Spelthorne
2010 Results:
Conservative: 22261 (47.06%)
Labour: 7789 (16.47%)
Liberal Democrat: 12242 (25.88%)
UKIP: 4009 (8.47%)
TUSC: 176 (0.37%)
Independent: 314 (0.66%)
Others: 513 (1.08%)
Majority: 10019 (21.18%)
2005 Results:
Conservative: 21620 (50.5%)
Labour: 11684 (27.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 7318 (17.1%)
Other: 2207 (5.2%)
Majority: 9936 (23.2%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 18851 (45.1%)
Labour: 15589 (37.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 6156 (14.7%)
UKIP: 1198 (2.9%)
Majority: 3262 (7.8%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 23306 (44.9%)
Labour: 19833 (38.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 6821 (13.1%)
Referendum: 1495 (2.9%)
Other: 462 (0.9%)
Majority: 3473 (6.7%)
No Boundary Changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative) born 1975, London. Educated at Cambridge University. Investment analyst and author. Former Chairman of the Bow Group. Contested Brent East 2005, Londonwide list 2008 London elections.
Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative) born 1975, London. Educated at Cambridge University. Investment analyst and author. Former Chairman of the Bow Group. Contested Brent East 2005, Londonwide list 2008 London elections.
Adam Tyler-Moore (Labour) 
Mark Chapman (Liberal Democrat) Born 1973, Hitchin. Senior sales manager. Mid Beds councillor 2003-2009. Contested Mid Bedfordshire 2005.Christopher Browne (UKIP) Contested Spelthorne 2005, Runnymede and Weybridge 2001
Paul Couchman (TUSC)John Gore (Campaign for Independent Politicians)Rod Littlewood (Best of a Bad Bunch)Grahame Leon-Smith (Independents Federation UK)Ian Swinglehurst (Independent)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 90390
Male: 49.1%
Female: 50.9%
Under 18: 21%
Over 60: 21.9%
Born outside UK: 8.8%
White: 94.3%
Black: 0.6%
Asian: 2.8%
Mixed: 1.3%
Other: 1%
Christian: 75.3%
Hindu: 1%
Muslim: 0.9%
Sikh: 0.7%
Full time students: 2%
Graduates 16-74: 18.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 24.9%
Owner-Occupied: 79.1%
Social Housing: 11.8% (Council: 1.6%, Housing Ass.: 10.2%)
Privately Rented: 7%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 4.5%
Despite only running three candidates, Labour still got no wins in the Spelthorne election. The BBC are reporting the result as Conservative 32 (+1), Lib Dems 6 (-2) and Others 1 (+1).
The changes in wards in the elections
Sunbury East
Con gain 2 from LD (ward now 2 Con 1 LD)
Halliford & Sunbury West
Con gain 1 from LD (ward now 2 Con 1 LD)
Laleham & Shepperton Green
LD gain 1 from Con (ward now 2 Con 1 LD)
Ashford Town: Ind gain 1 from Con (ward now 2 Con 1 Ind)
Independent was a Conservative Cllr from 2003 to 2011.
She was Mayor in 2009/10 who was deselected by the Tory leader last year. It was in the local press. She stood in Ashford Town ward (where she lives) which is the Tory leader’s ward.
Just 3 Tories and Ind on ballot paper.
Independent came top
Tory leader came 4th. Oops. Ex-leader.
So 2007 and 2011 saw the then Tory leader lose his seat.
All other wards held by their respective parties.
Labour came within 46 votes in Stanwell North of gaining a seat but Tories there held them off.
Finally got around to compiling the voting figures for Spelthorne Borough Elections for May 2011.
Of course the Spelthorne wide figures are not at all accurate for future use as:
Labour only stood in one ward out of the 13 available.
There was one unopposed ward.
Highest vote per party per ward (ALDC method)
Spelthorne Borough elections May 2011
Con 50.1%
Lib Dem 28.6%
UKIP 13.2%
Independents 5.8%
Labour 2.2%
For those of a partisan outlook like me the Spelthorne-wide bar graph will look amusing. And remind people that Spelthorne Labour have collapsed.
Thanks for these figures – they are useful – it is strange that Labour didn’t put up more of an effort here,
as this area was of course a marginal area from 1995 to 2001 inclusive.
But they seemed to have trouble picking themselves up in lots of the smaller mostly southern authorities in May 2011, and we’ll have to see whether or not that changes.
The Lib Dem strength seems to be a spillover from Twickenham and SW London, and perhaps partly related to the way LD and Con activists move around according to who has an election on.
Its a pitiful performance by Labour to only be able to contest one ward and then to fail to win it in an area where they did manage to hold the larger county council seat even in 2009. It certainly didn;t seem to benefit the LDs that there was an absence of Labour candidates as they lost seats and vote share relative to 2007. UKIP and Independents were the big gainers in terms of vote share. It does appear that the LD ‘surge’ which occurred here in 2007 and 2009 has been halted and I don’t think we have another potential Solihull on our hands
Solihull is a total embarrassment.
I’ve rather lost touch with the W Midlands, but had some family there until the early 1990s and people talked about Solihull not only as a very Conservative area, but a right wing trenchant type of Conservatism – not the sort of place one would expect the Lib Dems to do well atall.
I am told they did no work before 2005.
There was quite a good C candidate there in 2010 but Burt was the incumbent.
It does look like the Tories have acted here in Spelthorne, after a deteriorating performance in 2007/9.
I think one of the fundamental problems with multiple vote/multiple candidate elections is that one is never sure if the Spelthorne Borough 2011 results say, give a true reflection compared to say Spelthorne County 2009 when voters can only vote for one candidate.
Of course Spelthorne is a bad example given Labour contested one ward and UKIP seven wards. And worse in some wards you could only vote for the government!
Hopefully in Counties 2013 all 7 divisions will have all 4 parties contesting [Con, Lab, UKIP and LD] so we can get a good feel for Spelthorne-wide figures.
Remember that UKIPs 2010 GE vote here was 8.5% which I think was the third best % result in the UK.
UKIP did improve its candidates numbers this year with 7 across 7 wards. Better than just the 1 candidate they managed in 2007 and 2003.
Frankly, I’m surprised UKIP aren’t targetting Spelthorne more heavily. But I think UKIP top brass don’t understand the need for targetting and help to local parties unlike say the Green Party.
Boundary review draft (daft?) proposals create enlarged Spelthorne by adding Weybridge North ward so as to be within criteria.
Why not Egham Hythe which has road and rail bridges and most of Egham Hythe ward is called Staines postally i.e. TW18 3xx
The rest of Staines within Spelthorne is TW18 1xx, TW18 2xx and TW18 4xx.
Switching Egham Hythe ward for Weybridge North ward would not affect the numbers as both new seats would still be within criteria.
Having now checked electionmaps it is clear that the Thames is not a barrier as some have claimed elsewhere.
Shepperton Town ward extends across the Thames at Walton Bridge and consequently there is a road linking Spelthorne with Weybridge North ward.
Still, I think Egham Hythe is a better choice.
Spelthorne guru, I know you’re desperate for someone to comment about your seat. Why not link Spelthorne with Bedfont rather than crossing the Thames?
Anyone read Kwasi Kwarteng’s book Ghosts of Empire? I haven’t yet but might do sometime.
The UKIP vote here was extremely high in 2010 while the C vote actually dropped a little.
I don’t think I’d fully taken on board how high the UKIP vote was here in 2010, probably because I was focusing in the big switch in support between LD and Lab.
The Boundary Commission revised proposals, published today, changes the plan for the Spelthorne area.
The easternmost Slough Borough ward (Colnbrook with Poyle) is to be removed from the Windsor seat and added to a new cross-county boundary Spelthorne.
Given that Spelthorne must be expanded somewhere, to meet the electorate requirements, I think the new solution is a significant improvement on the original proposal.
If Parliament does ultimately approve the revised changes, they will not be a tragedy for the Berkshire/Slough border area.
This is not a bad move. The county boundary should be adjusted so Colnbrook and Poyle ward moves into Surrey permanently. That part of Slough borough has nothing in common with the rest of Slough.
Part of it used to be. Until a few years ago Colnbrook was divided between Bucks, Berks & Surrey.
Result of the Sunbury Common ward by-election last night:
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Spelthorne BC, Sunbury Common
Wednesday 19 December 2012 12:00
LD 372 (46.6; -10.1)
UKIP 182 (22.8; +6.1)
Lab 129 (16.2; +16.2)
Con 115 (14.4; -12.2)
Majority 190
Turnout 13.5%
LD hold.
Percentage change is since May 2011.
It isn’t a particularly working class area & it’s a strikingly bad result for the Tories, who have suffered grievously at the hands of UKIP. Labour have beaten the Tories but UKIP have perhaps more to cheer. I think it’s the strongest ward the LDs have in Spelthorne and has been for a long while.
“It isn’t a particularly working class”
It isn’t exactly the most salubrious part of Spelthorne either and there are some quite grotty estates, but it is nevertheless a very bad Tory result
Anyone know which ward JG Ballard used to live in?
Pete is quite right, though the area is largely owner-occupied. Probably the best area in Spelthorne (a borough which would certainly exercise our friend Tim Jones) is Lower Sunbury, though the riverside areas south of Staines town centre are perfectly pleasant, as is Laleham for the most part.
I have been totis area several times – what I most remember are the lakes – and the size of them
Neither Ashford or Staines are partucularly nice towns, but overall this is an affluent, quite urban, seat – and I’m surprisaed Labour came within a couple of thousand votes of winning it in 97
I always consider this area as Middlesex – rather than Surrey
Dreadful result last night,
it was particularly horrible watching all the ballot boxes being opened,
with jeering Lib Dem and UKIP activists….
Got home drenched and soaked..
Tim – Labour actually got more votes than the Tories in the 1995 local elections, but the latter retained control (one of their very few outright victories that year).
I think you’d find a heavily above-average number of people in craft occupations (carpenters, plumbers, electricians) or who are skilled workers (e.g. aviation engineers); they tend to own their own homes but are definitely not posh. It’s not hard however to see how Labour came fairly close in 1997 & 2001; there are council estates scattered throughout the constituency, including some surprisingly sizable ones in Ashford & Sunbury, and some quite modest terraced housing. Even Shepperton & Laleham are not by any means devoid of working-class voters, though Staines is clearly Conservative-inclined even in a very bad year and Lower Sunbury quite heavily so. Only Stanwell has the sort of demography which lends itself to a heavy Labour majority even in a seriously good year such as 1995 or 1997.
Joe – your dedication does you credit even though I profoundly disagree with most of your views.
13.5% turnout is abysmal.
I wasn’t really there!
Your points are true Barnaby, but there are plenty of places in the South East – most notably Kent, Essex but also Hertfordshire, Sussex, Bucks – which are safely Tory without being posh
I see that Labour did actually win the seat once before. I’m quite surprised Staines is one of the more Conservative-inclined towns in the seat
Well Labour did win Spelthorne but in those days it included all of Feltham & wasn’t comparable with the seat which bears its name nowadays.
A frightening result for the tories in a seat where their vote fell in 2010.
Only a few months until Miliband’s Labour hits 47-49 with Yougov, just after the Huhne trial.
“Only a few months until Miliband’s Labour hits 47-49 with Yougov”
You’ve got the next two and a half years all worked out, haven’t you A Cairns?
I don’t think Labour will go above 45% in more than a very occasional poll between now and the next election.
As a brief outlier before Labour’s lead tumbles.
Spelthorne Labour is not dead but regrouping and taking time to understand what really needs to be done in the borough.
I hope that they will put up 7 candidates for County 2013! it’s about time the people of Spelthorne had a chance to elect different people with different plans and a strong voice of opposition. Too long have the Tories had free rein and LD allowed to collude freely
I imagine 1st time incumbency will make more of a difference here than most other places and the tory vote will hit 50% again.