8 |
| | Green | Anne Purchase-Walker | 118 | 11.0 | +3.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nicholas Dyer | 93 | 8.7 | +8.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 110 | 10.2 | −4.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,075 | 19.3 | −4.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Ormesby :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Charles Reynolds | 997 | 79.9 | +11.2 |
| | Labour | Jennifer Livingstone | 251 | 20.1 | +1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 746 | 59.8 | +9.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,248 | 36.2 | −2.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St Andrews :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Patrick Cook | 619 | 62.6 | +14.2 |
| | Labour | Gary Fox | 370 | 37.4 | +0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 249 | 25.2 | +13.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 989 | 28.5 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Southtown and Cobholm :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Penelope Linden | 334 | 46.1 | +1.9 |
| | Conservative | James Dinsdale | 163 | 22.5 | −7.0 |
| | UKIP | Paul Baugh | 147 | 20.3 | +1.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Brookshaw | 80 | 11.0 | +11.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 171 | 23.6 | +8.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 724 | 20.5 | −2.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
West Flegg :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Barry Coleman | 1,068 | 79.0 | +3.6 |
| | Labour | Katie James | 284 | 21.0 | −3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 784 | 58.0 | +7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,352 | 34.4 | −1.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Yarmouth North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Garrod | 693 | 58.2 | +3.8 |
| | Labour | Charles Marsden | 498 | 41.8 | −3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 195 | 16.4 | +7.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,191 | 34.6 | +0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |