# 2003 Woking Borough Council election

The 2003 Woking Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Conservative 17
* Liberal Democrat 12
* Labour 6
* Independent 1

## Background

The election saw 13 seats being contested with the contest in Brookwood ward being a by-election after the previous Conservative councillor, Mark Pritchard, resigned his seat on the council. Three long standing councillors also stood down at the election, Alf Stranks in Byfleet ward, Gordon Brown in Horsell East and Woodham and Rosemary Johnson in Old Woking. As well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, there were also 3 from the United Kingdom Independence Party, 2 independents and 1 from the Green Party.

## Election result

No party won a majority in the election with the council remaining under no overall control as it had been since the 1998 election. The only party to have more seats after the election than before was Labour after they gained Old Woking from the Liberal Democrats by 26 votes. Meanwhile, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each gained one seat from the other, with the Conservatives taking Byfleet by 27 votes and the Liberal Democrats winning Brookwood by 7 votes. Overall turnout in the election was 33.66%.
The failure by the Conservatives to gain the two seats they needed to have a majority on the council was described as disappointing by commentators, in a year when the party gained seats nationally.
Woking Local Election Result 2003 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46.2 | 46.7 | 8,780 | +1.3% |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 30.8 | 35.4 | 6,653 | -4.1% |
| Labour | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 23.1 | 13.1 | 2,463 | -0.7% |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 | 461 | +1.8% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 362 | +0.8% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 76 | +0.4% |

## Ward results

Brookwood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Philip Goldenberg | 358 | 44.1 | +13.8 |
| | Conservative | Justin Boorman | 351 | 43.2 | −19.7 |
| | Green | Sandra Simkin | 76 | 9.4 | +9.4 |
| | Labour | Eric Kennedy | 27 | 3.3 | −3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7 | 0.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 812 | 43.8 | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Simon Hutton | 1,026 | 46.0 | −2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anne Roberts | 999 | 44.8 | +5.1 |
| | Labour | Brian Cozens | 207 | 9.3 | −2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27 | 1.2 | −7.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,232 | 41.0 | +4.8 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Goldsworth East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geoff Smith | 727 | 52.2 | +2.4 |
| | Conservative | Jeremy Yates | 457 | 32.8 | +2.3 |
| | Labour | Christopher Martin | 210 | 15.1 | −4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 270 | 19.4 | +0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,394 | 25.8 | −3.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Hermitage and Knaphill South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tina Liddington | 540 | 52.6 | |
| | Conservative | Hilary Addison | 349 | 34.0 | |
| | Labour | Graeme Carman | 137 | 13.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 191 | 18.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,026 | 25.6 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Horsell East and Woodham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Anne Murray | 814 | 58.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Robert Leach | 333 | 24.0 |
| | UKIP | Michael Harvey | 183 | 13.2 |
| | Labour | Michael Roberts | 56 | 4.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 481 | 34.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,386 | 40.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Horsell West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jim Armitage | 1,129 | 50.1 | +7.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ann-Marie Barker | 935 | 41.5 | −6.6 |
| | Labour | Audrey Worgan | 121 | 5.4 | +0.0 |
| | UKIP | Timothy Shaw | 69 | 3.1 | −0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 194 | 8.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,254 | 42.2 | −4.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Kingfield and Westfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | John Martin | 498 | 43.5 |
| | Conservative | Norma Gruselle | 321 | 28.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gareth Davies | 215 | 18.8 |
| | UKIP | Paul Davey | 110 | 9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 177 | 15.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,144 | 28.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Knaphill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neville Hinks | 977 | 47.8 | +4.3 |
| | Conservative | Catherine Fisher | 950 | 46.5 | +1.3 |
| | Labour | Chanchal Kapoor | 117 | 5.7 | −5.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27 | 1.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,044 | 30.5 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Maybury and Sheerwater :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Elizabeth Evans | 593 | 40.8 | −18.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Wilson | 397 | 27.3 | +13.2 |
| | Conservative | David Roe | 289 | 19.9 | +1.7 |
| | Independent | Michael Osman | 174 | 12.0 | +3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 196 | 13.5 | −27.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,453 | 22.2 | −2.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Old Woking :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Richard Ford | 304 | 42.6 | +13.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Derek McCrum | 278 | 39.0 | −13.9 |
| | Conservative | Colin Kemp | 131 | 18.4 | +0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 26 | 3.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 713 | 37.2 | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Pyrford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Peter Ankers | 1,285 | 72.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Grimshaw | 442 | 24.9 |
| | Labour | Richard Cowley | 50 | 2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 843 | 47.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,777 | 44.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
St Johns and Hook Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Graham Cundy | 899 | 72.9 | +3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Kremer | 266 | 21.6 | −3.3 |
| | Labour | John Bramall | 69 | 5.6 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 633 | 51.3 | +7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,234 | 35.2 | 0.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
West Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Mehala Gosling | 779 | 58.7 | −12.9 |
| | Independent | Richard Wilson | 287 | 21.6 | +21.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Hough | 186 | 14.0 | −7.8 |
| | Labour | Michael Byrne | 74 | 5.6 | −1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 492 | 37.1 | −12.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,326 | 33.8 | −3.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |