Author: Nick

Abbey (5 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Ann Blacklock	Lib-Dems	1121
*Michael Francis Coker	Conservative	1055
*John Edmond Hatfield	Conservative	1006
Patrick Joseph Ryan	Lib-Dems	920
George Reginald Illingworth	Conservative	907
Alan Rickers	Conservative	876
Lois Darley	Lib-Dems	821
Kevin Holt	Lib-Dems	807
John Richard Whitehouse	Lib-Dems	798
Dave Skinner	Conservative	774
Jacky Smith	Labour	296
Dave Peggs	Labour	285
Chris Gallon	Labour	271
Jacqui Jones	Labour	258
Andrew Keith Roadnight	Labour	231

Turnout 41.4%

Park Hill (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Dave John Shilton	Lib-Dems	1161
*Felicity Gena Bunker	Conservative	1030
Dominic Coker	Conservative	985
*Douglas Alan Golby	Lib-Dems	927
Spencer Charlton Harrison	Conservative	922
Ursula Stella Durrant	Conservative	921
Daphne Rose Harrison	Conservative	917
John Sheehan (aka Tony Walsh)	Conservative	893
Richard Sweeney	Lib-Dems	845
Alison Rita Margaret Tyler	Lib-Dems	817
Adrian Sellars	Lib-Dems	782
Alec Would	Lib-Dems	705
Maureen Teresa Hazelwood	Labour	356
Peter Hodgkinson	Labour	350
Henry Scarborough	Labour	327
Peter Joseph Shiels	Labour	315
Robin Rain Winn	Labour	303
Elizabeth Saxon	Labour	299

Turnout 38.5%

St John’s (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Pauline Winifred Edwards	Conservative	1198
*Alan James Lancaster Cockburn	Conservative	1172
Trevor Martin	Kenilworth Regeneration	1157
*Leslie Graham Windybank	Conservative	1102
Richard Ivor Graham Davies	Conservative	1065
Norman John Vincent	Conservative	958
*Paul Spillman	Conservative	942
Shirley Beatrice Shilton	Lib-Dems	736
Mary Latham Harrison	Lib-Dems	609
*Judith Rawson	Lib-Dems	582
Michael Collier	Labour	563
Alan Ainsworth	Labour	556
Jan Ford	Labour	556
Ruth Tennant	Labour	468
Kieth Thompson	Labour	456
Caryll Green	Greens	417
Christopher Edgerton	24/7 Care For The Elderly	409
Pippa Austin	Greens	402

Turnout 44.8%

TORIES GAIN MASSIVE MAJORITY

There was a bit of a shake-up in this year’s election, not only in the overall result but the restructuring of the wards. One extra seat was allocated to the town, which now has 17 members. Abbey ward was down to 5 seats, while Park Hill was increased from 4 to 6. St John’s remained the same on 6 seats.

At the last poll in 1999, the Conservatives had a slendor majority of just two (9-7), but that was vastly increased to a 12-5 majority. New to the Tory ranks are George Illingworth, Dominic Coker, Richard Davies, Norman Vincent, Ursula Durrant and veteran, Spencer Harrision. The latter stating that he would have preferred a younger person to stand in his place. He said that he would be quite happy to have become an ‘has-been’. But we can’t seem to get any 40-year-olds to stand, local government loses out by not having young councillors, who are willing and able to give up their time. Mr Harrision refuses to reveal his age but he confesses being at Leamington Town Hall when the votes were being counted, 72 years-ago!

The Liberal Democrats were slowly fading away in Kenilworth, being down to only four members. The ‘big guns’ of Jack Bastock, Haydn Thomas and Helen Pavier, did not stand for re-election and Judith Rawson, was un-seated in St. John’s. However, Ann Blacklock topped the poll in Abbey with 1121, and Dave Shilton was well clear in Park Hill with 1161. Former Kenilworth Weekly News editor, Doug Golby was also returned for the third time since 1995. Stalwart Pat Ryan, was back on the council after the lost nomination papers fiasco of 1999, coming fourth in Abbey ward.

Kenilworth Regeneration Shock

The biggest shock of the election was Independent candidate, Trevor Martin, who stood on a ticket of ‘Kenilworth Regeneration’, coming third in St John’s with 1157 votes . Mr Martin, of Bullimore Grove, did not expect to be elected, and it was not only a shock to himself but to many others as well. He admitted that his legs were a bit wobbly when he heard the results come through. He was the first ever Independent candidate to be elected to the town council. The last time any Independent sat in Kenilworth was way back in 1964, when it was the old KUDC.

