# 2003 Worthing Borough Council election

The 2003 Worthing Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Worthing Borough Council in West Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control. Overall turnout was 28.61%.
The election saw 38 candidates from 4 parties competing for the 13 seats which were being contested. 7 sitting councillors stood down at the election which saw the Liberal Democrats attempting to defend the majority they had won in the previous election in 2002. The Liberal Democrats campaigned on the record of their "Clean and Safe Worthing" campaign and on plans to upgrade the leisure centre and replace the Aquarena. However the Conservatives attacked them for stopping improvements to the seafront and for the poor state of facilities in Worthing. The Green and Labour parties also stood candidates but did not contest all of the wards with Labour only putting up 3 candidates.
The results saw the Conservatives make one gain from the Liberal Democrats in Selden ward, with the winner, Jack Saheid, becoming the first Muslim councillor on Worthing council. After the Liberal Democrats failed by 6 votes to gain Gaisford from the Conservatives, both parties ended the election on 18 seats making Worthing a hung council. The results meant that the Liberal Democrat mayor of Worthing had the casting vote on the council.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Conservative 18
* Liberal Democrat 18

## Election result

Worthing Local Election Result 2003 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Conservative | 8 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 61.5 | 51.8 | 12,297 | +6.9% |
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 38.5 | 41.0 | 9,724 | -2.9% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 1,210 | +1.6% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 503 | -5.5% |

## Ward results

Broadwater :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geraldine Lissenburg | 1,069 | 65.9 | −2.9 |
| | Conservative | Heather Mercer | 427 | 26.3 | +4.0 |
| | Green | Derek Colkett | 125 | 7.7 | +7.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 642 | 39.6 | −6.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,621 | 25.0 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Castle :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Claire Potter | 923 | 54.5 | +3.5 |
| | Conservative | John Rogers | 771 | 45.5 | +12.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 152 | 9.0 | −8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,694 | 28.6 | −3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Hart | 667 | 47.4 | −11.3 |
| | Conservative | Martin Coppard | 472 | 33.5 | +4.6 |
| | Labour | Brian Gill | 158 | 11.2 | −1.2 |
| | Green | Alice-Amanda Hinton | 111 | 7.9 | +7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 195 | 13.9 | −15.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,408 | 24.4 | −2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Durrington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nick Rodgers | 1,168 | 56.3 | −8.5 |
| | Conservative | Alan Whiteley | 787 | 37.9 | +8.9 |
| | Green | John Dwyer | 121 | 5.8 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 381 | 18.4 | −17.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,076 | 25.1 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Gaisford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Stephens | 752 | 45.7 | +7.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Antony Price | 746 | 45.3 | −3.8 |
| | Green | Marie Hillcoat | 149 | 9.0 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6 | 0.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,647 | 25.5 | −4.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Goring :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Welch | 1,732 | 73.4 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Stephenson | 628 | 26.6 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,104 | 46.8 | +4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,360 | 35.4 | −2.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Heene (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tim Dice | 996 | | |
| | Conservative | Paul High | 949 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Jones | 513 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kevin Skepper | 418 | | |
| | Green | Heather Rogers | 191 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,067 | 25.2 | −2.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Marine :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tom Wye | 1,282 | 63.6 | +2.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Medcalf | 373 | 18.5 | −0.6 |
| | Labour | Peter Barnes | 222 | 11.0 | −0.3 |
| | Green | Lucielle Colkett | 140 | 6.9 | −2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 909 | 45.1 | +3.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,017 | 31.4 | −0.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Offington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Mark McCarthy | 1,490 | 69.7 | +5.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Moynan | 489 | 22.9 | −0.2 |
| | Green | Rosemary Hook | 160 | 7.5 | +2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,001 | 46.8 | +5.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,139 | 33.7 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Salvington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jacqueline Marsh | 1,100 | 60.3 | −0.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark O'Keeffe | 723 | 39.7 | +11.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 377 | 20.6 | −11.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,940 | 27.9 | −1.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Selden :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jack Saheid | 1,053 | 51.2 | +15.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christine Brown | 872 | 42.4 | −2.4 |
| | Green | Dave Yates | 130 | 6.3 | +1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 181 | 8.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,055 | 33.9 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Tarring :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Lovell | 1,135 | 62.1 | −6.7 |
| | Conservative | Gavin Clark | 486 | 26.6 | +3.5 |
| | Labour | Ian Sandell | 123 | 6.7 | −1.4 |
| | Green | Benjamin Colkett | 83 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 649 | 35.5 | −10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,827 | 27.6 | −1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |