2003 Watford Borough Council election

Elections to Watford Borough Council were held on 1 May 2003. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control. Overall turnout was 32.05%.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Liberal Democrat 20
• Labour 8
• Conservative 7
• Green 1

Council election result

Watford Local Election Result 2003

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	10			+6	83.3	49.2	9,491	+5.3%
	Conservative	1			0	8.3	21.4	4,136	-4.2%
	Green	1			+1	8.3	8.5	1,636	+4.6%
	Labour	0			-6	0	20.0	3,867	-4.2%
	Independent	0			-1	0	0.4	86	-1.8%
	Socialist Alliance	0			0	0	0.4	78	+0.1%

Ward results

Callowland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen Rackett	928	53.4	+34.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Salter	507	29.2	−2.1
	Labour	Marion Chambers	213	12.3	−20.5
	Conservative	Walter Lees	89	5.1	−11.6
Majority			421	24.2
Turnout			1,737

Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Smillie	818	54.5	+5.4
	Labour	John Dowdle	389	25.9	−9.5
	Conservative	Paul Jenkins	180	12.0	+1.9
	Green	Faye Cullen	72	4.8	−0.6
	Socialist Alliance	Peter Martindale	42	2.8	+2.8
Majority			429	28.6	+14.9
Turnout			1,501

Holywell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Mortimer	744	50.8	−6.1
	Labour	Nigel Bell	587	40.1	+8.5
	Conservative	David Ealey	93	6.3	−1.9
	Socialist Alliance	Andrew O'Brien	22	1.5	−1.8
	Green	David Degen	19	1.3	+1.3
Majority			157	10.7	−14.6
Turnout			1,465

Leggatts

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Maria Green	746	46.0	+19.0
	Conservative	Patricia Lees	506	31.2	−2.7
	Labour	Dilshad Basha	273	16.9	−19.1
	Green	Christine Stockwell	95	5.9	+2.8
Majority			240	14.8
Turnout			1,620

Meriden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Greenslade	825	51.3	+16.4
	Labour	Norman Tyrwhitt	483	30.0	−7.2
	Conservative	Roger Frost	168	10.4	−17.5
	Independent	Jack Moss	86	5.3	+5.3
	Green	Jennifer Woods	32	2.0	+2.0
	Socialist Alliance	Paul Woodward	14	0.9	+0.9
Majority			342	21.3
Turnout			1,608

Nascot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sally Punter	906	49.4	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Wyatt	660	36.0	+5.2
	Labour	Thomas Meldrum	178	9.7	+9.7
	Green	Carole Skinner	89	4.9	+4.9
Majority			246	13.4	−3.6
Turnout			1,833

Oxhey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Shirena Counter	1,038	68.4	+1.0
	Conservative	Alan Luto	280	18.5	−0.3
	Labour	Nnagbogu Akubue	142	9.4	−1.2
	Green	Andrew McBean	57	3.8	+0.6
Majority			758	49.9	+1.3
Turnout			1,517

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Jenkins	928	47.5	+13.5
	Conservative	Kay Solomon	832	42.6	−9.0
	Labour	Manzoor Hussain	121	6.2	−4.7
	Green	Elaine Edwards	72	3.7	+0.3
Majority			96	4.9
Turnout			1,953

Stanborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Scudder	945	65.7	+1.0
	Conservative	Grace Cordell	243	16.9	+0.1
	Labour	Mavis Tyrwhitt	216	15.0	−0.4
	Green	Ian West	35	2.4	−0.7
Majority			702	48.8	+0.9
Turnout			1,439

Tudor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tariq Chohan	607	38.3	+1.8
	Conservative	Richard Southern	540	34.1	+1.2
	Labour	John Young	375	23.7	−3.4
	Green	Clive Skinner	61	3.9	+0.5
Majority			67	4.2	+0.6
Turnout			1,583

Vicarage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Shahnaz Ali	874	51.0	+19.0
	Labour	Abdul Choudhrey	561	32.7	−11.8
	Conservative	Thomas Needham	149	8.7	−7.4
	Green	Elizabeth Cocks	129	7.5	+0.1
Majority			313	18.3
Turnout			1,713

Woodside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Burtenshaw	799	60.3	−2.4
	Labour	Linda Smith	329	24.8	+0.2
	Conservative	Iris Powell	150	11.3	+0.8
	Green	Sally Ivins	47	3.5	+1.3
Majority			470	35.5	−2.6
Turnout			1,325

References

• 2003 Watford election result
• Ward results Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine