Category: K.T.C Elections

Abbey (6 seats)

Elected

Candidate	Party
*Michael Francis Coker	Conservative
*Jack Bastock	Lib-Dem
Haydn Alan Thomas	Lib-Dem
Enys Parthenia Thomas	Lib-Dem
Helen Pavier	Lib-Dem
Patrick Joseph Ryan	Lib-Dem

Not Elected

Candidate	Party
*Kenneth Rawnsley	Conservative
*John Anthony Cooke	Conservative
John Wiles	Conservative
Maureen West	Conservative
*John Edward Hatfield	Conservative
Michael Jonathan Morris	Lib-Dem
Geoffrey Ernest Cleave	Labour
Henry Scarborough	Labour
Muriel Johnston	Labour
Jill Murdoch	Labour
Rosemary May Ellis	Labour

St. John’s (6 seats)

Elected

Candidate	Party
*Pauline Winifred Edwards	Conservative
*Peggy Grace Cox	Conservative
*Robert Ronald Wooller	Conservative
*Leslie Graham Windybank	Conservative
Felicity Gena Bunker	Conservative
Marjorie Helen Weaver	Conservative

Not Elected

Candidate	Party
Muriel Bastock	Lib-Dem
Frences Marilyn Dutson	Lib-Dem
Grace Lillian Gunter	Lib-Dem
Barbara Ward	Lib-Dem
Christopher John Payne	Labour
Thomas Swallow	Labour
Helen Maria Ruffles	Labour
David Peggs	Labour
Brenda May Payne	Labour
Diana Margaret Basham	Labour

Park Hill (4 seats)

Elected

Candidate	Party
*Thomas Anthony Dalton	Conservative
*Spencer Charlton Harrison	Conservative
Peter John Durrant	Conservative
Joanna Mary Illingworth	Conservative

Not Elected

Candidate	Party
Eric Lewis Deal	Lib-Dem
Judith Ann Rawson	Lib-Dem
Dennis Edmond Royston	Lib-Dem
Vera Maud Royston	Lib-Dem
Robert Guy Field	Labour
Robin Rain Winn	Labour
Anthony Bowen	Labour

*denotes retiring members

LIB-DEMS MUSCLE IN

Following the rout of 1987, the Liberal Democrats now have four new seats on the council. But the Tories still have a six seat majority.

The Lib-Dems who got elected were husband and wife team of Haydn and Enys Thomas, who return to the council, with newcomers Helen Pavier and Pat Ryan. Jack Bastock kept his seat as well as winning back his seat on the District Council, which he lost eight years ago. He said “I’m very pleased. We can certainly have some good open debates now. The people of Kenilworth elected me, so I shall certainly be putting Kenilworth first”.

It was Abbey Ward that did all the damage for the Tories, where three of their high profile members failed to be re-elected. Kenneth Rawnsley, John Cooke and John Hatfield, being the casualties. Rawnsley and Cooke also lost their District Council seats.

Mr Rawnsley has dominated local politics since 1967, when he was first elected to the old KUDC. He was Mayor twice, and has been the leader of the District Council since it was created in 1973. The shocked 67-year-old retired BT sales superintentent, says he is already making plans for the future. “I believe I have great knowledge of local government, which I want to put to use. I hope to continue in public life”. He added; “The district and town were my life, I’ve been around a long time”. He believes there was a protest vote in Abbey ward against government issues such as the poll tax. Kenilworth people might also have been influenced by his decision to abstain from voting in the Eagle Lane planning application.

John Hatfield, after eight years on the council was also a disappointed man, he was due to become the next Mayor. But he said “I shall be back, they haven’t heard the last of me. I still have just as much influence, perhaps more. The council meetings are only a tenth of the work I did for the town, people will still come to me with their problems”. He is angry that national politics influenced voters. “We were the ones fighting against these cuts”. He also believes the long list of 17 names on the ballot paper confused many voters.

John Cooke, although he lost his town seat, is still a county councillor, where he will be taking over the chairmanship of the Social Services Committee in June. Mr Cooke, aged 33, said he would miss the town council where he started his political career back in 1979, but doesn’t take the result personally. He was Mayor in 1986-7.

Park Hill was dominated by the Tories. Tony Dalton and Spencer Harrison were re-elected plus two new faces to the council, Joanna Illingworth and Peter Durrant.

Kenilworth Town Councillors (16 seats)

11 Conservatives (T. Dalton, S. Harrison, P. Durrant, J. Illingworth, P. Cox, P. Edwards, R. Wooller, G. Windybank, F. Bunker, M. Weaver, M. Coker)

5 Lib-Dems (J. Bastock, H. Thomas, E, Thomas, H. Pavier, P. Ryan)

Mayors

Footnote – As viewers will see, no votes are shown against any of the candidates. This was due to the fact that the local press did not publish a full sets of results. Plus, none are available on the WDC website. If anyone has a full set of results, please contact us. Thank You.

St John’s

Candidate	Party	Votes
Richard Dickinson	Conservative	675
Barbara Ward	Lib-Dem	405
David Hatton	Labour	209

TORIES RETAIN SEAT

A ‘casual vacancy’ had arisen due to the resignation in September of Marjorie Weaver, who had not attended any meetings since March. She had been elected to the council at the 1991 poll.

Where’s My Polling Card?

Complaints came in from the public regarding polling cards, which they said had not been posted through their letterboxes. But Michael Coker, pointed out that in June 1987, the council decided not to fund polling cards for ‘casual vacancy’ positions. But not many electors were aware of this. However, it has always been the case that electors do not need a polling card to cast their vote, they just need to turn-up and give their name and address.

Abbey (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Jack Bastock	Lib-Dem	1838
Haydn Thomas	Lib-Dem	1483
Enys Thomas	Lib-Dem	1299
Patrick Ryan	Lib-Dem	1281
Helen Pavier	Lib-Dem	1278
Jill Gillman	Lib-Dem	1188
*Michael Coker	Conservative	1155
Daphne Harrison	Conservative	966
Terry Quainton	Conservative	956
James Finnie	Conservative	940
*John Hatfield	Conservative	929
Geoffrey Cleave	Labour	763
Rosemary Ellis	Labour	762
Chris Edgerton	Labour	753
Sarah Clarke	Labour	715
Chris Payne	Labour	634
John Wiles	Labour	481

St John’s (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Pauline Edwards	Conservative	1741
*Bob Wooller	Conservative	1700
*Graham Windybank	Conservative	1678
*Peggy Cox	Conservative	1664
*Felicity Bunker	Conservative	1499
Paul Spillman	Conservative	1447
Dave Hatton	Labour	1241
Dave Peggs	Labour	1210
Jacky Grayson	Labour	1191
Jill Murdoch	Labour	1189
Helen Ruffles	Labour	1121
Robin Winn	Labour	976
Richard Dickson	Lib-Dem	839
Graham Thomas	Lib-Dem	823
Barbara Ward	Lib-Dem	795
Aidan Foss	Lib-Dem	753

Park Hill (4 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
Dave Shilton	Lib-Dem	702
Judy Rawson	Lib-Dem	633
Mary Harrison	Lib-Dem	620
Doug Golby	Lib-Dem	603
*Tony Dalton	Conservative	579
*Spencer Harrison	Conservative	557
*Peter Durrant	Conservative	532
*Joanna Illingworth	Conservative	514
Muriel Johnston	Labour	499
Harry Scarborough	Labour	482
Lesley Bowen	Labour	474
Tony Bowen	Labour	461

*denotes retiring councillor

TOWN POWER PASSES TO LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Lib-Dems were celebrating after seizing control of the council. The Tories had gone into the election with a 11-5 majority but this was turned on its head. One of the newly elected councillors, Doug Golby, is the former editor of the Kenilworth Weekly News – he is now the news himself! He said; “There has been a lot of dismay and disgust on the doorstep and national issues have had a lot to do with this. It has been a case of Middle England betrayed”.

In Abbey ward the Lib-Dems took all six seats, with Jack Bastock easily topping the poll. Tory stalwart Michael Coker, who had been on the council since 1983, lost his seat by 33 votes. The Lib-Dems also had a clean-sweep in Park Hill where present tory councillors, Dalton, Harrison, Durrant and Joanna Illingworth were all un-seated. They were replaced by Golby, Shilton, Rawson and Harrison.

New to the council is Dave Shilton, who said; “We have a good team in Park Hill and look forward to working hard to look after people in the ward. We are very grateful to the voters for giving us the chance to represent them”.

But in St. John’s the colour was all blue, with the five retiring Tories being re-elected, and were joined by new member Paul Spillman. He replaced Richard Dickinson, who did not seek re-election as he is moving to Sussex. He had been elected to the council at the November 1993 by-election.

Long standing Tory councillor Spencer Harrision lost his town seat, but retained his place at the District Council, but he was very disappointed; “It was a democratic result and we can’t complain about that”. Mr Harrison had been the last remaining councillor to have served on the old KUDC, which existed until 1974.

Kenilworth Town Councillors (16 seats)

10 Lib-Dems (D. Shilton, J. Rawson, M. Harrison, D. Golby, J. Bastock, H. Thomas, E. Thomas, P. Ryan, H. Pavier, J. Gillman)

6 Conservatives (P. Edwards, B. Wooller, G. Windybank, P. Cox, F. Bunker, P. Spillman)

Mayors

Town Clerk – Susan Howell

Abbey

Candidate	Party	Votes
Michael Francis Coker	Conservative	847
Graham John Thomas	Lib-Dem	492
Margi Levy	Labour	371

COKER’S BACK – FOLLOWING A LEAFLET ROW

This by-election was called due to the death of Enys Thomas (mother of candidate, Graham Thomas and wife of Cllr Haydn Thomas) who died at Warwick Hospital in May following a short illness. She had been taken ill during a council meeting on 25th April. She had been on the town council since 1991.

Graham Thomas said; “I am not too downhearted, I did my best and it was an improvement on last time. It was a shame the turnout was low but at least between us, Margi Levy and I managed to poll more votes than the winner”.

Before the election, a squabble broke-out over the ‘Tory in Touch’ leaflets that had been distributed around the ward. The disagreement was about who was telling the truth to the voters. Lib-Dem group leader, Haydn Thomas said it was full of distortion and half-truths. If this is what is being sent out for a town council election, what will it be like for a General Election. Mr. Coker reacted by saying that he stood by the leaflet. There is a checklist of Liberal Democrat promises, and what we are saying is that they have not carried out any of them. People will be the judge of that.

Seven polling stations were used for this election: Priors Field School, Clinton School, Parochial Hall, Baptist Church, Methodist Church, the Library and one at Burton Green.

Kenilworth Town Councillors (16 seats)

9 Lib-Dems (D. Shilton, J. Rawson, M. Harrison, D. Golby, J. Bastock, H. Thomas, P. Ryan, H. Pavier, J. Gillman)

7 Conservatives (M. Coker, P. Edwards, B. Wooller, G. Windybank, P. Cox, F. Bunker, P. Spillman)

Abbey Ward

Candidate	Party	Votes
Ann Blacklock	Lib-Dem	932
Andrea Wooller	Conservative	919
Margi Levy	Labour	339

Turnout 33.6%

LUCKY 13 FOR LIBERAL DEMOCRATS – IN LOW TURNOUT

This by-election was automatically called due to Lib-Dem councillor, Jill Wane, not attending any meetings for six months. But they hung onto the seat by the skin of their teeth, by just 13 votes. It was the one of the closest fought elections in a long time.

Ann Blacklock was the victorious candidate which will be her first time on the town council. She said of the count; “It was very exciting, we knew it was going to be close and had a good chance”. We knew we had support for Liberal Democrats policies but we did not know if they would turnout on the day.

Defeated Tory, Andrea Wooller, said there had been no tears and she had enjoyed the campaign. I have no hard feelings, and I phyically could not have done anymore. I did my best. However, she is looking forward to fighting in Abbey Ward again, at next year’s election.

Only about a third of all the registered electors bothered to vote, which is typical of many by-elections, especially at this time of the year.

It was vital the Liberal Democrats retained their seat. If the Tories had have been successful, the council would have been locked on 8 seats-a-piece. This would have made an interesting situation at Southbank Road. As it turned out the LIb-Dems retained their slender two seat majority – but it would only last a few months.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

9 Lib-Dems (A. Blacklock, D. Shilton, J. Rawson, H. Harrison, D. Golby, J. Bastock, H. Thomas, P. Ryan, H. Pavier)

7 Conservatives (M. Coker, P. Edwards, B. Wooller, G. Windybank, P. Cox, F. Bunker, P. Spillman)

Abbey (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Jack Bastock	Lib-Dems	1450
*Haydn Alan Thomas	Lib-Dems	1328
*Helen Pavier	Lib-Dems	1266
*Ann Blacklock	Lib-Dems	1263
*Michael Coker	Conservative	1212
John Hatfield	Conservative	1113
Lois Darley	Lib-Dems	1050
Andrea Wooller	Conservative	1048
Joanna Mary Illingworth	Conservative	929
Jacquelyn Earle	Conservative	904
David Pool	Conservative	897
Margi Levy	Labour	571
Rosemary Ellis	Labour	561
Christopher Payne	Labour	483

Cons gain one from Lib-Dems

Park Hill (4 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Dave Shilton	Lib-Dems	855
*Doug Golby	Lib-Dems	716
*Judy Rawson	Lib-Dems	696
*Graham Windybank	Conservative	663
*Mary Harrison	Lib-Dems	622
Spencer Harrison	Conservative	544
Daphne Harrison	Conservative	536
Ursula Durrant	Conservative	535
Chris Edgerton	Labour	287
Harry Scarborough	Labour	216

Cons gain one from Lib-Dems

St John’s (6 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes
*Pauline Edwards	Conservative	1737
*Bob Wooller	Conservative	1615
Alan Cockburn	Conservative	1582
*Felicity Bunker	Conservative	1431
Tim Porter	Conservative	1425
*Paul Spillman	Conservative	1366
Alan Ainsworth	Labour	851
David Peggs	Labour	838
Janice Ford	Labour	824
Richard Dickson	Lib-Dems	737
Neil Clark	Lib-Dems	728
Barbara Ward	Lib-Dems	687
Graham Thomas	Lib-Dems	676
Tina Nason	Lib-Dems	637

Cons hold six seats

TORIES BACK IN CONTROL ….. JUST

The Conservatives gained two seats but that was enough for them to overturn the 9-7 Lib-Dem majority into a 9-7 majority in their favour. When the Lib-Dems first took control four years ago, they had a four seat majority. This was the first time since the inception of the Town Council 25 years ago that the Tories did not have control. But by the end of the term, that majority had shrunk to just two. This was due to them losing one seat in a by-election, but did hold onto a seat in another by-election, so preserving the status quo.

The two crucial gains for the Tories came in Abbey and Park Hill.

Graham Windybank was elected in Park Hill following his switch from St John’s. He was also hoping that Spencer or Daphne Harrison would get elected but with the popularity of Dave Shilton and the other Lib-Dems, their chances along with the other Tories weren’t very high.

The Tories were very happy to see the return of John Hatfield, who had lost his seat in 1995. New to the Tory ranks are Tim Porter and Alan Cockburn, who were both standing for the first time. They were easily returned at St John’s, being well clear of their rivals. The Tory group are likely to take-up all the chairmanships of the town committees.