During his campaign, Mr. Martin wasted several days taking down posters that were later found to be legal. He was informed that his leaflets that he had placed in shop windows were not allowed, as ‘fly-posting’ was an offence. It later transpired that it was legal for him to display his posters in shop windows. Gillian Friar, from the election office at Warwick District Council said; “The Electoral Commission said that it was not infact an offence, because the businesses were private premises and he had asked personally to display the leaflets”. She added; “You can’t fly-post and the other parties thought this was unfair, but the commission said Mr. Martin wasn’t breaking any rules”.

But Mr. Martin’s initial elation then turned to frustration after only one council meeting. The meeting was only to decide on planning applications and who serves on the various committees. Mr. Martin left the meeting feeling very angry and disappointed. He believes that procedure and red-tape is already preventing him from starting work on the regeneration of Kenilworth town centre.

From Labour to the Elderly

One other Independent who stood in St John’s was Chris Edgerton, a former Abbey High school pupil, who ran on a ticket of ’24/7 Care for The Elderly’. This was due to him becoming a full-time carer for his mother and all the issues that comes along with it. He is a familar name in Kenilworth town elections, usually as a Labour candidate. But he had resigned his membership in protest of the Iraq war. He said; “Many people have left the Labour party but its difficult to say how I would have done if I was still a member”.

Arrival of the Greens

The Green Party stood for the very first time in a Town Council election with two candidates, Pippa Austin and Caryll Green, but both came near the bottom of the pile in St John’s. But who knows what the future may bring for the party. Maybe in 20 years time, they could even be in control of the council………

Kenilworth Town Councillors

12 Conservatives (M. Coker, D. Coker, A. Cockburn, S. Harrison, F. Bunker, P. Edwards, R. Davies, N. Vincent, G. Windybank, U. Durrant, J. Hatfield, G. Illingworth)

4 Lib-Dems (P. Ryan, A. Blacklock, D. Shilton, D. Golby)

1 Independent (T. Martin)

Mayors

Town Clerk – Susan Howell

Park Hill

Candidate	Party	Votes
Alison Tyler	Liberal Democrat	670
Daphne Harrison	Conservative	623
Robert Daniel	Kenilworth Regeneration	250
Maureen Hazelwood	Labour	112
Brian Hadland	English Independence	88

Turnout 27.5%

LIB-DEM GAIN FROM CONSERVATIVES

Last year’s poll was closely contested in Park Hill with four Tories and two Lib-Dems being elected. Indeed, the 4th, 5th and 6th places were seperated by only 6 votes. But it was not that tight this time around.

The by-election was called due to the resignation of Conservative, Dominic Coker, who was elected to the town council last year at his first attempt.

Postal Ballots & Holidays

Having a by-election in mid-August was never going to create a great deal of interest – it was holiday time. Indeed, of the 1,743 people that voted, 633 did so by post. Terrible weather on the day of the election did not help matters either, it chucked down. All the five polling stations were quiet the whole day. Only 27.5% of the electorate excised their right to vote.

Mrs Tyler of Inchbrook Road, who works at Warwickshire College in Leamington, was delighted to have won, especially following last years disappointment. Dave Shilton, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the town council said that it was a great result for us and it shows that people trust us and know that we work hard in Kenilworth. Their campaign also saw former councillor and town Mayor, Jack Bastock come out of ‘retirement’ to canvass in the ward, this was despite a recent knee operation.

Tory candidate, Mrs Harrison, who was a town councillor 10 years ago but gave-up due to work commitments said; “Of course I am disappointed, it was a good campaign and people were very supportive on the doorstep”. But it was not all bad news for the Tories as they still have an overall majority on the council of 5 seats.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

11 Conservatives (M. Coker, A. Cockburn, S. Harrison, F. Bunker, P. Edwards, R. Davies, N. Vincent, G. Windybank, U. Durrant, J. Hatfield, G. Illingworth)

5 Lib-Dems (P. Ryan, A. Blacklock, D. Shilton, D. Golby, A. Tyler)

1 Independent (T. Martin)

St. John’s

Candidate	Party	Votes
Susan Vera Howell	Conservative	862
Shirley Beatrice Shilton	Liberal Democrats	695
Jeremy Eastaugh	Labour	201
Brian Percy Hadland	Independent	48
Christopher John Edgerton	OBH No Care Beds	16

Electorate 5862

Ballot Papers Issued 1338 (31.3% Turnout)

FORMER TOWN CLERK NOW A COUNCILLOR

There was a poor turnout of just 31% turnout for this by-election following the death of long-serving Tory councillor Graham Windybank. It was always likely that the seat would remain in Tory hands as it has been a stronghold of theirs for decades. Indeed, Susan Howell was victorious, winning by a majority of 167 votes. Her name will be familiar to Kenilworth people as she had been the town clerk from 1987 to 2003. She is now back in the council chamber, not taking the minutes but making them!

