# 2008 Woking Borough Council election

The 2008 Woking Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, 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 19
* Liberal Democrat 17

## Background

13 seats were contested in the election with 42 candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour and United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Labour only put forward 6 candidates, while UKIP had candidates in every ward for the first time. Since the 2007 election the Conservatives had held a majority on the council after a long period with no party holding a majority.

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives maintain their majority on the council with 19 seats compared to 17 for the Liberal Democrats. Seven new councillors were elected after five sitting councillors stood down and 2 Liberal Democrats lost in the election. The Conservatives gained seats from the Liberal Democrats in Brookwood and Horsell West, while the Liberal Democrats won seats back in Knaphill and Maybury and Sheerwater. Overall turnout in the election at 43.46%, was almost the same as the 43.6% seen in 2007.
Woking Local Election Result 2008 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Liberal Democrats | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 53.8 | 44.1 | 11,230 | +8.7% |
| Conservative | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46.2 | 46.7 | 11,885 | -4.2% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 | 1,178 | -4.1% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 | 1,160 | +0.1% |

## Ward results

Brookwood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Glynis Preshaw | 488 | 48.7 | +3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Peel | 477 | 47.6 | −1.7 |
| | UKIP | William March | 19 | 1.9 | +1.9 |
| | Labour | Richard Ford | 19 | 1.9 | −0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11 | 1.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,003 | 52.9 | −1.6 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anne Roberts | 1,204 | 50.6 | +7.6 |
| | Conservative | Simon Farrant | 1,106 | 46.5 | −10.5 |
| | UKIP | Richard Squire | 68 | 2.9 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 98 | 4.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,378 | 44.1 | +0.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Goldsworth East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rosie Sharpley | 1,261 | 58.4 | +6.5 |
| | Conservative | David Roe | 654 | 30.3 | −7.1 |
| | UKIP | Robert Burberry | 126 | 5.8 | +2.5 |
| | Labour | John Scott-Morgan | 120 | 5.6 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 607 | 28.1 | +13.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,161 | 40.0 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Goldsworth West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Eastwood | 661 | 55.3 | −8.9 |
| | Conservative | Anthony Casey | 369 | 30.9 | +1.7 |
| | Labour | Paul Brown | 116 | 9.7 | +3.1 |
| | UKIP | Leo Dix | 50 | 4.2 | +4.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 292 | 24.4 | −10.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,196 | 31.3 | −1.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Horsell East and Woodham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Smith | 1,100 | 70.3 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Doran | 334 | 21.4 | +3.0 |
| | UKIP | Marion Free | 130 | 8.3 | +1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 766 | 48.9 | −3.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,564 | 44.5 | −3.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Horsell West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Anthony Branagan | 1,249 | 48.0 | −2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ann-Marie Barker | 1,153 | 44.3 | +4.5 |
| | UKIP | Timothy Shaw | 117 | 4.5 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | Audrey Worgan | 82 | 3.2 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 96 | 3.7 | −7.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,601 | 49.3 | −2.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Kingfield and Westfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Derek McCrum | 699 | 39.4 | +7.5 |
| | Conservative | Carl Thomson | 509 | 28.7 | −7.7 |
| | Labour | John Martin | 478 | 26.9 | +1.7 |
| | UKIP | Dennis Davey | 88 | 5.0 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 190 | 10.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,774 | 44.9 | +1.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Knaphill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Oliver Wells | 1,380 | 49.8 | +7.3 |
| | Conservative | Beryl Dunham | 1,258 | 45.4 | +1.1 |
| | UKIP | Duncan Clarke | 131 | 4.7 | −3.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 122 | 4.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,769 | 39.5 | +2.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Maybury and Sheerwater :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Bashir | 1,551 | 49.1 | +14.9 |
| | Conservative | Rashid Mohammed | 1,104 | 35.0 | −3.8 |
| | Labour | Nicholas Trier | 363 | 11.5 | −10.4 |
| | UKIP | Marcia Taylor | 139 | 4.4 | +1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 447 | 14.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,157 | 48.6 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Mount Hermon East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Bittleston | 942 | 54.3 | +10.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Philip Goldenberg | 736 | 42.4 | −6.0 |
| | UKIP | Judith Squire | 56 | 3.2 | −0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 206 | 11.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,734 | 47.4 | −1.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Mount Hermon West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Johnson | 965 | 61.0 | +4.3 |
| | Conservative | Valerian Hopkins | 568 | 35.9 | +0.7 |
| | UKIP | Mary Kingston | 48 | 3.0 | −1.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 397 | 25.1 | +3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,581 | 37.9 | −5.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Pyrford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ashley Bowes | 1,379 | 70.5 | −5.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andrew Grimshaw | 466 | 23.8 | +6.2 |
| | UKIP | Robin Milner | 112 | 5.7 | −0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 913 | 46.7 | −12.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,957 | 39.2 | −12.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
West Byfleet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Gary Elson | 1,159 | 73.4 | −3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Wilson | 343 | 21.7 | +8.1 |
| | UKIP | Graham Wood | 76 | 4.8 | +0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 816 | 51.7 | −11.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,578 | 39.2 | −4.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |