2019 Bassetlaw District Council election

The 2019 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect all 48 members of Bassetlaw District Council in England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

The election resulted in the Labour Party retaining its control of the council with an increased majority. The Conservative Party suffered its worst defeat in Bassetlaw since 1973, winning only 5 seats of the 12 seats it was defending. Both Independents and Labour gained seats from the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats gained a seat from Labour in East Retford West, the first Liberal Democrat elected in Bassetlaw since 2006.^[2]

Background

Bassetlaw is a shire district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is predominantly rural, with two towns: Worksop and Retford. The district was formed in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. Local Government in Nottinghamshire is organised on a two-tier basis, with local district councils responsible for local services such as housing, local planning and refuse collection and Nottinghamshire County Council responsible for "wide-area" services, including education, social services and public transport. Bassetlaw District Council has been controlled by Labour for most of its existence, except for a brief period from 2006 to 2011 when it was controlled by the Conservatives.^[3]

Bassetlaw District Council held local elections on 2 May 2019 along with other councils in England as part of the 2019 local elections. Bassetlaw is divided into 25 wards for electoral purposes, with each ward electing between one and three councillors. Until 2015, the council was elected by thirds, with district elections being held every year except the year in which elections to Nottinghamshire County Council took place. The council resolved in 2014 to hold all-out elections from 2015 onwards, with all 48 councillors elected in all-out elections every four years. Councillors defending their seats in this election were previously elected in 2015. At that election, Labour won a majority of seats and retained its control of the council, which it has controlled since 2011.

Result

The election resulted in the Labour Party retaining its control of the council^[4]

Bassetlaw District Council election, 2019

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	37	5	1	4		45.4	11,766	4.3
	Conservative	5	0	7	7		28.9	7,484	4.9
	Independent	5	3	1	2		13.0	3,366	9.0
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0	1		4.7	1,211	3.3
	UKIP	0	0	0	0		8.0	2,061	8.8

Ward results

Asterisks denote incumbent Councillors seeking re-election.

Beckingham

Beckingham (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Joan Sanger*	558	73.1	33.4
	Conservative	Raymond Simpson	205	26.9	5.0
Turnout			781	41.1
	Independent hold		Swing

Blyth

Blyth (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Bowker	261	38.1	3.5
	Conservative	Barry Bowles*	237	34.6	9.6
	UKIP	John Hudson	124	18.1	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Thompson	63	9.2	4.5
Turnout			693	37.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Carlton

Carlton (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve Scotthorne*	779	53.7
	Labour	David Pidwell*	644	44.4
	Labour	Robin Carrington-Wilde*	636	43.8
	Conservative	Val Bowles	506	34.8
	Conservative	Joanne Morrison	433	29.8
	UKIP	Kevin "Of the Blackburn family"	329	22.7
	Conservative	Alexandra Gregory	324	22.3
Turnout			1,457	32.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Clayworth

Clayworth (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ben Sofflet	315	56.3	N/A
	Conservative	Drew Smith	245	43.8	29.5
Turnout			576	37.7
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

East Markham

East Markham (1) – uncontested election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ogle*	Unopposed
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

East Retford East

East Retford East (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Shaw*	728	46.3
	Conservative	Mike Quigley*	704	44.8
	Labour	Bill Tomlinson	669	42.6
	Conservative	Martin Auckland	622	39.6
	Conservative	Richard Gill	620	39.4
	Labour	Fraser Merryweather	554	35.2
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Costello	226	14.4	N/A
Turnout			1,610	30.5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

East Retford North

East Retford North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Oxby*	895	59.8
	Labour	Jane Plevin	734	49.0
	Labour	Garry Clarkson*	667	44.6
	Conservative	Lynda Carter	466	31.1
	Conservative	Anthony Tromans*	438	29.3
	Conservative	Donald Clarke	370	24.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Straker	207	13.8	N/A
Turnout			1,533	30.6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

East Retford South

East Retford South (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Richards*	697	61.6
	Labour	Carolyn Troop*	679	60.0
	UKIP	Martin Introna	228	20.2
	Conservative	John Manners	197	17.4
	Conservative	Paul Chambers	179	15.8
Turnout			1,146	29.5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

East Retford West

East Retford West (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Anderson*	394	37.7
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Tamblyn-Saville	371	35.5
	Labour	Matt Callingham	364	34.9
	Conservative	Ashley Burnell	236	22.6
	Independent	Marie Critchley	191	18.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Ware	164	15.7
	Conservative	Ashraf Syed Abdul Cader	142	13.6
Turnout			1,062	28.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Everton

Everton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mark Watson	405	56.8	N/A
	Conservative	Annette Simpson*	308	43.2%	11.7
Turnout			718	36.0
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Harworth

Harworth (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gloria Evans*	986	67.6
	Labour	David Challinor*	961	65.9
	Labour	Beverley Schuller	940	64.4
	Conservative	Sonia Armstrong	380	26.0
	Conservative	Leah Davis	369	25.3
	Conservative	Gavin McGonigle	322	22.1
Turnout			1,532	24.9
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Langold

Langold (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jill Freeman*	332	76.3	6.2
	Conservative	Stephen Evans	103	23.7	N/A
Turnout			456	23.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Misterton

Misterton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Hazel Brand*	473	81.4	23.3
	Conservative	Alastair Bowman	108	18.6	7.2
Turnout			592	29.4
	Independent hold		Swing

Rampton

Rampton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Coultate	372	72.0	2.6
	Labour	Raymond Fielding	145	28.0	2.6
Turnout			550	32.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ranskill

Ranskill (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Nicholls	278	39.5	15.0
	Conservative	Beverley Fear	204	29.0	34.0
	Independent	Michael Gray*	177	25.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Hunter	45	6.4	6.1
Turnout			710	38.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Sturton

Sturton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Naish	436	62.4	40.8
	Conservative	Daniel Gregory	263	37.6	N/A
Turnout			731	39.5
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Sutton

Sutton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Rob Boeuf	381	61.7	N/A
	Conservative	Emma Auckland	163	26.4	39.6
	Labour	Gary Moore	74	12.0	13.7
Turnout			627	37.5
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Tuxford and Trent

Tuxford and Trent (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Isard*	453	47.5
	Conservative	Shirley Isard*	412	43.2
	Independent	Matt Richards	385	40.4	N/A
	Labour	Rebecca Littler-Leigh	204	21.4
	Labour	Michael Ouzman	159	16.7
Turnout			974	27.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Welbeck

Welbeck (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Dukes*	324	60.3	13.1
	Conservative	Matthew Evans	213	39.7	4.1
Turnout			563	36.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop East

Worksop East (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cliff Entwistle*	834	56.5
	Labour	Debbie Merryweather*	785	53.1
	Labour	Jo White*	767	51.9
	UKIP	David Kirton	480	32.5
	Conservative	Deidre Vernon	167	11.3
	Conservative	Arthur Dernie	161	10.9
	Conservative	Susan Radcliffe	156	10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Cooper	143	9.7	N/A
Turnout			1,481	29.5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop North

Worksop North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maria Charlesworth	874	53.0
	Labour	Neil Sanders	843	51.1
	Labour	Gwynneth Jones	826	50.1
	UKIP	Glen Marshall	482	29.2
	Conservative	Neil Dexter	410	24.9
	Conservative	Alan Tonks	344	20.9
	Conservative	Roger Vernon	338	20.5
Turnout			1,706	24.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop North East

Worksop North East (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Rhodes*	863	67.2
	Labour	Simon Greaves*	828	64.4
	Labour	Maddy Richardson*	774	60.2
	Conservative	Alec Thorpe	347	27.0
	Conservative	Matthew Peck	344	26.8
	Conservative	John Anderson	330	25.7
Turnout			1,355	27.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop North West

Worksop North West (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sybil Fielding*	885	60.9
	Labour	David Pressley*	830	57.1
	Labour	Dean Brett*	793	54.6
	Conservative	Richard Barnes	420	28.9
	Conservative	Tim Chapman	324	22.3
	Conservative	Pamela Briggs	317	21.8
Turnout			1,477	25.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop South

Worksop South (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Leigh*	832	43.5
	Labour	Kevin Greaves*	790	41.3
	Labour	Tony Eaton	766	40.1
	Conservative	Rachel Briggs	657	34.4
	Conservative	Helen Colton	619	32.4
	Conservative	Lewis Stanniland	608	31.8
	Independent	Nigel Turner	481	25.2	N/A
Turnout			1,919	34.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worksop South East

Worksop South East (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Josie Potts*	945	65.8
	Labour	Clayton Tindle*	815	56.8
	Labour	John Shephard*	788	54.9
	UKIP	Ash Henderson	418	29.1
	Liberal Democrats	Leon Duveen	156	10.9	N/A
	Conservative	Colin Barton †	120	8.4	N/A
	Conservative	Ethel Boddy	88	6.1	N/A
	Conservative	Angela Chambers	74	5.2	N/A
Turnout			1,462	25.9
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

† Colin Barton was expelled from the Conservative Party in April 2019, however he remained a nominated Conservative candidate in this election as the deadline for withdrawals had passed.^[5]

By-elections

The Conservative Party have won 4 by elections in 2021, taking 2 seats from Labour Party and 1 seat from Independents . These by election results returned the Conservative Party to be the official opposition on Bassetlaw District Council.

Sutton (2022)

A by-election was held on 24 November 2022 due to the resignation of Denise Depledge (Conservative)^[6]

Sutton: 24 November 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Darrell Pulk	301	55.9%	35.7
	Conservative	Fraser McFarland	224	41.6%	22.0
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Ray	13	2.4%	13.7
Turnout				32.9%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

East Retford South

East Retford South: 29 July 2021

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Introna	493	40.1	+19.9
	Independent	Helen Richards	488	39.7	-21.9
	Labour	James Napier	247	20.1	-41.5
Majority			5	0.4
Turnout			1,228	32.1	+2.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	8.6

Ranskill

Ranskill: 6 May 2021

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Bowers	454	63.0	+34.0
	Independent	Michael Gray	193	26.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Leon Duveen	74	10.3	+3.9
Majority			271	36.2
Turnout			728
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Sutton (2021)

Sutton: 6 May 2021

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Denise Depledge	422	63.7	+37.3
	Labour	Laura Sanders	134	20.2	+8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Harris	107	16.1	N/A
Majority			288	43.5
Turnout			670
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Tuxford and Trent

Tuxford and Trent: 6 May 2021

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lewis Stanniland	745	57.7	+10.2
	Labour	David Naylor	472	36.5	+15.1
	Liberal Democrats	James Nixon	75	5.8	N/A
Majority			273	21.2
Turnout			1,303
	Conservative hold		Swing

References