# 2008 Cherwell District Council election

The 2008 Cherwell District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Cherwell District Council in Oxfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
The results saw the Conservatives win all of the seats that were contested in the election in a clean sweep. They gained 2 seats from Labour to have 44 of the 50 seats on the council, while the Liberal Democrats were not defending any seats in the election. In Banbury Neithrop ward, Martin Weir, a former Labour party member who joined the Conservatives earlier in the year, defeated his former colleague and mayor Surinder Dhesi to take the seat. The other gain came in Banbury Ruscote, with the defeats for Labour being blamed on the national political situation. The results meant that Labour were reduced to holding only 2 seats on the council behind the Liberal Democrats on 4.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Conservative 44
* Liberal Democrat 4
* Labour 2

## Election result

Cherwell Local Election Result 2008 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 18 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100 | 67.0 | 16,341 | +10.0% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 19.0 | 4,637 | +0.1% |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 3,420 | -6.5% |

## Ward results

Adderbury :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rick Atkinson | 682 | 75.1 | +13.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Elisabeth Yardley | 226 | 24.9 | −13.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 456 | 50.2 | +27.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 908 | 39.0 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Banbury Calthorpe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Alastair Milne Home | 884 | 75.9 | +11.1 |
| | Labour | Mary Ross | 280 | 24.1 | +2.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 604 | 51.8 | +8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,164 | 28.0 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Banbury Easington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Fred Blackwell | 1,534 | 77.9 | +16.8 |
| | Labour | Roy Mold | 435 | 22.1 | +2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,099 | 55.8 | +14.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,969 | 33.7 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Banbury Grimsbury & Castle :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ann Bonner | 1,075 | 62.0 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | Henry Goodman | 495 | 28.6 | −9.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Martin Chadwick | 163 | 9.4 | +9.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 580 | 33.4 | +10.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,733 | 24.5 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Banbury Hardwick (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Donaldson | 975 | | |
| | Conservative | Anthony Ilott | 836 | | |
| | Labour | Sean Woodcock | 281 | | |
| | Labour | Sandra Mold | 260 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Burns | 233 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,585 | 24.2 | +0.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Banbury Neithrop :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Martin Weir | 700 | 56.1 | +6.6 |
| | Labour | Surinder Dhesi | 548 | 43.9 | +11.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 152 | 12.2 | −5.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,248 | 28.8 | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Banbury Ruscote :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Patricia Tompson | 751 | 52.0 | +2.9 |
| | Labour | Patrick Cartledge | 694 | 48.0 | +11.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 57 | 4.0 | −8.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,445 | 25.3 | −1.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Bicester East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lawrie Stratford | 877 | 70.3 | +10.1 |
| | Labour | Chris Bream | 208 | 16.7 | −8.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bruce Shakespeare | 163 | 13.1 | −1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 669 | 53.6 | +18.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,248 | 28.3 | −1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bicester North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Mawer | 939 | 73.2 | +2.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Steve Creed | 178 | 13.9 | −1.2 |
| | Labour | John Darbyshire | 165 | 12.9 | −1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 761 | 59.3 | +3.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,282 | 26.7 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bicester South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dan Sames | 827 | 60.1 | +10.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Walton | 548 | 39.9 | −10.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 279 | 20.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,375 | 37.4 | +5.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bicester Town :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Debbie Pickford | 774 | 65.5 | +7.0 |
| | Labour | Mary Lynch | 209 | 17.7 | −5.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Willett | 199 | 16.8 | −1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 565 | 47.8 | +12.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,182 | 30.5 | +0.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bicester West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Russell Hurle | 1,175 | 68.0 | +21.0 |
| | Labour | John Broad | 553 | 32.0 | −21.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 622 | 36.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,728 | 31.1 | −5.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bloxham & Bodicote :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lynda Thirzie Smart | 1,338 | 73.4 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Davis | 484 | 26.6 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 854 | 46.8 | +5.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,822 | 39.7 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Caversfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Catherine Fulljames | 510 | 76.9 | +5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andy Murray | 100 | 15.1 | −13.3 |
| | Labour | Alan Hasted | 53 | 8.0 | +8.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 410 | 61.8 | +18.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 663 | 34.9 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Kidlington South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Maurice Billington | 1,369 | 57.1 | +12.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Doug Williamson | 695 | 29.0 | −3.9 |
| | Labour | David James | 333 | 13.9 | −8.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 674 | 28.1 | +16.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,397 | 38.0 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Launton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Hughes | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Yarnton, Gosford & Water Eaton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Trevor Stevens | 1,095 | 66.4 | −3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Suzanne Wilson-Higgins | 431 | 26.1 | −4.3 |
| | Labour | Martin Keighery | 123 | 7.5 | +7.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 664 | 40.3 | +1.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,649 | 44.7 | +8.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |