1996 North Hertfordshire District Council election

1996 North Hertfordshire District Council election
18 of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council; 26 seats needed for a majority
Policy chairman before election; David Kearns; Labour; No overall control	Leader after election ; David Kearns; Labour

The 1996 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 2 May 1996, at the same time as other local elections across England. There were 18 out of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in Hitchin Oughton ward.^[1]^[2]

The council had previously been under no overall control, being led by a Labour minority administration with some support from the Liberal Democrats. Labour gained five extra seats at the election, giving them a majority on the council for the first time in its history. The Labour leader, David Kearns, was given the title leader of the council after the election, confirming the position he had de facto held since May 1995 by virtue of being chairman of the policy and resources committee.^[3]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[4]

1996 North Hertfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	11	5	61.1	15	26	52.0	13,488	44.9	-0.7
	Conservative	5	6	27.8	11	16	32.0	9,995	33.3	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	11.1	5	7	14.0	6,556	21.8	0.0

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows. An asterisk(*) indicates a sitting councillor standing for re-election.^[4]^[5]

Ashbrook ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David John Barnard	646	57.1	−13.3
	Labour	Edward Wallace	307	27.1	+7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Lilian Upchurch	178	15.7	+5.4
Turnout				46.9
Registered electors			2,431
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.6

Baldock ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Miller McFall	1,085	43.5	−9.7
	Conservative	Bernard Crow*	832	33.3	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Philip Tapp	578	23.2	+8.2
Turnout				34.1
Registered electors			7,342
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-5.6

Cadwell ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Sobek	466	53.6	+21.5
	Conservative	Robert Michael Hughes	403	46.4	−21.5
Turnout				48.5
Registered electors			1,807
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.5

Hitchin Bearton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judi Billing*	1,078	69.8	−2.0
	Conservative	Barry West	286	18.5	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Victor Newham	180	11.7	0.0
Turnout				33.5
Registered electors			4,623
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

Hitchin Highbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Oliver Canning	910	41.3	−2.9
	Conservative	Sylvia Frances Chapman	853	38.7	+7.1
	Labour	Lesley Ann Hankin	440	20.0	−4.2
Turnout				43.5
Registered electors			5,074
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	-5.0

Hitchin Oughton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joan Irene Kirby*	984	67.5	−9.0
	Labour	Martin John Stears	893
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Warwick	251	17.2	+5.9
	Conservative	Nigel Kenneth Brook	222	15.2	+3.1
Turnout				33.3
Registered electors			4,068
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.5
	Labour hold		Swing

The by-election in Hitchin Oughton ward was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor David Harbourne on 18 March 1996.^[6]

Hitchin Priory ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Arthur Charles Thake*	620	55.2	+14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Palmer	274	24.4	+4.3
	Labour	Christopher Peter Charles White	230	20.5	+4.4
Turnout				39.3
Registered electors			2,869
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9

Hitchin Walsworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Philip Anthony Banks*	1,480	67.6	+21.7
	Conservative	Bernard Frank James Lovewell	447	20.4	+12.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Paul Heath	261	11.9	+7.3
Turnout				36.4
Registered electors			6,020
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

Knebworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Amy Hilton*	756	50.1	−1.4
	Labour	Timothy Liddy	754	49.9	+28.6
Turnout				44.4
Registered electors			3,410
	Conservative hold		Swing	-15.0

Letchworth East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorna Rose Kercher*	1,181	64.0	−1.4
	Conservative	Paul Antony Stockford	378	20.5	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Gammell	285	15.5	+1.0
Turnout				37.7
Registered electors			4,891
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

Letchworth Grange ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Peter Kearns*	1,371	67.2	−4.5
	Conservative	Stephen Edward Shaddick	415	20.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Julian Hall	255	12.5	+0.9
Turnout				40.1
Registered electors			5,085
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.1

Letchworth South East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jean Andrews	1,193	46.3	−4.8
	Conservative	Pauline Marguerite Wood*	789	30.6	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Phyllis Leonard	597	23.1	−3.0
Turnout				41.6
Registered electors			6,220
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-6.3

Letchworth South West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynda Ann Needham	1,021	42.5	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Margaret Jarvis (Sal Jarvis)	1,018	42.4	−2.2
	Labour	Marion Elizabeth Watson-Blake	362	15.1	−1.0
Turnout				52.6
Registered electors			4,565
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Letchworth Wilbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gary Thomas Grindal	928	58.7	+2.4
	Conservative	Raymond Lawrence Shakespeare-Smith* (Ray Shakespeare-Smith)	421	26.6	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Francis Booton	231	14.6	−4.6
Turnout				36.7
Registered electors			4,305
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+0.1

Royston East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis John Smith* (John Smith)	854	48.1	+4.5
	Labour	Ken Prince	586	33.0	+8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Elizabeth Coates	334	18.8	−12.9
Turnout				40.8
Registered electors			4,347
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.0

Royston West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leslie Baker (Les Baker)	992	39.6	+5.9
	Conservative	Jane Margaret Dwerryhouse-Spears	860	34.4	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Christopher East (Chris East)	651	26.0	−8.7
Turnout				39.3
Registered electors			6,392
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.6

Weston ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Kenneth Jarvis* (Steve Jarvis)	553	69.5	+17.8
	Conservative	Jessica Christian Dorothy Thomson	192	24.1	−20.1
	Labour	John Mann	51	6.4	+2.4
Turnout				64.4
Registered electors			1,241
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+19.0

Changes 1996–1998

Letchworth Wilbury ward by election, 1 May 1997
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	Andrew Milne	1,635	50.8	−8.0
Conservative	Jessica Thomson	1,025	31.8	+5.2
Liberal Democrats	Murray Turner	560	17.4	+2.8
Labour hold		Swing	-6.6

The Letchworth Wilbury ward by-election was triggered by the death of Labour councillor David Evans.^[7]

References

^ The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1442)
^ "Labour predicts gaining a seat". Cambridge Daily News. 10 April 1996. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
^ "Labour sweep to control for first time in North Herts". Royston and Buntingford Mercury. 10 May 1996. p. 3. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "North Hertfordshire Local Election Results 1996". North Hertfordshire District Council. Archived from the original on 19 January 1997. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^ "Parliamentary hopeful quits his council seat". Royston and Buntingford Mercury. 22 March 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
^ Adams, John (8 May 1997). "County Tories get some consolation". Hitchin Comet. p. 6.

[1977order-1] The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1442)

[2] "Labour predicts gaining a seat". Cambridge Daily News. 10 April 1996. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

[3] "Labour sweep to control for first time in North Herts". Royston and Buntingford Mercury. 10 May 1996. p. 3. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

[electionscentre-4] Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

[5] "North Hertfordshire Local Election Results 1996". North Hertfordshire District Council. Archived from the original on 19 January 1997. Retrieved 8 April 2023.

[6] "Parliamentary hopeful quits his council seat". Royston and Buntingford Mercury. 22 March 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

[7] Adams, John (8 May 1997). "County Tories get some consolation". Hitchin Comet. p. 6.

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v t e Council elections in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
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Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
See also: Wards Boundary changes Middlesex County Council elections

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