1997 Wiltshire County Council election

1997 Wiltshire County Council election
All 47 seats to Wiltshire County Council; 24 seats needed for a majority
Council control before election; Liberal Democrats;	Council control after election ; No overall control;

Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 1 May 1997. The whole council was up for election and the result was no overall control, with the Conservatives as the largest party.

As with other county elections in England, these local elections in Wiltshire took place on the same day as the 1997 United Kingdom general election.

Results

Wiltshire Local Election Result 1997
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	22			+4	46.81	43.4	107,867	+46,488
Liberal Democrats	20			-13	42.55	35.2	87,367	+23,260
Labour	4			-13	8.51	18.3	45,365	+6,920
Independent	1	1	0	+1	2.13	1.6	3,978	+426
Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.4	3,481	+2,402
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0	0.14	257	-1,992
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.09	230	+230

Results by divisions

Aldbourne and Ramsbury

Aldbourne and Ramsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Christopher Paul Humphries	2,571
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Francis	2,213
	Labour	Brian McLintock	660
Majority			358
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Alderbury

Alderbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Temple Blackwood	2,668
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Hardy	1,114
	Labour	Ann Oliver	599
Majority			757
	Conservative hold		Swing

Amesbury

Amesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Allan Godfrey Peach	2,283
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Allen	1,389
	Labour	Ross Pelling	722
	Green	Peter Matthews	157
Majority			894
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Avon and Cannings

Avon and Cannings
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Dennis James Willmott	2,207
	Liberal Democrats	John Thompson	1,582
	Labour	Terrence O'Sullivan	1,118
	UKIP	Alan Wood	108
Majority			625
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bedwyn and Pewsey

Bedwyn and Pewsey
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Mary Scott	2,735
	Conservative	Arthur Bromwich	2,380
	Labour	Michael Maude	884
Majority			355
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bourne Valley

Bourne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Kevin Christopher Wren	2,718
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Frost	1,705
	Labour	Mark Riches	920
Majority			1,013
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bradford on Avon

Bradford on Avon
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Christine Scott Landell Mills	2,710
	Conservative	Robert George Ian Elliott	1,533
	Labour	Angela Womersley	934
	Green	David Gilbert	385
	UKIP	John Douglas Sankey	122
Majority			1,177
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bremhill and Calne

Bremhill and Calne
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Christine Crisp	2,854
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Webb	2,277
	Labour	David Songhurst	868
Majority			577
	Conservative hold		Swing

Calne

Calne
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Nancy Suzanne Bryant	1,854
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanette Greer	1,692
	Labour	Maureen Songhurst	1,354
Majority			162
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Chippenham Park

Chippenham Park
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Charles Bourne Coleman	2,746
	Conservative	Mary Norton	1,661
	Labour	Stephen Wheeler	863
Majority			1,085
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chippenham Sheldon

Chippenham Sheldon
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	June Margaret Wood	1,994
	Conservative	Donald Ellis	1,392
	Labour	Maureen Lloyd	1,357
Majority			552
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chippenham Town

Chippenham Town
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Philip George Allnatt	2,709
	Conservative	Richard Purdon	1,967
	Labour	Tim Hayhoe	712
Majority			742
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Collingbourne

Collingbourne
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Connolly	1,613
	Conservative	Peter Colling	1,489
	Labour	Eric Dalkin	722
	Independent	Anthony Still	489
Majority			122
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Corsham

Corsham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Roy Davis	1,893
	Conservative	Hywel Jones	1,438
	Labour	Chris Reid	799
Majority			455
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cricklade and Purton

Cricklade and Purton
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Edward Atfield	2,570
	Conservative	Peter Smith	1,862
	Labour	Brian Bayton	773
Majority			708
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Devizes

Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Margaret Sheila Nancy Taylor	1,918
	Conservative	Maurice Came	1,496
	Liberal Democrats	Bryan Castle	893
Majority			422
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Devizes South and Bromham

Devizes South and Bromham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Patricia Rugg	2,932
	Labour	James Thorpe	1,647
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Jordan	1,636
Majority			1,285
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downton

Downton
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Julian Paul Johnson	2,814
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Ford	1,617
	Labour	Hamish Ross	1,047
	Green	Marion Reed	310
Majority			1,197
	Conservative hold		Swing

Durrington

Durrington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Linda Patricia Morris	1,731
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Greville	1,636
	Labour	Tamsen Jacobs	812
	Green	Mark Pafford	105
Majority			95
	Conservative hold		Swing

Holt

Holt
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Terrence Peter (Terry) Chivers	2,792
	Conservative	Carolyn Joy Walker	2,142
	Labour	Gregory Anthony Coombes	537
	Liberal	George Frederick James Hawkins	256
	Green	John Richard Pearce	230
Majority			650
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kington

Kington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Jane Antoinette Scott	3,002
	Liberal Democrats	Doreen Darby	2,926
	Labour	Peter Mellett	732
Majority			76
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Lavington

Lavington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Derek Bernard William Jarvis	2,663
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Thomson	1,534
	Labour	David Wearn	1,158
Majority			1,129
	Conservative hold		Swing

Malmesbury

Malmesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Clare Stockman Bennett	2,490
	Conservative	Andrew Watson	2,369
	Labour	Daphne Jones	837
Majority			121
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Marlborough

Marlborough
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Boulton	1,816
	Conservative	Josephine Goodfellow	1,772
	Labour	Alec Light	782
Majority			44
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Melksham

Melksham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Mary Salisbury	1,567
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Betty Barker	1,354
	Conservative	Kenneth Williams	768
Majority			213
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Melksham Without

Melksham Without
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	John Barrie Wesley	2,524
	Conservative	Anthony Molland	2,193
	Labour	John Adcock	1,663
Majority			187
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Mere

Mere
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert George Catton	2,131
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Houghton-Brown	1,346
	Labour	Graham Parish	604
Majority			785
	Conservative hold		Swing

Minety

Minety
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Carole Alethea Soden	3,418
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Davis	1,925
	Labour	John Battersby	457
Majority			1,493
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pickwick with Box

Pickwick with Box
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Judith Helen Seager	1,984
	Liberal Democrats	Dianne McGee	1,701
	Labour	Christopher Lynch	1,375
Majority			283
	Conservative hold		Swing

Salisbury Bemerton

Salisbury Bemerton
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Richard Terance Rogers	2,040
	Conservative	Pamela Roche	997
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Heaney	883
Majority			1,043
	Labour hold		Swing

Salisbury Harnham

Salisbury Harnham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Iris Throp	1,852
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Dalton	1,261
	Labour	Gary Buckley	665
	Green	Rosemary Perry	186
Majority			591
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Salisbury St Mark

Salisbury St Mark
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Peter Frederick Chalke	2,399
	Liberal Democrats	John Cherry	1,239
	Labour	Kelvin Dawson	731
	Green	Susan Wright	132
Majority			1,160
	Conservative hold		Swing

Salisbury St Martin

Salisbury St Martin
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Paul William Leslie Sample	2,261
	Conservative	Kevin Robbin	1,511
	Labour	Susan Mallory	772
	Green	Indira Nath	209
Majority			750
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Salisbury St Paul

Salisbury St Paul
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Beryl Mary Jay	2,503
	Conservative	Timothy Nolan	1,102
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Smith	840
Majority			1,401
	Labour hold		Swing

Southwick

Southwick
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	John Napier Beatson Irving	1,687
	Independent	Anthony Guy Phillips	1,500
	Labour	Brian Michael Staines	571
	Green	David John Howells	316
Majority			187
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Tisbury

Tisbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert John Baddeley	2,420
	Liberal Democrats	Felicity Corp	1,571
	Labour	Paul Whiteside	567
Majority			849
	Conservative hold		Swing

Trowbridge East

Trowbridge East
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Raymond James	1,754
	Conservative	Joan Barbara Savage	1,484
	Labour	Jeffrey Bryan Osborn	1,244
	Green	Antoinette (Toni) Beizsley	150
Majority			270
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Trowbridge South

Trowbridge South
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Grace Hill	2,363
	Labour	Jefferey David Morris	1,628
	Conservative	Patrick Andrew Sturges	1,473
Majority			735
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Trowbridge West

Trowbridge West
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Shawne Edney Westbrook	1,482
	Conservative	Anthony Ivan Moore	1,041
	Labour	Helen Bridget Osborn	929
	Green	Carolyn Susan (Lyn) Davis	120
Majority			441
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Upper Wylye Valley

Upper Wylye Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Mary Fleur de Rhé-Philipe	2,076
	Liberal Democrats	John Denby-Gardner	1,167
	Labour	Ernest Martin McCleave	501
	Green	Kevan James Corcoran	220
Majority			909
	Conservative hold		Swing

Warminster East

Warminster East
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Dorothea Joan Main	1,716
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Jane Day	1,187
	Labour	Robert Alan Smith	706
	Green	Jonathan William Daniels	224
Majority			529
	Conservative hold		Swing

Warminster West

Warminster West
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	John Edward Syme	2,599
	Conservative	Helen Kathleen Margaret Muriel Rowley	1,623
	Green	Elsa-Marie Kitching	483
Majority			976
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Westbury

Westbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Christopher Newbury	1,686
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Ian King	1,650
	Conservative	John Aidan Booth	1,324
	Labour	Michael Sutton	974
	Green	James Oliver Toyne	102
Majority			36
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Whorwellsdown Hundred

Whorwellsdown Hundred
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Malcolm Firmager	2,348
	Conservative	Geoffrey Richards	1,910
	Labour	John William Hawkes	718
Majority			438
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wilton and Wylye

Wilton and Wylye
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Clive West	2,293
	Conservative	Anthony Brown-Hovelt	1,987
	Labour	Michael Thomas	725
	Independent	Timothy Ingle Abbott	303
	Green	Sarah Green	152
Majority			306
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wootton Bassett North

Wootton Bassett North
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Mollie Eileen May Groom	1,789
	Liberal Democrats	Duncan Bamford	1,327
	Labour	Julian Watson	679
Majority			462
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Wootton Bassett South

Wootton Bassett South
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Toby Russell Sturgis	2,641
	Liberal Democrats	Daphne Matthews	2,323
	Labour	Ellis Webb	991
Majority			318
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

By-elections between 1997 and 2001

Whorwellsdown By-Election 2 April 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joan Barbara Prouse Savage	1,095	50.4	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor William Carbin	1,078	49.6	+2.4
Majority			17	0.8
Turnout			2173	34.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Alderbury By-Election 1 July 1999
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gerard Downes	1,223	60.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Morgan	682	33.8
	Labour	Mark Wareham	114	5.6
Majority			541	26.8
Turnout			2,019	30.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

Melksham Without By-Election 13 January 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Arthur Spiers	810	48.6	+15.1
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Betty Barker	623	37.4	−1.2
	Labour	Marcus Aurelius	234	14.0	−11.4
Majority			187	11.2
Turnout			1,667	18.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Bedwyn and Pewsey By-Election 20 July 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lay	1,470	61.8	+22.1
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Francis	771	32.4	−13.1
	Labour	Terrence O'Sullivan	139	5.8	−8.9
Majority			699	29.4
Turnout			2,380	29.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

Wiltshire County Council Diary 1997/8 (Trowbridge: Wiltshire County Council, 1997, pp. 5–11
Horsey, John (Returning Officer), Declarations of results for West Wiltshire county divisions, 1 May 1997

v t e (1996 ←) 1997 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1998)
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See also: UK General election

v t e Council elections in Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council	2009 2013 2017 2021
Swindon Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Kennet District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
North Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
Salisbury District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
Wiltshire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 Abolished
West Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
See also: Divisions and wards Boundary changes