2006 Harrogate Borough Council election

The 2006 Harrogate Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Harrogate Borough Council in North Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.^[1]

Map of the results

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 27
• Liberal Democrat 22
• Independent 5^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 29 of the 54 seats.^[3] 19 seats were contested in the election,^[3] with the Conservatives defending 8, the Liberal Democrats 9 and independents 2.^[4] The Conservatives stood in every ward, while the Liberal Democrats contested 18 of the 19 wards.^[4] A Conservative cabinet member Alan Skidmore stepped down as a councillor at the election after previously representing Ripon Spa ward.^[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives lose their majority on the council after losing 3 seats.^[5] They finished with 27 seats, half of the 54 seats, after Bilton and Knaresborough King James were gained by the Liberal Democrats.^[5] The Conservatives also lost another seat in Ripon to an independent, but did gain High Harrogate from the Liberal Democrats.^[5] This meant the Liberal Democrats ended with 22 seats and there were 5 independents,^[5] after the independents won all 3 seats in Ripon.^[6] Overall turnout was nearly 40%, a little above the national average.^[7]

Harrogate local election result 2006^[8][9]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	10	2	1	+1	52.6	45.8	14,065	+11.6%
	Conservative	6	1	3	-2	31.6	40.4	12,420	-22.1%
	Independent	3	1	0	+1	15.8	9.7	2,996	+7.2%
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0	3.6	1,092	+3.6%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	162	-0.2%

Ward results

Bilton^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Morris Lightfoot	906	52.4	+7.1
	Conservative	Heather Adderley	770	44.5	−6.3
	Labour	Harinder Mann	53	3.1	−0.8
Majority			136	7.9
Turnout			1,729	41.1	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Granby^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Fox	1,008	74.8	+8.6
	Conservative	David Pearson	276	20.5	−4.8
	Labour	David King	63	4.7	−3.7
Majority			732	54.3	+13.4
Turnout			1,347	31.9	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Harlow Moor^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald MacKenzie	1,049	61.8	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Webber	648	38.2	+7.0
Majority			401	23.6	−9.6
Turnout			1,697	40.9	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

High Harrogate^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jayne Brotherton	808	51.9	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Macare	674	43.2	−2.0
	Labour	Deborah Havercroft	76	4.9	−1.3
Majority			136	8.7	+5.3
Turnout			1,556	37.8	+5.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hookstone^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Marsh	1,137	61.6	+5.2
	Conservative	Richard Cain	652	35.3	−4.7
	Labour	Patricia Foxall	57	3.1	−0.5
Majority			485	26.3	+10.0
Turnout			1,846	42.4	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Knaresborough East^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Willoughby	795	59.4	−2.5
	Conservative	Timothy Hunter	409	30.6	−7.5
	Labour	David Crosthwaite	134	10.0	+10.0
Majority			386	28.8	+4.9
Turnout			1,338	35.2	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Knaresborough King James^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Hoult	927	49.9	+4.0
	Conservative	Michael Gallico	857	46.2	−1.7
	Labour	Simon Hutchings	72	3.9	−2.3
Majority			70	3.8
Turnout			1,856	48.0	+7.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Knaresborough Scriven Park^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Jones	768	53.0	+15.6
	Conservative	Robert Aspin	556	38.3	+1.9
	Labour	Alan Beatham	126	8.7	+8.7
Majority			212	14.6	+13.6
Turnout			1,450	38.7	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Low Harrogate^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Cooper	781	55.0	−10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Brooks	639	45.0	+15.9
Majority			142	10.0	−26.4
Turnout			1,420	36.4	+5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

New Park^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Lockhart	954	71.6	+5.9
	Conservative	Geoffrey Tweedy	378	28.4	+1.5
Majority			576	43.2	+4.4
Turnout			1,332	34.4	+7.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Pannal^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Willis	1,593	73.7	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Gledhill	518	24.0	−8.3
	Labour	Cynthia Coltman	50	2.3	−1.5
Majority			1,075	49.7	+18.0
Turnout			2,161	50.2	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ripon Minster^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Pauline McHardy	605	47.2	+47.2
	Independent	Suart Martin	366	28.5	+28.5
	Conservative	John Topping	160	12.5	−19.5
	Liberal Democrats	Phillip Barlow	87	6.8	−61.2
	Labour	Elizabeth Barclay	65	5.1	+5.1
Majority			239	18.6
Turnout			1,283	33.7	+4.6
	Independent hold		Swing

Ripon Moorside^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Andrew Williams	1,266	88.5	+37.0
	Conservative	Francis Woodward	164	11.5	−14.9
Majority			1,102	77.1	+52.0
Turnout			1,430	37.6	+1.8
	Independent hold		Swing

Ripon Spa^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Parnaby	662	45.2	+45.2
	Conservative	Anthony Simpson	443	30.3	−16.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Stockdale	358	24.5	−28.7
Majority			219	15.0
Turnout			1,463	38.1	+3.3
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Rossett^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Nash	1,352	56.7	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Jacobs	1,031	43.3	+4.0
Majority			321	13.5	−4.7
Turnout			2,383	50.8	+5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Saltergate^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Newby	832	52.8	−0.4
	Conservative	Raymond Forward	669	42.4	−4.4
	Labour	Janet Morrow	75	4.8	+4.8
Majority			163	10.3	+3.8
Turnout			1,576	38.6	+12.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Starbeck^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Broadbank	978	64.5	−3.6
	Conservative	Phillip Dixon	210	13.8	−8.1
	BNP	Colin Banner	162	10.7	+10.7
	Independent	David Rimington	97	6.4	+6.4
	Labour	Geoffrey Foxall	70	4.6	−5.4
Majority			768	50.6	+4.4
Turnout			1,517	36.0	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Stray^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clifford Trotter	1,029	55.8	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Parkes	816	44.2	−0.2
Majority			213	11.5	+3.3
Turnout			1,845	44.9	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Woodfield^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Goss	989	65.8	+13.9
	Conservative	Mary Dilworth	264	17.6	+0.3
	Labour	Daniel Maguire	251	16.7	−14.1
Majority			725	48.2	+27.1
Turnout			1,504	37.3	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections: Harrogate". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
2. "Local elections 2006: Results in full". The Guardian. 6 May 2006. p. 20.
3. "Councillor to step down". Harrogate Advertiser. 7 April 2006.
4. "District council seats at stake". Harrogate Advertiser. 28 April 2006.
5. "Shock losses for Tories". Harrogate Advertiser. 5 May 2006.
6. "Election triumph for independents". Harrogate Advertiser. 12 May 2006.
7. "Tories lose control as local voters buck trend". Harrogate Advertiser. 12 May 2006.
8. "District Council election" (PDF). Harrogate Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
9. "Local elections". The Times. 6 May 2006. p. 64.