Derby City Council election, 2008

Derby Council election, 2008

3 May 2007

1/3 of 51 seats to Derby City Council 26 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Party Liberal Democrat Conservative Labour Last election 3 8 8 Seats before 3 8 8 Seats won 8 5 4 Seat change +5 -3 -4 Popular vote 19,374 21,139 16,869 Percentage 32.3 35.2 28.1 Swing +3.5 +3.2 -6.1

Leader before election No overall control Elected Leader No overall control

The 2008 Derby City Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Derby City Council in England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1] Overall turnout was 34.6%.^[2][3]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 18
• Labour 17
• Conservative 14
• Independent 2^[4]

Campaign

Since the 2006 election the Labour party had been running the council in an agreement with the Conservatives and both parties did not rule out continuing this arrangement after the election.^[5] However, a major issue in the election was a proposal by the Labour party to close 10 play areas across Derby in order to save money, which were opposed by the Conservatives.^[5] The arrangement was also strained by the defection of 2 Labour councillors, Hardial Dhamrait and Amar Nath, to the Conservatives since the 2007 election.^[6] Other changes since 2007 included Labour councillor Prem Chera becoming an independent, and independent Frank Leeming joining the Conservatives.^[6] This meant that before the election there were 21 Labour, 14 Conservative, 13 Liberal Democrat and 2 independent councillors.^[6]

In all 61 candidates stood in the election, with 17 seats being contested.^[7] Of those 17 seats Labour were defending 8, the Conservatives 6 and the Liberal Democrats 3.^[6]

The leader of the Conservative party, David Cameron, visited Derby to support the local party on 3 April and described it as a "key battleground".^[5]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats gained 5 seats to move from third largest group on the council to become the largest party, overtaking the Labour and Conservative parties.^[3][8] Liberal Democrat gains were recorded in Abbey, Arboretum and Mackworth wards from Labour, and in Blagreaves and Oakwood wards from the Conservatives.^[9][10] Meanwhile, Labour recovered a seat in Sinfin which they had lost when Hardial Dhamrait had defected to the Conservatives.^[9] However, Labour also two seats in Chaddesden and Chellaston to the Conservatives.^[10]

Following the elections the three parties held discussions to decide who would run the council for the next two years.^[11] On 6 May the Conservatives decided that they would not agree any deal with the other two parties and would sit in opposition, with Conservative councillors feeling that the previous agreement with Labour had meant they did not make gains as the party had done nationally.^[11] The Liberal Democrats and Labour then planned to hold talks, with Labour abandoning their previous proposals to introduce congestion charging in Derby, and parking meters in Littleover.^[12] However, the Liberal Democrats decided they would prefer to run the council as a minority rather than reach an agreement with Labour. At the council meeting on 21 May the Liberal Democrat leader, Hilary Jones, was elected leader of the council by 19 votes to 17 after the Conservatives abstained.^[13]

Ward results

References

Council elections in Derbyshire
Derbyshire 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
Amber Valley Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Bolsover District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Chesterfield Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Derby City Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Derbyshire Dales District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Erewash Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
High Peak Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
North East Derbyshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
South Derbyshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
See also: Wards Boundary changes

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