Bassetlaw elections 2012 – RESULTS

Hundreds gathered at North Notts Arena in Worksop to hear the results for 16 of the seats on Bassetlaw District Council.

Last night’s elections saw Labour hold six seats and gain six, while the Conservatives held on to just three and an independent councillor gained one seat.  Now, Labour hold the majority with 34 members on the council, while the Conservatives have just 11 and Independents have three.

One of the biggest shocks of the night was leader of the Bassetlaw Conservatives and former leader of Bassetlaw Council Mike Quigley losing his seat in East Retford East to Labour candidate Michael Storey.

Speaking of his own loss and that of the local Conservatives in general, Mr Quigley said: “We’re obviously disappointed, but I feel that when difficult and painful decisions are made in national politics, it’s the local parties that suffer.”

“Some good Conservative councillors that have done a great job have lost their seats tonight.”

Other victories of note include Labour Councillor Jo White – who is the wife of MP John Mann, and the election of Rebecca Leigh – who is just 21-years-old.

Speaking to The Guardian, Coun Leigh said: “This is absolutely amazing. It’s a big achievement, especially for someone so young.”

“Hopefully I can bring a bit of youth and energy to the job and to the area.”

Speaking of his party’s failure to gain any seats, Lib Dem leader Leon Duveen said: “I didn’t think we’d win but we’re doing better than last year and bucking the national trend.”

He added: “People just need to realise that the Lib Dems are here to stay in Bassetlaw and we’ve got a lot of work to do in becoming more established around here.” 

The results for the Worksop area in the Bassetlaw elections are:

- EAST WARD - Jo White (Lab) 1135 ELECTED, Geoff Coe (Ind) 376.

- NORTH WARD - Gwynneth Jones (Lab) 1323 ELECTED, David Hare (Cons) 400.

- NORTH-EAST WARD - Rebecca Leigh (Lab) 1266 ELECTED, Emma Auckland (Cons) 378.

- NORTH-WEST WARD - Sybil Fielding (Lab) 1209 ELECTED, James Halpin (Cons) 323.

- SOUTH WARD - Sylvia May (Lab) 985 ELECTED, Alec Thorpe (Cons) 635, Leon Duveen (Lib Dem) 174.

- SOUTH-EAST WARD - John Shephard (Lab) 1232 ELECTED, Catherine Parrish (Cons) 179.

The results for the other Bassetlaw seats are:

- BECKINGHAM – Joan Mary Sanger (Ind) 258 ELECTED, Raymond Arthur Simpson (Ind) 163, Simon Taylor (Cons) 153, Philip Stanley Goodlifee (Lab) 95.

- CARLTON – David George Pidwell (Lab) 1001 ELECTED, Val Bowles (Cons) 607.

- CLAYWORTH – Kath Sutton (Cons) 408 ELECTED, Gavin David Briers (Lab) 181

- EAST RETFORD EAST – Michael Storey (Lab) 1033 ELECTED, Mike Quigley (Cons) 842, Mark Hunter (Lib Dem) 115.

- EAST RETFORD NORTH – Michelle Gregory (Lab) 1144 ELECTED, Anthony Tromans (Cons) 610

- EAST RETFORD SOUTH – Ann Battey (Lab) 831 ELECTED, Bryn Jones (Cons) 331.

- EAST RETFORD WEST – Alan Chambers (Lab) 707 ELECTED, Graham Ince (Cons) 352

- HARWORTH – David Challinor (Lab) 1402 ELECTED, Dianne Hare (Cons) 190.

- SUTTON – Tracey Taylor (Cons) 340 ELECTED, Tony Brown (Lab) 163.

- TUXFORD AND TRENT – Shirley Isard (Cons) 543 ELECTED, Andy Jee (Lab) 502.

- For the full story as well as reactions from the polling station pick up NEXT week’s Worksop Guardian (available Friday 11th May)