2003 Richmondshire District Council election

The 2003 Richmondshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Richmondshire District Council in North Yorkshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999.^[1] The council stayed under no overall control.^[2]

Background

Before the election the council was run by the independents with support from the Conservatives, while the Liberal Democrats formed the opposition.^[3] The independents were divided into two groups after the Richmondshire Independent Group split from the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors in 2001.^[4]

Almost a third of the councillors stood down at the 2003 election, including a former chairperson of the council, Jane Metcalfe, and the Liberal Democrat group leader, Richard Good.^[5] Other councillors who stood down included Alison Appleton, Colin Bailey, Grace Buckle, Sylvia Golding, Mike Graham, Terry Jones, Andrea Robson and Nigel Watson.^[5]

A total of 56 candidates stood in 2003, with several being elected without opposition, however there were no candidates from the Labour Party.^[5] The two groups of independents stood against each in several wards including Colburn, Hornby Castle and Melsonby.^[5] Meanwhile, the leader of the council, John Blackie, contested the election as a Conservative after having previously led the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors.^[5]

Election result

The Conservatives became the largest group on the council with 11 councillors, after gaining four seats, but without a majority.^[6] Nine independents were elected, a gain of four, while the Liberal Democrats dropped two to have eight councillors.^[6]

The council leader John Blackie held his seat in Hawes as a Conservative, while councillors who were defeated included Liberal Democrat Patrick Brennan in Catterick, Richmondshire Independent Helen Grant and Katherine Kerr in Richmond Central.^[3]^[7] Overall turnout at the election was 37.69%, down from 40.22% in 1999.^[8]

Following the election Yvonne Peacock became leader of the Conservative group, Richard Dunn leader of the Richmondshire Association of Independent Councillors, John Harris leader of the Liberal Democrat group and Paul Cullen leader of the Richmondshire Independent Group.^[4] Conservative John Blackie continued as leader of the council, defeating a challenge from the Liberal Democrat group leader John Harris.^[9]

Richmondshire local election result 2003^[2]^[10]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	11	+4	32.4	29.1	3,857	+0.6%
Independent	9	+4	26.5	21.5	2,853	+1.6%
Liberal Democrats	8	-2	23.5	27.1	3,602	-16.5%
Richmondshire Independent Group	5	-7	14.7	18.6	2,464	+18.6%
SDP	1	+1	2.9	3.7	492	-4.3%

Ward results

Addlebrough^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Yvonne Peacock	unopposed

Barton^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Campbell Dawson	285	57.5
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Adams	211	42.5
Majority			74	14.9
Turnout			496	48.8

Bolton Castle^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Wendy Morton	384	72.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Weedon	144	27.3
Majority			240	45.5
Turnout			528	51.7

Brompton on Swale and Scorton (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Michael Heseltine	559
	Independent	James Fryer	417
	Liberal Democrats	Leslie Rowe	298
Turnout			1,274	37.7

Catterick (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SDP	Anthony Pelton	492
	Conservative	Robert Johnson	326
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Brennan	310
Turnout			1,128	37.0

Colburn (3 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Peter Wood	384
	Independent	William Glover	375
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Lynn Miller	323
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Helen Grant	311
	Independent	Janet Kirk	187
Turnout			1,580	30.5

Croft^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Parlour	280	51.4
	Independent	Kenneth Smith	265	48.6
Majority			15	2.8
Turnout			545	53.7

Gilling West^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Richmondshire Independent Group	John Cronin	268	67.0
	Conservative	John Hartley	132	33.0
Majority			136	34.0
Turnout			400	41.9

Hawes and High Abbotside^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Blackie	487	87.7
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Clive Rudd	68	12.3
Majority			419	75.5
Turnout			555	53.0

Hipswell (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Paul Cullen	149
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Bagley	130
	Conservative	Melva Steckles	108
	Independent	Betty Robertson	70
Turnout			457	16.7

Hornby Castle^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Richard Dunn	290	87.3
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Andrew Munro	42	12.7
Majority			248	74.7
Turnout			332	35.3

Leyburn (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Morton	423
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Ramsbottom	238
	Liberal Democrats	Kathleen Weedon	193
Turnout			854	31.3

Lower Wensleydale^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Loadman	unopposed

Melsonby^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Gill	226	56.5
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Timothy Place	174	43.5
Majority			52	13.0
Turnout			400	37.4

Middleham^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Thomas	unopposed

Middleton Tyas^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Jill McMullon	380	75.1
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Harold Joicey	126	24.9
Majority			254	50.2
Turnout			506	49.6

Newsham with Eppleby^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Richmondshire Independent Group	David Maude	unopposed

Penhill^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Dent	unopposed

Reeth and Arkengarthdale^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Oswin Kendall	unopposed

Richmond Central (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Clive World	480
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Clarke	381
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Katherine Carr	368
	Conservative	David Johnson	323
Turnout			1,552	40.1

Richmond East (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	John Harris	486
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Thomas Burrows	409
	Conservative	Iain McDougall	408
	Liberal Democrats	John Robinson	342
Turnout			1,645	45.6

Richmond West (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Curran	unopposed
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Parsons	unopposed

Scotton (2 seats)^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Patricia Middlemiss	204
	Independent	David Leadbeatter	150
	Liberal Democrats	Karin Ecker	109
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Michael Kerr	105
Turnout			568	17.8

Swaledale^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Raymond Alderson	327	73.0
	Richmondshire Independent Group	Stephen Smethurst	121	27.0
Majority			206	46.0
Turnout			448	46.6

By-elections between 2003 and 2007

A by-election was held in Gilling West on 2 November 2006 after the resignation of independent councillor John Cronin.^[11] The seat was won by independent William Heslop with a majority of 116 votes over Conservative candidate Margaret Turnbull.^[11]

Gilling West by-election 2 November 2006^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Heslop	258	64.5	−2.5
	Conservative	Margaret Turnbull	142	35.5	+2.5
Majority			116	29.0	−5.0
Turnout			400	40.4	−1.5
	Independent hold		Swing

References

^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Election results". Financial Times. NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 4.
^ ^a ^b Parsley, Steve (2 May 2003). "Conservatives pip Lib Dems to council chamber seats". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 8. ISSN 2043-0442.
^ ^a ^b "New-look to chamber takes shape". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 15 May 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Parsley, Steve (5 April 2003). "Council facing major changes". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 6. ISSN 2043-0442.
^ ^a ^b "Conservatives 'delighted' by poll results". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 3 May 2003.
^ Burton, Nigel (2 May 2003). "BNP fails to grab foothold in region". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 1. ISSN 2043-0442.
^ "District Council Elections". Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Familiar look to new chiefs". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 22 May 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "District Council election" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "District Council by-elections results 1973 to 2015" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

[vote2003-1] "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

[election-2] "Election results". Financial Times. NewsBank. 2 May 2003. p. 4.

[pip-3] Parsley, Steve (2 May 2003). "Conservatives pip Lib Dems to council chamber seats". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 8. ISSN 2043-0442.

[chamber-4] "New-look to chamber takes shape". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 15 May 2003.

[major-5] Parsley, Steve (5 April 2003). "Council facing major changes". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 6. ISSN 2043-0442.

[delighted-6] "Conservatives 'delighted' by poll results". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 3 May 2003.

[bnp-7] Burton, Nigel (2 May 2003). "BNP fails to grab foothold in region". The Northern Echo. NewsBank. p. 1. ISSN 2043-0442.

[district-8] "District Council Elections". Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.

[familiar-9] "Familiar look to new chiefs". Durham County Publications. NewsBank. 22 May 2003.

[results-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "District Council election" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

[byelections-11] "District Council by-elections results 1973 to 2015" (PDF). Richmondshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

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