Following the Tory victory, the Liberal Democrats group leader, Haydn Thomas, will lose his position as leader of the council. That will now be taken-up by Michael Coker. Cllr Thomas was bitterly disappointed with the final results, which put the Tories in control at Southbank Road. But, he was glad they got most of their councillors re-elected, but he was sad that they had lost control.

The Mystery of the Lost Nomination Forms

She added; “We have not received his nomination. There is nothing the returning officer can do to let Mr Ryan stand as a candidate”. Mr Thomas, said; “I took Pat’s papers along with mine and all the others to the election offices the Tuesday after Easter, and they were very busy. The officers say they cannot find Pat’s nomination forms, I am not sure what we can do, I am gutted at the news. I have searched high and low and have doubled checked that I have not left them at home”.

The lost forms meant that the Lib-Dems could only field five candidates in Abbey ward where six seats were available. Many believed that if Pat Ryan had stood he would have been elected.

Labour Woes

The Labour group had a bad day with not one of their eight candidates getting anywhere near elected. However, all their candidates in St John’s beat all five Lib-Dems. One of them, David Peggs said that he was disappointed that the voters of Kenilworth seemed to be out of touch with the rest of the district. He added; “Now that the Tories are in power we are going to see even more griping about the district and very little positive action”

In the country, Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ government had been in power for the past two years. But the socalist vote in Kenilworth was still very low. Even with the town having a Labour MP, Andy King, this did not help the Labour group getting anywhere near gaining a seat in the town. Indeed, the last Labour candidate to be elected to the town council was Bill Wozencroft in 1979, but he finally lost his seat in 1983.

Polling stations were open from 8am to 9pm.

Kenilworth Town Councillors (16 seats)

9 Conservatives (M. Coker, A. Cockburn, P. Edwards, B. Wooller, F. Bunker, P. Spillman, T. Porter, G. Windybank, J. Hatfield)

7 Lib-Dems (D. Shilton, D. Golby, J. Rawson, J. Bastock, H. Thomas, A. Blacklock, H. Pavier)

Mayors

Town Clerk – Susan Howell

St. John’s

Candidate	Party	Votes
Richard Ivor Davies	Conservative	975
Janice Ford	Labour	515
Patrick Joseph Ryan	Lib-Dems	254

Turnout 24%

EASY VICTORY FOR TORIES IN POOR TURNOUT

Newcomer to the Town Council is Richard Davies after securing a heavy majority over Labour’s Jan Ford of 460. But the major talking point was the turnout of just 24%. Town clerk, Susan Howell, described it as; “Very Disappointing”.

The by-election came about due to the retirement of veteran Tory, Bob Wooller, who was moving to Devon. He first stood in a town election in 1979 but was unsuccessful. But his luck changed in 1982 when he won a by-election at St. John’s, and has remained on the council ever since. In the 1983 election, he polled a massive 2,046 votes, the largest in the whole election.

Polling Card Issues

Election officials at the Warwick District Council (WDC) responded to criticism by some residents who said they did not receive polling cards. One elector was even told she could vote at Castle Farm recreation ground only to find there was no polling station there. The WDC sent out around 7,000 polling cards to the ward from 1st to 5th November. Election officer, Gillian Friar, said that as far as we are aware, all our canvassers posted the cards on time to the electors and to the correct addresses. She added; “The cards give details of where the polling stations are located, opening hours and name of candidates”. But electors can vote without them, all they need to do is give their name and address to the polling staff, and as long as they are on the electorial roll, there isn’t a problem.

Three of the polling stations used in the election were: Kenilworth School, Castle Sixth Form and St. John’s church hall.

The count took place at the council house in Southbank Road, and the results were declared at around 10pm, one hour after the polls closed.

Kenilworth Town Councillors

9 Conservatives (M. Coker, A. Cockburn, P. Edwards, R. Davies, F. Bunker, P. Spillman, T. Porter, G. Windybank, J. Hatfield)

7 Lib-Dems (D. Shilton, D. Golby, J. Rawson, J. Bastock, H. Thomas, A. Blacklock, H. Pavier)

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	Lib-Dems	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)