# 2010 Swale Borough Council election

The 2010 Swale Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Swale Borough Council in Kent, 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 33
* Labour 10
* Liberal Democrats 3
* Independent 1

## Background

After the last election in 2008 the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 26 councillors, compared to 9 for Labour, 7 independents and 5 Liberal Democrats. However both the Conservative and Labour parties gained a seat at two by-elections in September 2008, after the independent councillors from Sheppey First resigned from the council.
By the time of the 2010 election there remained only one independent councillor, after Sheppey Central councillor Lesley Ingham joined the Conservatives in October 2009, before Pat Sandle and Paul Sturdgess also became Conservative councillors in March 2010. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat group on the council was reduced when St Michael's councillor Nick Williams defected to Labour in October 2009. This meant that before the 2010 election the Conservatives had 31 seats on the council, while Labour had 11, the Liberal Democrats had 4 and there was 1 independent.

## Election result

The Conservatives made a net gain of two seats to win 14 of the 17 seats contested. The gains came at the expense of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, which each finished one seat down.
The Conservatives took Murston from the Liberal Democrats and Roman from Labour, as well as gaining Sheerness East by a single vote from Labour. However Labour retained Chalkwell with a majority of 30 votes over the Conservatives and gained one of the two seats contested in Queenborough and Halfway from the Conservatives.
Swale local election result 2010 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 14 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 82.4 | 50.2 | 23,751 | +4.7% |
| Labour | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 17.6 | 29.5 | 13,957 | +5.8% |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 16.1 | 7,610 | -1.9% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.7 | 1,755 | +3.7% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 275 | -0.5% |

## Ward results

Abbey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Bryan Mulhern | 1,227 | 43.4 | +6.1 |
| | Labour | Trevor Payne | 701 | 24.8 | −1.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Williams | 621 | 22.0 | +8.7 |
| | Green | Gary Miller | 275 | 9.7 | +9.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 526 | 18.6 | +8.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,824 | 63.5 | +28.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Chalkwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Roger Truelove | 991 | 41.6 | −3.3 |
| | Conservative | Emma Bridges | 961 | 40.3 | −1.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Spurling | 432 | 18.1 | +4.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 30 | 1.3 | −1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,384 | 63.6 | +29.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Grove :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gareth Randall | 1,629 | 49.1 | −1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bernie Lowe | 732 | 22.1 | +1.4 |
| | Labour | Kenneth Rowles | 686 | 20.7 | −8.3 |
| | UKIP | James Nash | 268 | 8.1 | +8.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 897 | 27.1 | +5.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,315 | 63.7 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gerry Lewin | 1,745 | 54.0 | −12.9 |
| | Labour | Ruth Walker-Grice | 514 | 15.9 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anne Jenkins | 511 | 15.8 | −0.6 |
| | UKIP | Richard Palmer | 460 | 14.2 | +14.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,231 | 38.1 | −12.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,230 | 72.5 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Kemsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Brenda Simpson | 1,743 | 55.8 | −9.8 |
| | Labour | Martin McCusker | 766 | 24.5 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mary Zeng | 616 | 19.7 | +8.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 977 | 31.3 | −11.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,125 | 62.7 | +36.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Minster Cliffs :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ken Pugh | 2,141 | 57.7 | +11.3 |
| | Labour | Libby Tucker | 1,013 | 27.3 | +11.3 |
| | UKIP | Alison Donkin | 557 | 15.0 | +15.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,128 | 30.4 | +15.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,711 | 64.5 | +33.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Murston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ed Gent | 845 | 39.2 | +15.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 695 | 32.2 | −25.8 |
| | Labour | Shelley Cheesman | 618 | 28.6 | +10.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 150 | 7.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,158 | 56.3 | +31.4 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Queenborough and Halfway (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Darby | 1,548 | | |
| | Labour | Jackie Constable | 1,504 | | |
| | Conservative | Mick Galvin | 1,316 | | |
| | Labour | Sean Dalton | 1,092 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,460 | 60.8 | +27.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Roman :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lloyd Bowen | 982 | 44.2 | +14.4 |
| | Labour | Simon Clark | 813 | 36.6 | −21.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Philips | 425 | 19.1 | +7.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 169 | 7.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,220 | 60.7 | +31.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Sheerness East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Chris Foulds | 687 | 38.7 | +16.5 |
| | Labour | Mark Ellen | 686 | 38.6 | +6.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Colin Howe | 403 | 22.7 | +11.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1 | 0.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,776 | 50.9 | +24.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Sheerness West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Harrison | 839 | 40.4 | −9.1 |
| | Conservative | Dave Wilson | 768 | 37.0 | +20.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Kemp | 469 | 22.6 | +22.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 71 | 3.4 | −12.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,076 | 51.5 | +21.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Sheppey Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Morris | 2,333 | 63.3 | +29.4 |
| | Labour | Dennis Grover | 1,354 | 36.7 | +21.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 979 | 26.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,687 | 69.7 | +42.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St Anns :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Mike Cosgrove | 1,305 | 47.8 | +6.8 |
| | Labour | Paul Durkin | 733 | 26.8 | +5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Evans | 693 | 25.4 | +14.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 572 | 20.9 | +6.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,731 | 69.2 | +33.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Teynham and Lynsted :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Trevor Fentiman | 1,482 | 55.2 | −4.9 |
| | Labour | David Feltham | 556 | 20.7 | −6.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dave Manning | 458 | 17.1 | +4.8 |
| | UKIP | Aaron Donkin | 188 | 7.0 | +7.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 926 | 34.5 | +2.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,684 | 66.3 | +32.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Watling :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ted Wilcox | 1,411 | 49.9 | −9.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mike Wheeler | 899 | 31.8 | +21.2 |
| | Labour | Judith Webb | 517 | 18.3 | +4.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 512 | 18.1 | −24.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,827 | 69.7 | +29.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Woodstock :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Alan Willicombe | 1,628 | 51.8 | −3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Springham | 656 | 20.9 | +3.5 |
| | Labour | Geraldine Feltham | 574 | 18.3 | −1.8 |
| | UKIP | Lee Burgess | 282 | 9.0 | +9.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 972 | 31.0 | −4.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,140 | 78.1 | +33.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |