Portishead stays in the control of the Conservatives
By thepickler | Friday, May 06, 2011, 09:31
ALL the Conservative councillors in Portishead held onto their seats in the North Somerset Council elections.
One of the biggest shocks of the night was long standing Independent councillor Nan Kirsen being ousted from her seat in Pill.
Mrs Kirsen lost her seat to fellow Independent, Don Davies, from the Sustainable Pill and District Party by just 17 votes.
Mrs Kirsen, a retired nurse, polled 586 votes and Mr Davies polled 603.
Mrs Kirsen, who started her political career in 1987 representing Easton in Gordano and Pill and was the first female leader of Woodspring District Council.
She also was at the helm when Woodspring became a unitary authority in 1995.
Mrs Kirsen, 66, said: "I am naturally disappointed because I worked extremely hard for the village.
"I just hope Mr Davies is as committed to the village where I have lived all my life and doesn't make promises he can't keep."
North Somerset Council leader, Nigel Ashton, held on to his Gordano seat with an increased majority, polling 1093 votes compared to 819 at the last district election in 2007.
Mr Ashton, said: "I am delighted we have retained control of North Somerset.
“I think the Conservatives record at running the authority speaks for itself.
“We have performed excellently and we have been recognised as a first class council and we have also been able to control making savings through prudent financial planning so we are not facing as horrific cuts as other councils.
“I think the electorate has appreciated the work we have done and what we have achieved over the last four years.”
Turn out at this year's election was 45 per cent which election bosses believed was down to the alternative vote referendum being carried out at the same time.
A total of 71,873 people voted on the AV referendum - a turnout of 46 per cent.
The count, which this year was focused at one main venue of the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare, was split into two rooms - the main ballroom and the Prince Consort Room .
The first ballot boxes through the door from the authority’s 141 polling stations at just few minutes after 10pm were from Weston south and Weston East.
The last box - from Portbury - was delivered at the Winter Gardens at 11.55pm just ahead of those from Yatton which were delivered at 11.45pm.
A team of 175 staff worked through the night validating the thousands of votes cast for 61 seats across 36 wards.
The first declarations, made by returning officer and council chief executive Graham Turner, were ready to be announced at just before 4.30am but a hold up with the regional validation of the AV referendum total meant they were delayed.
The south west regional centre had been sent the vote totals earlier in the evening, but they had not been signed off, which meant by law the count results could not be announced.
The first declaration of the night to be declared was Clevedon north at just before 5am where Conservative Bob Garner held on to his seat with 733 votes compared to Labour candidate Joe Norman who polled 337 votes.
Verification of all the district council votes was completed at just before 3pm when the count started.
Staff at the Winter Gardens throughout the night included 135 counters, 15 box handlers, plus table supervisors and other support staff.
As ever there were a number of spoiled ballot papers including one which had to be rejected as the person had written on the paper, branding all the candidates from one ward in Weston a bunch of *****.
Some candidates also accused others of 11th hour electioneering.
In Portishead BMX bikes covered in posters saying ‘vote for the skatepark’ had been put outside polling stations at the Folk Hall, Woodhill Road and Redcliffe Bay on Thursday morning.
The posters contained all the names of the Portishead town councillors that voted for the Portishead Skatepark Proiect (PSP) being granted a lease for the land at the Lake Grounds.
The bikes -which appeared at the polling stations just before 7am - were removed later in the day by police.
After a tense and long night, where it was more subdued claps than cheers at the results, it was clear that North Somerset was going to stay blue.
By 7.30am it had become clear a recount was needed in Weston west and east wards because of the closeness of the vote.
The recount was postponed until 9.30am when new staff came in.
Conservative Alan McMurray, who has represented Portishead South and North Weston, for the last four years and was re-elected, said he believed it had been a good natured fight to the ballot box.
"It's with the wind,”he said. “You never know until that last vote is counted.
"But it's been a good natured election.”
EASTON-IN-GORDANO: One seat: Conservative hold.
Maddie Bickle – Independent: 459
Elected: Carl Francis-Pester – Conservative: 729
Chanel Stevens - Labour- invalid nomination.
GORDANO: One seat: Conservative hold.
Turnout:49.98 per cent
Elected:Nigel Ashton - Conservative:1093
Daisy Bickley - Liberal Democrats:243
Terry Lester - Labour: 276
PILL: One seat: GAIN; SUSTAINABLE PILL AND DISTRICT (SPAD)
Turnout:43.49 per cent
Elected:Donald Davies - Independent:603
Nan Kirsen - Independent:586
James Nethercote - Labour: The nomination by the Labour party candidate James Nethercote was declared invalid on a technicality.
PORTISHEAD CENTRAL: One seat. Conservative hold
Turnout:40.5 per cent
John Clark - Liberal Democrats:518
Elected:Reyna Knight - Conservative:675
PORTISHEAD COAST:One seat. Conservative hold.
Turnout:54.7 per cent
Evelyn Elworthy - Liberal Democrats:391
Elected:David Pasley - Conservative:854
PORTISHEAD EAST: One seat. Conservative hold
Turnout: 42.62 per cent
Abigail Fuller-Gardener - Labour: 321
Elected:Arthur Terry - Conservative:430
JeanLord- Liberal Democrat:904
Roger Whitfield - Independent:139
PORTISHEAD REDCLIFFE BAY:One seat. Conservative hold.
Turnout:29.9 per cent.
Elected:Felicity Baker - Conservative.799
Colin Howells - Liberal Democrats: 515
PORTISHEAD SOUTH & NORTH WESTON: One seat: Conservative hold.
Turnout:46.03
Nick Doddrell - Liberal Democrats:279
Paul Dunn - Labour:208
Elected:Alan McMurray - Conservative:604
PORTISHEAD WEST: One seat. Conservative hold.
Turnout:49.11 per cent
Kirsty Gardener - Labour:201
Elected:David Jolley - Conservative:728
Susan Mason - Liberal Democrats:323
Comments
Perhaps now this region will stop trying to use people's wives as their unpaid slaves in their nefarious activities which are outside legal office as you have a surfeit of Councillors but nothing being done that is useful, I am not in a business of accounting and accusing nor is my wife. The Councillors have a mass of unknown clandestine private operators that work for certain central political offices and I am my wife are nothing to do with politics nor environmental campaigners, newspapers nor ad rags. I stay well away from Bristol the docks and companies as my University and professional work would make my activities prejudiced against their work and leave offices of law to keep them in order. Never worked in building industry, never will, nor TV, do not have to do with charity collections which need the legislation enforced and will not condone local, national, nor international street selling terrorism at any time although we can all see it take place I walk around it and leave the police to pick up the contributors. Now I have said enough and get along with hydrology which is not social science, gardens are done by private home owners or qualified contractors; have a planning problem see a Planning Office not my front doorstep, I also suggest if you have a river, planning, or local welfare issue do not tell a newspaper, let official officers reply to news people, they do it often enough, that is how we all find out about events, the same as everybody else finds out, in publication. Schools are governed by school officers, University used to be controlled by law and the Chancellor's staff under charter rules of official degree award, pity that is still not effective. City of Bath Technical SCHOOL which was closed by the Labour comprehensive after I left, UCW, no reference to local activities and I worked mainly elsewhere than here. Legally. Flood complaints go to River Authority, Insurance companies and medical issues are nothing to do with me per se, whatever people's relatives babble on about, they are wrong, other than the fact we all have to deal with them at sometime in an official manner recorded properly. I do not feed illicit anythiing to anybody.
By MDSHydroGeo at 08:53 on 16/05/11
ReportThe truth is that local councillors no longer represent anyone other than those faithful party followers who ensure they retain their seat at every election. Sadly it will be a few years before you all shuffle off to the next world but hopefully some up and coming younger and more open minded people will stand for council and be able to rectify the damage you have done in the past few years.
And I do beleive that the larger picture of said pig actually included a trough with the words council tax embossed on it.
By gouldmark2 at 10:59 on 09/05/11
Reportand;
not sure where the image of the pig came from. Seems to have been added by those who control this site.
Why I do not know unless it is just a not too subtle comment.
BarryW
By BarryW at 11:30 on 07/05/11
ReportDoes the truth hurt so much?
By BarryW at 09:24 on 07/05/11
ReportHate to burst your arrogant bubble Mr W but people in this area would vote for a performing poodle if it wore a blue rosette. If a total of less than 8,000 in a population in excess of 25,000 were all that could be bothered to vote, it says more about the distrust and disillusion with local councillors and the poor quality of candidate that the town has been burdened with than it does in support for these few party driven individuals. Incidentally the pig with it's nose in a trough pic that accompanies your comment, was that an oversight or intentional?
By gouldmark2 at 19:02 on 06/05/11
ReportShow all Comments