North West Leicestershire District Council elections

The North West Leicestershire District Council was created in 1973 and elections take place every four years. Traditionally a Labour controlled council, it was under no overall control from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. In 2007, the Conservatives gained the council in a landslide for the first time since its creation.

Political control

Since 1973, political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

Party in control	Years
Labour	1973 - 1976
No overall control	1976 - 1979
Labour	1979 - 1983
No overall control	1983 - 1991
Labour	1991 - 2007
Conservative	2007 - present

Council elections

North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1973
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1976
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1979
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1983 (New ward boundaries)^[1]
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1987 (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[2]
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1991 (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[3]
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1995
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 1999
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 2003 (New ward boundaries)^[4]
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 2007
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 2011
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 2011
North West Leicestershire District Council election, 2015 (New ward boundaries)^[5]

District result maps

2003 results map
2007 results map
2011 results map

Election results

	Overall control	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	Lib Dem	style="background-color: Template:British National Party/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	BNP	style="background-color: Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	Green	style="background-color: Template:Independent/meta/color; width: 4px;" \|	Independent
2011	Conservative	16		21		1		0		0		0
2007	Conservative	5		27		3		2		-		1
2003	Labour	20		12		4		-		-		2
1999	Labour	31		8		0		-		-		1
1995	Labour	35		3		0		-		-		2
1991	Labour	26		13		0		-		-		1
1987	NOC	-		-		-		-		-		-
1983	NOC	-		-		-		-		-		-
1979	Labour	-		-		-		-		-		-
1976	NOC	19		13		0		-		-		10
1973	Labour	25		8		0		-		-		10
1966	Labour	-		-		-		-		-		-

A dash indicates that the results for a particular election are not available, or that a party did not stand in an election.

Ward details

Below is a summary of each ward in the District of North West Leicestershire. For each ward, a brief description is given along with a table showing its electoral history. In two or three member wards, the swings shown are based upon the average votes received by all candidates from a party.

Appleby

The Appleby ward covers several small, rural villages in the far south of the District. It has been represented by Richard Blunt since 2003; Blunt has also been the Leader of the Council since 2007. Like several of the District's geographically large rural wards, it is a safe seat for the Conservatives; it was, however, held by Labour for one term after their landslide victory in 1995.

Election	Party		Councillor	Margin	Swing
2011		Conservative	Richard Blunt	28.9%	24.3% from Con to Ind
2007			Richard Blunt	55.0%	5.2% from Lab to Con
2003			Edward Blunt	44.6%
1995		Labour	J. Lewis	20.0%

Ashby Castle

The Ashby Castle ward is one of three wards that cover the Ashby-de-la-Zouch area. It has been represented by John Coxon since 2003. Geographically, it is the smallest of Ashby's wards and contains the 15th century Ashby Castle from which the ward takes its name. It is a very safe seat for the Conservatives who have consistently achieved a majority of between 40% and 50%, however, in 1995 they came in third place behind a Labour candidate and a victorious Independent.

Election	Party		Councillor	Margin	Swing
2011		Conservative	John Coxon	43.0%	3.0% from Con to Lab
2007				49.0%	1.4% from Lab to Con
2003				46.2%
1995		Independent	G. Orme	13.5%

Ashby Holywell

Another of Ashby-de-la-Zouch's three wards, the Ashby Holywell ward elects two councillors. It has been represented by two Conservatives, Roger Bayliss and Graham Allman, since 2003. This ward leans toward the Conservatives although it has been held by Labour in the past and saw a pro-Labour swing at the last election

Election	Party		First Councillor	Party		Second Councillor	Swing
2011		Conservative	Roger Bayliss		Conservative	Graham Allman	1.7% from Con to Lab
2007					Conservative	Graham Allman	4.4% from Lab to Con
2003					Labour	Gordon Tacey
1995		Labour	L. Whetton		Labour	J. Fisher

Ashby Ivanhoe

The Ashby Ivanhoe ward is the last of Ashby-de-la-Zouch's three wards; it also elects two councillors. It has been represented by two Conservatives, James Hoult and Geraint Jones, since 2007. Ivanhoe is a key marginal ward between Labour and the Conservatives. It could be considered to be a bellwether ward because it has returned two councillors for the victorious party at every election.

Election	Party		First Councillor	Party		Second Councillor	Swing
2011		Conservative	James Hoult		Conservative	Geraint Jones	2.5% from Con to Lab
2007		Conservative	James Hoult		Conservative	Geraint Jones	8.0% from Lab to Con
2003		Labour	David Whetton		Labour	Sean Sheahan
1995		Labour	B. Mitchell		Labour	J. Roberts

Bardon

The Bardon ward is situated in the greater Coalville area and contains the headquarters of Bardon Aggregates as well as a large quarry managed by the company. It has been represented by Michael Specht since 2011. It has been consecutively held by the Conservatives since its creation in 2003, however, it is now a three-way marginal after the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and Labour received 33.4%, 31.2% and 27.6% respectively at the last election.

Election	Party		Councillor	Margin	Swing
2011		Conservative	Michael Specht	2.2%	18.5% from Con to Lib Dem
2007			Ted Purver	32.1%	4.4% from Lab to Con
2003			Ted Purver	23.4%
1995	Ward did not exist

Ibstock and Heather

The Ibstock and Heather ward covers the village of Ibstock, which is situated approximately 2.5 miles south of Coalville, and the small village of Heather (pronounced HEE-ther); it elects three councillors. It has been represented by two Labour councillors and one Conservative since 2011. Three by-elections* have taken place in this ward since 2008; the first two of which, both in 2008, were narrowly won by Labour and the Conservatives respectively, despite a strong challenge from the BNP; the third was fairly comfortably won by Labour despite a good result for the Liberal Democrats. This ward has generally favoured Labour but has also elected Conservatives more recently.

Election	Party		First Councillor	Party		Second Councillor	Party		Third Councillor	Swing
2012*		Labour	Dave De Lacy							8.9% from Con to Lab
2011		Labour	Stacy Harris		Labour	Janet Ruff		Conservative	Virge Richichi	0.5% from Con to Lab
2008*								Conservative	Virge Richichi	21.2% from Con to BNP
2008*		Labour	Felix Fenning							18.3% from Lab to BNP
2007			Dai Male		Conservative	Craig Bowley		Conservative	Ted Blunt	7.1% from Lab to Con
2003					Labour	Felix Fenning		Labour	Alison Harrop
1995					Labour	D. Costello		Labour	A. Smith

Thringstone

The Thringstone ward covers the northwestern portion of Coalville and was formed after boundary changes in 2003. It has been represented by two Labour councillors since its creation. Thringstone is the safest Labour seat in the District as it is the only ward which has always returned Labour councillors; its predecessor, Holly Hayes, was also a very safe Labour seat.

Election	Party		First Councillor	Party		Second Councillor	Swing
2011		Labour	Leon Spence		Labour	Dave Everitt	4.0% from Con to Lab
2007			Pam Clayfield			Dave Everitt	12.2% from Lab to Con
2003			Pam Clayfield			Roderick Evans
1995	Ward did not exist

By-elections

Overview

By-election	Date	Incumbent party
Holly Hayes	19 August 1999 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Ibstock and Heather	10 January 2008 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
	18 December 2008 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
	16 February 2012 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour

2011 - 2015

Ibstock and Heather By-Election, 16 February 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dave De Lacy	480	34.5	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kim Wyatt	372	26.7	+12.5
	Conservative	Russell Boam	357	25.6	−13.3
	Independent	Ivan Hammonds	125	9.0	−7.8
	Green	Sue Morrell	32	2.3	N/A
	UKIP	Jakob Whiten	26	1.9	N/A
Majority			108	7.8
Turnout			1,392	24.9	−24.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.9

2007 - 2011

Ibstock and Heather By-Election, 18 December 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virge Richichi	660	31.5	−11.5
	BNP	Ivan Hammonds	645	30.8	N/A
	Labour	Corinne Male	614	29.4	−9.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Wyatt	174	8.3	−1.0
Majority			15	0.7
Turnout			2,093	37.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−21.2

Ibstock and Heather By-Election, 10 January 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Felix Fenning	699	30.9	−8.3
	BNP	Ivan Hammonds	637	28.2	N/A
	Conservative	Paul Oakden	515	22.8	−20.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Wyatt	411	18.2	+8.9
Majority			62	2.7	N/A
Turnout			2,262	40.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−18.3

1999 - 2003

Holly Hayes By-Election, 19 August 1999
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Labour	459	44.5	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	410	39.7	+17.1
	Independent	88	8.5	−3.1
	Conservative	75	7.3	−8.8
Majority		49	4.8
Turnout		1,032
	Labour hold	Swing

References

^ The District of North West Leicestershire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980
^ The Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire (County and District Boundaries) Order 1985
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of North West Leicestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The North West Leicestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2014. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.

External links

North West Leicestershire District Council

[1] The District of North West Leicestershire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980

[2] The Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire (County and District Boundaries) Order 1985

[3] slation.gov.uk - The Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.

[4] slation.gov.uk - The District of North West Leicestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

[5] slation.gov.uk - The North West Leicestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2014. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.

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v t e Council elections in Leicestershire
Leicestershire 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
Blaby District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Charnwood Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Harborough District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Leicester City Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Melton Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
North West Leicestershire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
See also: Wards Boundary changes