# 2002 West Oxfordshire District Council election

The 2002 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000. The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.

## Background

Before the election the Conservatives had a two-seat majority with 25 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 12 seats, Independents had nine, the Labour Party had two seats and one seat was vacant. Boundary changes took place for the 2002 election with the whole council being elected for the first time since 1976. Only seven wards had no boundary change and the number of councillors for Witney increased from 9 to 12.
A total of 108 candidates stood for the 49 seats on the council, 46 Conservatives, 27 Liberal Democrats, 18 Labour, 10 Independents, 6 Green Party and 1 United Kingdom Independence Party. 39 councillors sought re-election, with the Conservative group leader Barry Norton being re-elected in North Leigh without opposition.

## Election result

The Conservative majority on the council increased to 15, after 32 Conservative councillors were elected. 35 of the 39 councillors who sought election were re-elected, with the Liberal Democrats taking 10 seats, independents 5 seats and Labour kept the 2 seats they had been defending. The Green Party failed to win any seats, with 324 votes in fourth place in Witney North being their best result. Overall turnout at the election was 39%.
West Oxfordshire local election result 2002 :
| Party | Seats | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 32 | +7 | 65.3 | 43.6 | 21,164 | -3.3 |
| Liberal Democrats | 10 | -2 | 20.4 | 27.5 | 13,341 | +6.6 |
| Independent | 5 | -4 | 10.2 | 12.1 | 5,882 | +0.5 |
| Labour | 2 | 0 | 4.1 | 13.7 | 6,637 | -6.4 |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 | 1,399 | +2.5 |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 117 | +0.2 |

## Ward results

Alvescot and Filkins :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Angela Neale | 421 | 71.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Katherine Southey | 172 | 29.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 249 | 42.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 593 | 42.9 |
Ascott and Shipton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Hilary Hibbert-Biles | 439 | 57.4 |
| | Independent | Robert Barrett | 326 | 42.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 113 | 14.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 765 | 47.1 |
Bampton and Clanfield (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Jonathan Phillips | 795 | 46.9 |
| | Conservative | Frederick Gray | 665 | 39.2 |
| | Labour | Mark Albert | 235 | 13.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,695 | 37.8 |
Brize Norton and Shilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Verena Hunt | unopposed | | |
Burford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Keith Davies | 407 | 56.5 |
| | Conservative | Donald Seale | 313 | 43.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 94 | 13.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 720 | 47.3 |
Carterton North East (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Reginald Mason | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative | Keith Stone | unopposed | | |
Carterton North West (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | David King | 555 | |
| | Conservative | Peter Handley | 515 | |
| | Independent | Paul Wesson | 448 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,518 | 28.5 |
Carterton South (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Windell Walcott | 793 | |
| | Conservative | Harry Watts | 448 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Madden | 402 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,643 | 31.4 |
Chadlington and Churchill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Terence Owen | 402 | 65.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Amanda Epps | 212 | 34.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 190 | 31.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 614 | 40.0 |
Charlbury and Finstock (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Glena Chadwick | 902 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Breakell | 708 | |
| | Independent | Robert Potter | 405 | |
| | Conservative | Simon Hoare | 321 | |
| | Conservative | Philip Rand | 275 | |
| | Labour | Stephen Hague | 214 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,825 | 50.8 |
Chipping North (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | John Hannis | 1,000 | |
| | Conservative | Michael Howes | 813 | |
| | Labour | Evelyn Coles | 797 | |
| | Labour | Georgina Burrows | 610 | |
| | Conservative | Carolyn Hazeel | 608 | |
| | Labour | Stephen Akers | 547 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Catherine Dawson | 209 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Derek Brown | 197 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,781 | 38.6 |
Ducklington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Stephen Hayward | 303 | 53.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | June Taylor | 135 | 23.9 |
| | Labour | Sheila Cuss | 128 | 22.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 168 | 29.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 566 | 35.8 |
Eynsham and Cassington (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Harry Wyatt | 1,008 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Margaret Stevens | 967 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Rossiter | 892 | |
| | Conservative | Frederick Wright | 625 | |
| | Conservative | Frances Pike | 546 | |
| | Conservative | Alison Fayers-Kerr | 541 | |
| | Green | Jill Jones | 201 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,780 | 37.7 |
Freeland and Hanborough (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gareth Epps | 866 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David James | 844 | |
| | Conservative | David Dawes | 566 | |
| | Conservative | Helen Barrow | 431 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,707 | 46.1 |
Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | George Kellow | 780 | |
| | Conservative | Warwick Robinson | 695 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christopher Blount | 415 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Malcolm West | 282 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,172 | 39.1 |
Kingham, Rollright and Enstone (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Anthony Walker | 768 | |
| | Conservative | Rodney Rose | 712 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Helen Worrall | 411 | |
| | Labour | Melanie Deans | 344 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,235 | 42.3 |
Milton under Wychwood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Jeffrey Haine | 524 | 76.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Lily | 162 | 23.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 362 | 52.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 686 | 42.8 |
North Leigh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Barry Norton | unopposed | | |
Standlake, Aston and Stanton Harcourt (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brenda Smith | 915 | |
| | Conservative | James Mills | 606 | |
| | Independent | John Faulkner | 548 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,069 | 43.1 |
Stonesfield and Tackley (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Derrick Milard | 903 | |
| | Independent | Charles Cottrell-Dormer | 635 | |
| | Labour | David Cullen | 471 | |
| | Conservative | Gillian Oldfield | 284 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Miller | 222 | |
| | Conservative | Sandra Rasch | 204 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,719 | 47.4 |
The Bartons :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Goffe | unopposed | | |
Witney Central (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Edward Cooper | 587 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew Creery | 429 | |
| | Conservative | Akin Adams | 424 | |
| | Labour | Richard Kelsall | 401 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brenda Churchill | 277 | |
| | Green | Colette Jones | 171 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,289 | 41.1 |
Witney East (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Holborough | 521 | |
| | Conservative | Frank Smith | 470 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew Rands | 446 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Nicholson | 443 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Willis | 437 | |
| | Conservative | Grant Stanley | 412 | |
| | Labour | Raymond Harris | 243 | |
| | Green | Christopher Marchant | 186 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,158 | 33.2 |
Witney North (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Martin Chapman | 491 | |
| | Conservative | Roger Curry | 484 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Serena Martin | 387 | |
| | Green | Richard Dossett-Davies | 324 | |
| | Labour | Alison Bettle | 234 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,920 | 33.4 |
Witney South (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Anthony Harvey | 748 | |
| | Conservative | Peter Green | 703 | |
| | Conservative | Ross McFarlane | 598 | |
| | Independent | Thomas Titherington | 415 | |
| | Labour | Michael Enright | 412 | |
| | Labour | Andrew Ross | 360 | |
| | Labour | David Wesson | 360 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Branner | 226 | |
| | Green | Stephen Mohammad | 132 | |
| | UKIP | James Robertshaw | 117 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,071 | 32.6 |
Witney West (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Louise Chapman | 469 | |
| | Conservative | Lesley Semaine | 448 | |
| | Labour | Ross Beadle | 231 | |
| | Labour | William Tumbridge | 220 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anna Fairhurst | 190 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,558 | 26.5 |
Woodstock and Bladon (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Julian Cooper | 939 | |
| | Conservative | Ian Hudspeth | 451 | |
| | Conservative | Joanne Chow | 438 | |
| | Green | Paul Creighton | 385 | |
| | Labour | Duncan Enright | 243 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,456 | 47.9 |