Mrs Howell of Thickthorn Orchards, who was born in Solihull was delighted at the result. She admitted that during her time as town clerk she was always interested in listening to the council meetings, and often wanted to say something but now she can!

Chairman of the Kenilworth Liberal Democrats, John Whitehouse said that they were happy at the outcome of their candidate, Shirley Shilton getting 695 votes, considering we traditionally have not been strong in this ward, it is something we can build upon.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

11 Conservatives (M. Coker, A. Cockburn, S. Harrison, F. Bunker, P. Edwards, R. Davies, N. Vincent, S. Howell, U. Durrant, J. Hadfield, G. Illingworth)

5 Lib-Dems (P. Ryan, A. Blacklock, D. Shilton, D. Golby, A. Tyler)

1 Independent (T. Martin)

Abbey (5 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Ann Blacklock	Lib-Dems	1405
*Michael Francis Coker	Conservative	1390
*George Reginald Illingworth	Conservative	1288
Daphne Rose Harrison	Conservative	1224
*Patrick Joseph Ryan	Lib-Dems	1170
Katherine Sara Dickson	Lib-Dems	1152
Thomas Anthony Dalton	Conservative	1135
Alan Rickers	Conservative	1130
John Richard Whitehouse	Lib-Dems	1063
Susan Helen Edwards	Lib-Dems	1036

Turnout 51%

Electorate 5136

Ballot Papers Issued 2625 (23 Spoilt)

Park Hill (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*David John Shilton	Conservative	1673
*Felicity Gena Bunker	Conservative	1611
Andrew James Mobbs	Conservative	1528
*Spencer Charlton Harrison	Conservative	1506
Patricia May Cain	Conservative	1482
*Ursula Stella Durrant	Conservative	1443
*Alison Rita Margaret Tyler	Lib-Dems	1018
*Douglas Alan Golby	Lib-Dems	1006
Kevin Holt	Lib-Dems	918
Eric Lewis Deal	Lib-Dems	891
Mary Latham Harrison	Lib-Dems	860
Ian Malcolm Fenwick	Lib-Dems	843
Maureen Teresa Hazelwood	Labour	310

Turnout 45%

Electorate 6375

Ballot Papers Issued 2889 (15 Spoilt)

St John’s (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Richard Ivor Graham Davies	Conservative	1686
*Pauline Winifred Edwards	Conservative	1674
*John Edmond Hatfield	Conservative	1656
*Alan James Lancaster Cockburn	Conservative	1635
*Norman John Vincent	Conservative	1577
*Susan Vera Howell	Conservative	1567
Richard Guy Dickson	Lib-Dems	777
Richard Sweeney	Lib-Dems	707
John Steven Wilson	Lib-Dems	687
Peter Joseph Sheils	Labour	630
Matthew John Feeley	Labour	613
Robin Rain Winn	Labour	588
George Albert Jones	BNP	294

Turnout 49%

Electorate 5850

Ballot Papers Issued 2847 (25 Spoilt)

TORIES DOMINATE – AFTER TECHNICAL HITCH

Following gremlins with the new electronic counting system, in which two counts had to be abandoned, the counting in the end, had to be done the good old fashioned-way – manually. This delayed the results by a several days, the count began on Thursday night – 3rd May – but didn’t end until Tuesday 7th May.

The Conservatives stormed to a convincing victory over their rivals, with a 13-seat-majority. They totally dominated St Johns and Park Hill, taking all 12 seats. In Abbey they got three from five seats, the other two went to the Lib-Dems, Ann Blacklock and Pat Ryan. Overall the Lib-Dems lost three seats, leaving them with only two seats on the council. Doug Golby lost his seat in Park Hill which he had held since 1995. Also in Park Hill, Alison Tyler, failed to retain her seat having been elected in the 2004 by-election.

Although switching from the Lib-Dems to the Tories, Dave Shilton still retained his seat on the council, coming top-of-the-pile in Park Hill. The other eleven Tories who stood for re-election were all successful, including Susan Howell who retained her seat following her by-election victory last year. New faces on the Tory benches include, Andrew Mobbs, Patricia Cain and Daphne Harrison. Michael Coker said he was delighted at the results, the Liberal Democrats were virtually wiped-out with the exception of Ann Blacklock and Pat Ryan, who we are glad to see elected as he is to become the Mayor next week. It will be two or three days before we celebrate, we have a lot of hard work to do.

Independent member, Trevor Martin of Kenilworth Regeneration, who was elected to the council four years ago, did not seek re-election.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

15 Conservative (R. Davies, P. Edwards, J. Hatfield, A. Cockburn, N. Vincent, S. Howell, D. Shilton, F. Bunker, A. Mobbs, S. Harrison, P. Cain, U. Durrant, M. Coker, G. Illingworth, D. Harrison)

2 Lib-Dems (A. Blacklock, P. Ryan)

Mayors

Abbey (5 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Michael Francis Coker	Conservative	1526
*George Reginald Illingworth	Conservative	1417
Katherine Sara Dickson	Lib-Dems	1386
*Patrick Joseph Ryan	Lib-Dems	1339
John Anthony Cooke	Conservative	1335
Susan McGowan	Lib-Dems	1241
Andrew John Guy Garsed	Conservative	1234
Rowena Ann Hill	Conservative	1227

Registered Voters 5099

Ballot Papers Issued 2935 (134 spoilt)

Turnout 57.6%

Park Hill (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Dave John Shilton	Conservative	2036
*Felicity Gena Bunker	Conservative	1898
*Andrew James Mobbs	Conservative	1808
Shirley Beatrice Shilton	Conservative	1711
Michael Charles Hitchins	Conservative	1638
Mark Vivian Lewis	Conservative	1631
Alison Rita Margaret Tyler	Lib-Dems	1271
Mary Latham Harrison	Lib-Dems	1228
Andrew Christopher Tulloch	Lib-Dems	1185

Registered Voters 6397

Ballot Papers Issued 3432 (164 spoilt)

Turnout 53.6%

St John’s (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Alan James Cockburn	Conservative	1712
Erica Davies	Conservative	1677
*Pauline Winifred Edwards	Conservative	1629
*Richard Ivor Davies	Conservative	1614
John Stephen Dagg	Conservative	1550
*Norman John Vincent	Conservative	1546
Gillian Ann Palmer	Lib-Dems	1167
Richard Guy Dickson	Lib-Dems	1146
Ian Malcolm Fenwick	Lib-Dems	990

Registered Voters 5808

Ballot Papers Issued 3122 (151 spoilt)

Turnout 53.7%

TORIES CONSOLIDATE

The Conservatives retained their majority of 13, from the 2007 election. The only change being seven new councillors, including two married couples.

Tory, John Cooke returns to the town council after 20 long years, he had previously served from 1979 to 1991. New to the Tories is John Dagg, who was easily elected in St. John’s.

The Lib-Dems have a new face on the council, Katherine Dickson, who was elected in Abbey ward along with veteran Pat Ryan, who retained his seat. He had been on the council for the past eight years.

Spoilt Papers Galore

A not so good statistic of the election was the amount of spoilt ballot papers. Each ward having over 100, totalling 449 in all, a record by a long way. The official reasons given for the spoilt papers were: ‘being un-marked’, ‘wholly void for uncertainty’ or for ‘voting for too many candidates’. However, it has to be noted that the Labour party did not put forward any candidates in the election, which probably resulted in some sort of ‘protest vote’ from their supporters.

Lib-Dem, John Whitehouse, WCC member for Abbey ward, said that he found it very interesting that the Lib-Dems called for a smaller town council, and then people voted for fewer councillors than the number they were allowed to vote for on their ballot paper.

Spencer Harrison

Veteran Councillor Spencer Harrision, after a short illness, died on the 23rd December 2010, he was 85. He had been first elected to the town council in 1983, and a member (on-and-off) for a total of 19 years. He also had the distinction of being a ‘Triple’ Mayor.

Arrival of Jubilee House

In late 2011, the council held its last meeting at Southbank Road (Wilton House) before moving to the newly built Jubilee House, in Smalley Place. It had been their home since 1946.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

15 Conservatives (D. Shilton, S. Shilton, E. Davies, R. Davies, A. Cockburn, P. Edwards, J. Dagg, N. Vincent, M. Lewis, M. Hitchins, F. Bunker, A. Mobbs, M. Coker, J. Cooke, G. Illingworth)

2 Lib-Dems (K. Dickson, P. Ryan)

Mayors