Tunbridge Wells Borough Council elections

One third of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent, England, is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Since the last boundary changes in 2002, 48 councillors have been elected from 20 wards.[1]

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:[2]

Party in controlYears
Conservative1973–1994
No overall control1994–1996
Liberal Democrats1996–1998
Conservative1998–2021
No overall control2021–2024
Liberal Democrats2024–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1998 have been:[3]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
James Scholes[4]Conservative199821 May 2002
Len HorwoodConservative21 May 200230 Jun 2004
Melvyn HowellConservative30 Jun 200423 May 2007
Roy BullockConservative23 May 200719 Jan 2011
Bob AtwoodConservative19 Jan 20116 May 2012
David JukesConservative23 May 20125 May 2019
Alan McDermottConservative22 May 201926 May 2021
Tom DawlingsConservative26 May 202125 May 2022
Ben ChapelardLiberal Democrats25 May 2022

Council composition

Composition of the council[5]
Year Conservative Liberal Democrats[a] Labour Alliance UKIP Independents
& Others		 Council control
after election
Local government reorganisation; council established (54 seats)
1973 29 6 6 – – 13 Conservative
New ward boundaries (48 seats)
1976 38 0 4 – – 6 Conservative
1979 39 0 2 – – 7 Conservative
1980 40 1 2 – – 5 Conservative
1982 41 1 2 – – 4 Conservative
1983 43 3 1 – – 1 Conservative
1984 40 5 1 – – 2 Conservative
1986 36 10 1 – – 1 Conservative
1987 34 11 2 – – 1 Conservative
1988 36 10 1 – – 1 Conservative
1990 31 12 4 – – 1 Conservative
1991 27 15 5 – – 1 Conservative
1992 30 14 3 – – 1 Conservative
1994 24 20 3 – 0 1 No overall control
1995 19 23 5 – 0 1 No overall control
1996 14 27 6 – 0 1 Liberal Democrats
1998 27 12 7 – 0 2 Conservative
1999 28 12 7 – 0 1 Conservative
2000 31 11 5 – 0 1 Conservative
New ward boundaries (48 seats)
2022 34 11 3 – 0 0 Conservative
2003 33 12 3 – 0 0 Conservative
2004 35 12 1 – 0 0 Conservative
2006 38 9 1 – 0 0 Conservative
2007 42 6 0 – 0 0 Conservative
2008 44 4 0 – 0 0 Conservative
2010 42 6 0 – 0 0 Conservative
2011 39 6 1 – 1 1 Conservative
2012 37 5 2 – 2 2 Conservative
2014 38 3 3 – 2 2 Conservative
2015 42 3 2 – 1 0 Conservative
2016 43 3 2 – 0 0 Conservative
2018 41 4 2 1 0 0 Conservative
2019 28 9 4 6 0 1 Conservative
2021 24 13 5 6 0 0 No overall control
2022 15 17 7 9 0 0 No overall control
2023 11 17 8 11 0 1 No overall control
New ward boundaries (39 seats)
2024 7 22 5 4 0 1 Liberal Democrats
2026 7 25 3 3 0 1 Liberal Democrats

Borough result maps

By-election results

1994–1998

Pantiles by-election 25 September 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 510 51.7 +2.9
Conservative 377 38.2 +3.0
Labour 100 10.1 −5.9
Majority 133 13.5
Turnout 987
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

1998–2002

Cranbrook by-election 18 October 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent 465 58.6 +58.6
Conservative 328 41.4 −3.2
Majority 137 17.2
Turnout 793 21.4
Independent gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

2002–2006

Southborough and High Brooms by-election 11 March 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colin Bothwell 465 41.0 −4.5
Labour David Belchem 429 38.6 −7.1
Liberal Democrats Alan Bullion 171 15.4 +15.4
UKIP Victor Webb 55 5.0 +5.0
Majority 27 2.4
Turnout 1,111 21.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
St John's by-election 17 March 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brian Ransley 500 41.6 +4.0
Liberal Democrats Joanna Au Brey 390 32.5 −9.4
Labour Maurice Knights 244 20.3 +11.7
Green Phyllis Leslie 66 5.5 −1.9
Majority 110 9.1
Turnout 1,200 25.1
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Pembury by-election 30 June 2005[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Thomas Symondson 699 50.0 +16.2
Conservative Michael Tompsett 657 47.0 −10.7
UKIP Vitor Webb 41 2.4 +2.4
Majority 42 3.0
Turnout 1,397 31.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

2006–2010

Pantiles and St Mark's by-election 13 September 2007[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Glenn Hall 788 59.8 −4.3
Liberal Democrats Jamie Johnson 364 27.6 +0.5
Labour Lorna Blackmore 94 7.1 +7.1
UKIP Victor Webb 71 5.4 −3.4
Majority 424 32.2
Turnout 1,317 27.3
Conservative hold Swing

2010–2014

St James by-election 7 October 2010[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Benjamin Chapelard 649 62.0 −2.9
Conservative Robert Rutherford 294 28.1 −7.0
Green Richard Leslie 103 9.8 +9.8
Majority 355 33.9
Turnout 1,046 24.7
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Sherwood by-election 16 December 2010[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Backhouse 422 47.6 −0.4
Liberal Democrats Alan Bullion 174 19.6 −6.7
Labour Ian Carvell 124 14.0 −2.3
UKIP Victor Webb 92 10.4 +1.0
English Democrat Joanna Stanley 75 8.5 +8.5
Majority 248 27.9
Turnout 888 18.6
Conservative hold Swing
Pembury by-election 17 March 2011[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Claire Brown 578 43.3 +2.7
Conservative Robert Rutherford 460 34.5 −24.9
UKIP Victor Webb 297 22.2 +22.2
Majority 118 8.8
Turnout 1,335 35.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

2014–2018

Southborough North by-election 10 September 2015[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joe Simmons 484 43.7 −11.8
Liberal Democrats Trevor William Poile 434 39.3 +26.6
UKIP Will O'Shea 188 17.0 +1.6
Majority 49 4.4
Turnout 1,105 34.2
Conservative hold Swing

2018–2022

Culverden by-election 14 November 2019[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Justine Victoria Rutland 888 46.7 +33.5
Conservative David Godfrey Elliott 474 24.9 −19.1
Women's Equality Liz Orr 193 10.2 N/A
Alliance Rachel Sarah Bethan Daly 180 9.5 N/A
Labour David James Adams 99 5.2 −14.3
Green Aimee Caroline Taylor 67 3.5 −7.5
Majority 414 21.8
Turnout 1,901 32.1
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Speldhurst and Bidborough by-election 25 November 2021[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Alliance Matthew Sankey 788 49.8
Conservative Rowena Stanyer 730 46.1
Labour Aleksander Klimanski 65 4.1
Majority 58 3.7
Turnout 1,583
Alliance gain from Conservative Swing

2022–2026

Park by-election 1 May 2025[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Richard Brown 973 38.4
Conservative Sedat Zorba 448 17.7
Alliance Nick Pope 416 16.4
Reform John Spence 405 16.0
Green Jeremy Clapham 179 7.1
Labour Kate McAlpine 110 4.3
Majority 525 20.7
Turnout 2,531
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
St John's by-election 1 May 2025[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Simon Davidson 780 51.1
Reform Chris Hoare 247 16.2
Conservative Alexander Lewis-Grey 171 11.2
Labour Alan Bullion 126 8.3
Green Kate Sergeant 111 7.3
Alliance Kit Hawes-Webb 62 4.1
Independents for Tunbridge Wells Joe Dore 28 1.8
Majority 533 35.0
Turnout 1,525
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
St John's by-election 30 October 2025[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Ukonu Obasi 629 53.3
Reform Chris Hoare 177 15.0
Green Kate Sergeant 160 13.5
Alliance Kit Hawes-Webb 105 8.9
Conservative David Sumner 90 7.6
Independents for Tunbridge Wells Joe Dore 20 1.7
Majority 452 38.3
Turnout 1,181
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes totals for the predecessors of the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party and SDP (both of which participated in the Alliance).

References

  1. ↑ "Council Democracy". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 21 November 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ "Tunbridge Wells". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  3. ↑ "Council minutes". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Council's Tory group selects new leader". Kent Online. 26 April 2002. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "Composition calculator". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  6. ↑ "Pembury by-election results". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "Tories romp home in Tunbridge Wells by-election". kentnews.co.uk. 17 September 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Lib Dems hold ward with Ben". this is kent. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Declaration of result of poll Sherwood ward" (PDF). Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  11. ↑ "Results of Pembury By-Election". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  12. ↑ "Election results for Southborough North, 10 September 2015". democracy.tunbridgewells.gov.uk. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Election results for Culverden, 14 November 2019". democracy.tunbridgewells.gov.uk. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — Speldhurst and Bidborough Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — Park Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  16. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — St John's Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  17. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — St John's Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.