The 2008 Rushmoor Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of

Rushmoor Rushmoor is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. It covers the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough, Hampshire, Farnborough as well as Cove and North Camp. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the ...

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Council in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. One third of the council was up for election and the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

stayed in overall control of the council. After the election, the composition of the council was: *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

29 *

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

8 *

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives held 26 seats, the Liberal Democrats 7,

6 and a further 3 vacant. 15 seats were up for election with 2 seats in St Johns

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

being contested after the death of Conservative

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Graham Tucker. The other 2 vacant seats were in Cove and Southwood, and Empress wards, where Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors respectively stood down at the election. 50 candidates were standing including 4 from the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

and 1 from the

Official Monster Raving Loony Party The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Lord Sutch". It is notable for its ...

as well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour parties. The candidates included a 19-year-old Conservative in Heron Wood ward who was hoping to become the youngest ever councillor in Rushmoor. Issues in the election included local developments, an increase in flights at

Farnborough Airfield Farnborough Airport (previously called: TAG Farnborough Airport, RAE Farnborough, ICAO Code EGLF) is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The airport covers about 8% of Rush ...

, the recent trial of alternate weekly rubbish collection,

anti-social behaviour Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...

, spending cuts and councillors' expenses.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council with 29 seats compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 5 Labour. The Conservatives gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats in Cove and Southwood and West Heath wards to increase their majority. However the Liberal Democrats did take one seat back in St Marks ward defeating the Conservative councillor for the previous 10 years Nigel Baines. Meanwhile, in Heron Wood ward the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

for the first time since 2006 after defeating the sitting Labour councillor. Labour easily held their only other seat in North Town, while narrowly failed to gain Wellington from the Conservatives by 50 votes; however Labour came last in all 9 wards in Farnborough. Overall turnout was down from the 2007 election at 33.7% with the lowest turnout in Wellington ward at 19.8%. Following the election the Liberal Democrats elected a new group leader with Sue Gadsby taking over from Craig Card who had been party leader for the previous 9 years.

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2008

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2008 English local elections 2000s in Hampshire