2018 Woking Borough Council election

The 2018 Woking Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect one third of members to Woking Borough Council in England coinciding with other local elections held across much of England. Elections in each ward are held in three years out of four.[1]

2018 Woking Borough Council election

3 May 2018
10 of the 30 seats on Woking Borough Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour Seats won 16 8 3 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 12,770 8,131 4,500 Percentage 45.8% 29.2% 16.1% Swing 1.7% 1.0% 5.8%   Party Independent UKIP Seats won 3 0 Seat change Popular vote 1,731 752 Percentage 6.2% 2.7% Swing 0.8% 2.7%

Woking was one of the boroughs subject to a trial of voter ID restrictions[2] requiring the production of photographic ID or 2 other forms of ID.[3]

Results

The Conservatives lost one seat to the Liberal Democrats, with Mount Hermon councillor Mark Pengelly losing to Liam Lyons, who had been defeated by Pengelly two years earlier.[4] The Conservatives also failed to win their target seats of Byfleet and St John's, and came within 10 votes of losing in Goldsworth Park, although they held seats in Horsell, Knaphill, Heathlands and Pyrford with large majorities.

The result meant that the Tory majority on the council reduced from two to one, although the Conservatives still maintained control as they have done since 2007, counting a short period of minority administration.[4] Despite polling 3.2% in the full-council elections in 2016, the Green Party did not field candidates.[5]

Woking Borough Council election, 2018[5]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	5	1	50%	11	16	53.33%	12,770	45.8%	1.7%
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	30%	5	8	26.66%	8,131	29.2%	1.0%
	Labour	1		10%	2	3	10%	4,500	16.1%	5.8%
	Independent	1		10%	2	3	10%	1,731	6.2%	0.8%
	UKIP	0		—	0	0	—	752	2.7%	2.7%
Turnout								27,884		—
	Conservative hold

Ward by ward

Successful incumbents are marked with a green tick: , defeated incumbents with a red cross:

Byfleet and West Byfleet[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mary Ann Bridgeman	1,178	40.9%
	Conservative	Gary William Elson	1125	39.1%
	Liberal Democrats	Ellen Sophie Nicholson	352	12.2%
	Labour	Mohammed Sakhawat Khan	225	7.8%
Majority			53	1.8%
Turnout			2,880
	Independent hold		Swing

Canalside[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammed Ilyas Raja	1,213	45.0%
	Conservative	Robina Shaheen	883	32.8%
	Liberal Democrats	John Francis Doran	338	12.5%
	Independent	David Benjamin Severn	155	5.8%
	UKIP	Terence J Knight	105	3.9%
Majority			330	12.2%
Turnout			2,694
	Labour hold		Swing

Goldsworth Park[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chitra Rana	930	38.0%
	Liberal Democrats	James Richard Sanderson	920	37.6%
	Labour	Christopher David Martin	500	20.4%
	UKIP	Troy de Leon	95	3.9%
Majority			10	0.4%
Turnout			2,445
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heathlands[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Michael Ashall	1,772	62.2%
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Edward Rimmer	695	24.4%
	Labour	Elizabeth Anne Evans	383	13.4%
Majority			1,077	37.8%
Turnout			2,850
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hoe Valley[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Elizabeth Hughes	1,096	49.1%
	Conservative	John Frederick Lawrence	739	33.1%
	Labour	Geraldine Margaret Mitchell-Smith	312	14.0%
	UKIP	Judith Diana Squire	86	3.9%
Majority			357	16%
Turnout			2,233
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Horsell[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nancy Hazel Mary Martin	1,612	50%
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Laurence Kremer	1141	35.4%
	Labour	Conor Michael John Bakhuizen	357	11.1%
	UKIP	Lynda Mary Sage	117	3.6%
Majority			471	14.6%
Turnout			3,227
	Conservative hold		Swing

Knaphill[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Deborah Harlow	1,376	53.9%
	Independent	Hassan Badrudin Akberali	398	15.6%
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Diane Roscoe-Jones	391	15.3%
	Labour	Colin Robert Bright	387	15.2%
Majority			978	38.3%
Turnout			2,552
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mount Hermon[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam Stuart Lyons	1,300	43.1%
	Conservative	Mark Russell John Pengelly	1283	42.5%
	Labour	Sabir Hussain	374	12.4%
	UKIP	Richard Peter Farr Squire	62	2.1%
Majority			17	0.6%
Turnout			3,019
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Pyrford[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rashid Mohammed	2,076	59.3%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Michael Lachowicz	679	21.4%
	Labour	Geoffrey Folk O'Shea	447	14.4%
	UKIP	Robin Deller Milner	167	5.3%
Majority			1,208	38.0%
Turnout			3,180
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Johns[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth Howard	1,219	43.5%
	Conservative	Steven James Royston Dorsett	1163	41.5%
	Labour	John Scott-Warden	302	10.8%
	UKIP	Timothy Martin Read	120	4.3%
Majority			56	2.0%
Turnout			2,804
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Upcoming elections & referendums". The Electoral Commission. 4 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
2. Press Association (28 April 2018). "Polling station voter ID plans are deeply flawed, say critics". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
3. Walker, Peter; Weaver, Matthew (3 May 2018). "Anger and confusion as voters turned away during ID trial". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
4. "Woking Borough Council". BBC News Online. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
5. "Borough election results 04 May 2018". Woking Borough Council. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2017.