The 2019 Fenland District Council

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

took place on 2 May 2019 for all 39 seats of the

Fenland District Council Fenland may mean: * Fenland, or the Fens, an area of low-lying land in eastern England ** Fenland District, a local authority district in Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, forming part of the Fens ** Fenland Airfield, an airfield near Spalding, ...

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 ...

. It was held on the same day as other

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. In these elections, twelve councillors were returned without a vote to Fenland District Council, which topped the

Electoral Reform Society The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...

's list of '

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

s'.

Summary

In recent months a number of prominent Tories had failed to win selection for wards they had held in many instances for several years. Some of these stood as independent candidates. Nick Meekins standing as an independent took David Oliver's seat. Cllr Michelle Tanfield retained her Elm and Christchurch seat along with Will Sutton as independents.

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...

did not put up any candidates this election - former UKIP county councillor for Wisbech North ward (2013-2017), Paul Clapp said he felt he could "achieve more outside of the political system than in it". The local

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

said it had "pushed hard" to field more candidates, but found "limited interest". The Labour candidate Martin Field (March East ward), felt uncontested seats were "bad for democracy". Labour had not a candidate standing in every seat in Fenland since 1995.

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

candidate (

Parson Drove Parson Drove is a fen village in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. A linear settlement, it is west of Wisbech, the nearest town. The village is named after the central thoroughfare along which the village developed, a green drove, much ...

Wisbech St Mary Wisbech St Mary is a village in the Fenland District of Cambridgeshire, England. It is west of the town of Wisbech. It lies between two roads, the B1169 and the A47. The population of the civil parish (including Guyhirn and Thorney Toll) at th ...

), Gavin Booth said: "The state of national politics now puts people off and this has caused a lot of apathy for local politics, which is a shame." Two Independent councillors Virginia and Michael Bucknor stepped down, after 12 years in local politics, due to Mrs Bucknor's ill health. A former conservative councillor Andy Maul took one of the two seats they were vacating. A number of former Tory councillors standing as independents gained seats across the district, collectively they are forming the largest opposition for many years.

Results Summary

Ward results

12 seats were uncontested. (* denotes sitting councillor)

Bassenhally (Whittlesey)

Benwick, Coates and Eastrea

Birch (Chatteris)

Clarkson (Wisbech)

Doddington and Wimblington

Elm and Christchurch

Kirkgate (Wisbech)

Lattersey (Whittlesey)

Manea

March East

March North

March West

Medworth (Wisbech)

Octavia Hill (Wisbech)

Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary

Peckover (Wisbech)

Nick Meekin rejoined the Conservatives in 2021.

Roman Bank

Slade Lode (Chatteris)

St Andrews (Whittlesey)

Staithe (Wisbech)

Stonald (Whittlesey)

The Mills (Chatteris)

Waterlees Village (Wisbech)

Wenneye (Chatteris)

References

{{Cambridgeshire elections 2019 English local elections May 2019 events in the United Kingdom

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2010s in Cambridgeshire