# 2011 West Somerset District Council election

The 2011 West Somerset District Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of West Somerset District Council in Somerset, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2007 reducing the number of seats by 3. The Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from Independents.

## Background

Before the election Conservative Tim Taylor was the leader of the council in an alliance with Independents. Since the 2007 election boundary changes reduced the number of seats on the council from 31 to 28.
A total of 63 candidates stood at the election for the 28 seats on the council. These included 15 sitting councillors and a record 12 Green Party candidates, a party that had not contested any seats in West Somerset in 2007. This was compared to only 4 Labour Party and 2 Liberal Democrat candidates, with the number of Green candidates being put down to the proposal for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point. One seat, Greater Exmoor, only had one candidate, Conservative Steven Pugsley, so he was elected without opposition.

## Election result

The Conservatives took control of the council with 19 councillors after gaining 6 seats. This was mainly at the expense of Independents who dropped 9 seats, with only 7 independents being elected. The independent losses included the defeat of councillors Sandra Slade and Paul Tipney in Minehead South and Quantock Vale respectively.
The Labour Party gained a seat to move to 2 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats lost their only seat on the council and the Greens failed to win any seats.
West Somerset local election result 2011 :
| Party | Seats | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 19 | +6 | 67.9 | 47.4 | 10,486 | +4.4% |
| Independent | 7 | -9 | 25.0 | 32.4 | 7,169 | -15.6% |
| Labour | 2 | +1 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 1,548 | +1.6% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 2,449 | +11.1% |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2.2 | 479 | -1.4% |

## Ward results

Alcombe (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Ian Melhuish | 409 | |
| | Conservative | Paul Grierson | 357 | |
| | Labour | Andy Lewis | 280 | |
| | Green | Venetia Moore | 200 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,246 | 33.6 |
Brendon Hills :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Keith Turner | 456 | 74.3 |
| | Independent | Nick Moore | 158 | 25.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 298 | 48.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 614 | 51.6 |
Carhampton & Withycombe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Timothy Taylor | 382 | 66.3 |
| | Independent | William Butcher | 194 | 33.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 188 | 32.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 576 | 51.0 |
Crowcombe & Stogumber :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Anthony Trollope-Bellew | 373 | 54.8 |
| | Independent | Roy Harbour | 178 | 26.1 |
| | Green | Jamie Robertson | 130 | 19.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 195 | 28.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 681 | 53.4 |
Dulverton & District (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Keith Ross | 736 | |
| | Conservative | Bruce Heywood | 543 | |
| | Independent | David Lungley | 450 | |
| | Conservative | Kathy Smith | 434 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,163 | 51.3 |
Dunster & Timberscombe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Alec Chick | 336 | 57.9 |
| | Green | Nicky Gibbard | 166 | 28.6 |
| | Independent | Gary Miele | 78 | 13.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 170 | 29.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 580 | 47.5 |
Greater Exmoor :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Steven Pugsley | unopposed | | |
Minehead Central (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Andrew Hadley | 588 | |
| | Conservative | Mandy Chilcott | 543 | |
| | Conservative | Richard Lillis | 349 | |
| | Independent | Stephen Grice | 302 | |
| | Labour | Lesley Culverhouse | 298 | |
| | Independent | Ernest Taylor | 247 | |
| | Independent | John Clyde-Smith | 146 | |
| | Green | Cait Collins | 137 | |
| | Green | Simon Gibbard | 127 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,737 | 32.4 |
Minehead North (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | David Ross | 471 | |
| | Conservative | David Sanders | 448 | |
| | Independent | Steve Pickard | 220 | |
| | Green | Katy Attwater | 218 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,357 | 29.4 |
Minehead South (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Les Smith | 520 | |
| | Labour | Maureen Smith | 520 | |
| | Conservative | Tristan Tonks | 365 | |
| | Independent | Sandra Slade | 335 | |
| | Green | David Taylor | 259 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,999 | 41.3 |
Old Cleeve (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Kate Kravis | 523 | |
| | Conservative | Martin Dewdney | 423 | |
| | Green | Jude Johnson-Smith | 304 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Galloway | 219 | |
| | Green | David Latimer | 178 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,647 | 46.0 |
Porlock & District (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Karen Mills | 683 | |
| | Independent | Jon Freeman | 591 | |
| | Conservative | Nick Messarra | 414 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,688 | 47.7 |
Quantock Vale (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Chris Morgan | 521 | |
| | Conservative | Sue Goss | 442 | |
| | Independent | Paul Tipney | 434 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,397 | 45.1 |
Watchet (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | David Westcott | 669 | |
| | Conservative | Anthony Knight | 637 | |
| | Labour | Peter Murphy | 450 | |
| | Conservative | Ann Snelling | 327 | |
| | Green | Izzy Silvester | 297 | |
| | Independent | Loretta Whetlor | 269 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Bowden | 260 | |
| | Green | Bruce Scott | 259 | |
| | Independent | John Richards | 238 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,406 | 38.5 |
West Quantock :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Dowding | 417 | 70.6 |
| | Green | Miriam Robertson | 174 | 29.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 243 | 41.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 591 | 53.8 |
Williton (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Hugh Davies | 700 | |
| | Independent | Edwin May | 425 | |
| | Conservative | Rosemary Woods | 324 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,449 | 39.5 |