Bedford Borough Council elections

Bedford is a unitary authority in Bedfordshire, England. Until 1 April 2009 it was a non-metropolitan district. Since 2002 it has also had a directly elected mayor.

Political control

Borough council

Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:^[1][2][3]

Non-metropolitan district

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1973–1976
	Conservative	1976–1986
	No overall control	1986–2009

Unitary authority

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	2009–present

Directly elected mayor

Party in control		Years
	Independent	2002–2009
	Liberal Democrats	2009–present

Council elections

Non-metropolitan district elections

• Bedford District Council election, 1973
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1976
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1979
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1983 (New ward boundaries)^[4]
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1984
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1986
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1987
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1988
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1990
• North Bedfordshire Borough Council election, 1991 (Borough boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[5]
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1992
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1994
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1995
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1996
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1998
• Bedford Borough Council election, 1999
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2000
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2002 (New ward boundaries)^[6]
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2003
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2004
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2006
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2007

Unitary authority elections

• Bedford Borough Council election, 2009^[7]
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2011 (New ward boundaries)^[8]
• Bedford Borough Council election, 2015

Mayoral elections

Bedford held a referendum on 21 February 2002 on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor after a petition was signed by at least 5% of the electorate. The move was approved with 11,316 voting in favour and 5,357 against on a turnout of 15.5%.^[9] The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 saw independent Frank Branston elected as mayor.^[10]

2007

In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.

Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2007
	Name	Party	1st Preference Votes	%	2nd Preference Votes¹	%	Final	%²
	Frank Branston	Better Bedford Independent	15,966		3,732		19,698
	Nicky Attenborough	Conservative	10,710		2,603		13,313
	Christine McHugh	Lib Dem	10,553				N/A
	Randolph Charles	Labour	4,758				N/A
	Justina McLennan	Green	1,538				N/A

¹Using the Supplementary Vote system.

²Percentage figures are not officially used on the final votes, they are produced here for illustration and are calculated by the candidates final vote divided by the total of final votes.

2009

A by-election for Mayor of Bedford took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previous incumbent, Frank Branston in August 2009.^[11] The election was won by the Liberal Democrat, Dave Hodgson.^[11]

Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2009[12]
	Name	Party	1st Preference Votes	%	2nd Preference Votes	%	Final	%
	Dave Hodgson	Liberal Democrat	9,428	26.8	4,127		13,555	54.0
	Parvez Akhtar	Conservative	9,105	25.9	2,438		11,543	46.0
	Apu Bagchi	Independent	7,631	21.7			N/A
	Tony Hare	Independent	4,316	12.3			N/A
	James Valentine	Labour	3,482	9.9			N/A
	Eve Morley	Green Party	1,183	3.4			N/A

• Bedford mayoral election, 2011

By-election results

Kingsbrook By-Election 8 April 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat		1,043	53.0	+32.0
	Labour		816	41.5	-21.9
	Conservative		108	5.5	-10.1
Majority			227	11.5
Turnout			1,967
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

Kingsbrook By-Election 10 December 2009^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Gerard	661	49.4	+3.1
	Labour	James Saunders	370	27.6	+3.5
	Conservative	Adam Pritchard	150	11.2	-9.2
	Independent	Tony Hare	85	6.3	+6.3
	Independent	Patrick O'Rourke	73	5.5	+5.5
Majority			291	11.8
Turnout			1,339	18.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Kempston North By-Election 24 June 2010^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shan Hunt	715	52.1
	Conservative	Martin Quince	384	28
	Liberal Democrat	Ant Caprioli	272	19.8
Majority			331	24.1
Turnout			1,371	33.2
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
2. "Bedford". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
3. "Bedford". BBC News Online. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
4. The District of North Bedfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979
5. legislation.gov.uk - The Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
6. legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2001. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
7. "Council Elections". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
8. legislation.gov.uk - The Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2011. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
9. Parker, Simon (22 February 2002). "Bedford wants a mayor". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
10. Sherman, Jill (19 October 2002). "Maverick mayors add to Labour's embarrassment". London: The Times. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
11. "Lib Dems claim victory in Bedford mayor race". 24dash.com. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
12. "Lib Dem Dave Hodgson is the new Mayor of Bedford". Bedfordshire on Sunday. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
13. "Huge boost for Labour in latest council by-elections". 24dash.com. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
14. "Kempston North By-Election Result". Bedford Borough Council. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.

External links

• Bedford Borough Council