# 2006 Maidstone Borough Council election

The 2006 Maidstone Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, 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 27
* Liberal Democrat 19
* Labour 6
* Independent 3

## Background

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest party on the council with 24 seats, compared to 20 Liberal Democrat, 8 Labour and 3 independent councillors. 18 seats were contested in the election, with the Conservatives the only party to contest every seat. Labour had 15 candidates, the Liberal Democrats 14, Green Party 6, United Kingdom Independence Party 4 and there were 3 independent candidates. Both the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Mick Stevens, and the Labour group leader, Daniel Murphy, stood down at the election, while the Conservative and Independent group leaders, Eric Hotson and Pat Marshall, defended Staplehurst and Bearsted wards respectively.

## Election result

The results saw the Conservatives make the 4 gains they required to win a majority, but fall a seat short after also losing one seat. This meant the council remained under no overall control as it had been since 1983, with the Conservatives on 27 seats, the Liberal Democrats on 19, Labour 6 and there were 3 independents. Overall turnout in the election was 37.3%.
Maidstone Local Election Result 2006 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 9 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 50.0 | 46.7 | 16,102 | +6.6% |
| Liberal Democrats | 6 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 33.3 | 30.7 | 10,579 | -0.8% |
| Labour | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 11.1 | 11.2 | 3,859 | -2.3% |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 1,928 | +3.6% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 1,542 | +3.0% |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.4 | 495 | -9.5% |

## Ward results

Allington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Daniel Daley | 1,562 | 62.6 | +10.1 |
| | Conservative | Jeffery Curwood | 653 | 26.2 | +1.6 |
| | Labour | Marianna Poliszczuk | 149 | 6.0 | −4.0 |
| | UKIP | Gareth Kendall | 130 | 5.2 | −7.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 909 | 36.4 | +8.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,494 | 41.7 | −2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Bearsted :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Patricia Marshall | 1,459 | 48.6 | +48.6 |
| | Conservative | Michael Cuming | 1,238 | 41.3 | −19.3 |
| | Labour | Jeanne Gibson | 169 | 5.6 | −5.0 |
| | Green | Edward Wallace | 135 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 221 | 7.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,001 | 42.5 | −2.0 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | | |
Boxley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Derek Butler | 1,349 | 65.7 | +20.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sheila Chittenden | 489 | 23.8 | −8.2 |
| | Labour | Frances Brown | 215 | 10.5 | +2.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 860 | 41.9 | +28.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,053 | 28.6 | −9.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Bridge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Brian Moss | 659 | 43.4 | +5.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Cocks | 573 | 37.7 | −3.1 |
| | Green | Stuart Jeffery | 166 | 10.9 | +10.9 |
| | Labour | Keith Adkinson | 122 | 8.0 | −4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 86 | 5.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,520 | 33.2 | −8.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Coxheath and Hunton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Mortimer | 1,212 | 48.1 | +8.0 |
| | Conservative | John Wilson | 1,175 | 46.7 | +6.3 |
| | Labour | Michael Casserley | 131 | 5.2 | −4.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 37 | 1.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,518 | 42.1 | −3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Mark Wooding | 1,371 | 51.6 | +22.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Chittenden | 999 | 37.6 | −10.0 |
| | Labour | Michael Beckwith | 180 | 6.8 | −2.4 |
| | UKIP | Anthony Robertson | 105 | 4.0 | −6.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 372 | 14.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,655 | 38.6 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Fant :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Beerling | 656 | 37.3 | +7.4 |
| | Conservative | Jamie Devlin | 460 | 26.1 | +5.0 |
| | Labour | Patrick Coates | 301 | 17.1 | −16.4 |
| | Green | Ian McDonald | 223 | 12.7 | +6.8 |
| | Independent | Carol Vizzard | 120 | 6.8 | +6.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 196 | 11.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,760 | 29.3 | −8.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Harrietsham and Lenham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Marshall | 1,079 | 57.5 | +13.1 |
| | Labour | Tom Sams | 797 | 42.5 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 282 | 15.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,876 | 41.1 | +1.3 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Headcorn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jenefer Gibson | 1,094 | 60.9 | −2.7 |
| | Green | Penelope Kemp | 701 | 39.1 | +31.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 393 | 21.9 | −30.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,795 | 41.9 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Julia Batt | 664 | 48.8 | −4.4 |
| | Conservative | Helen Aronson | 585 | 43.0 | +14.6 |
| | Labour | Margaret Taylor | 111 | 8.2 | −3.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 79 | 5.8 | −19.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,360 | 33.4 | −2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
High Street :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Clive English | 737 | 46.2 | +4.5 |
| | Conservative | Mark Mears | 545 | 34.2 | +7.5 |
| | Labour | Edith Davis | 200 | 12.5 | −3.5 |
| | UKIP | John Stanford | 112 | 7.0 | −8.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 192 | 12.0 | −3.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,594 | 25.0 | −5.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Marden and Yalding :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Roderick Nelson-Gracie | 1,475 | 72.4 | +22.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Samme | 561 | 27.6 | −1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 914 | 44.9 | +24.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,036 | 35.5 | −4.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tony Harwood | 1,077 | 57.4 | +6.2 |
| | Conservative | Derek Nicholson | 530 | 28.2 | +3.2 |
| | Green | James Shalice | 141 | 7.5 | +3.4 |
| | Labour | Richard Coates | 129 | 6.9 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 547 | 29.1 | +2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,877 | 33.4 | −3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Park Wood :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Daniel Moriarty | 315 | 34.9 | +4.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Robert Field | 308 | 34.1 | +10.1 |
| | Conservative | Robert Hinder | 279 | 30.9 | +3.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7 | 0.8 | −2.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 902 | 28.7 | +0.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Shepway North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Yates | 870 | 47.5 | +5.4 |
| | Labour | John Hughes | 436 | 23.8 | −5.7 |
| | Independent | Gillian Annan | 349 | 19.1 | +19.1 |
| | Green | Stephen Muggeridge | 176 | 9.6 | +5.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 434 | 23.7 | +11.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,831 | 29.9 | −3.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Shepway South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anthony Hull | 397 | 37.1 | −0.2 |
| | Conservative | Charles Worsfold | 386 | 36.0 | +3.9 |
| | UKIP | Stephen Dean | 148 | 13.8 | −5.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Shaw | 140 | 13.1 | +1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11 | 1.0 | −4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,071 | 25.2 | −3.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Bruce Pollington | 1,269 | 50.1 | +7.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Malcolm Luxton | 1,266 | 49.9 | +11.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3 | 0.1 | −4.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,535 | 42.1 | −0.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Staplehurst :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Eric Hotson | 1,085 | 66.7 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Thomas Burnham | 335 | 20.6 | −3.1 |
| | Labour | Alan Rimmer | 207 | 12.7 | +0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 750 | 46.1 | +5.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,627 | 36.3 | +6.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |