The elections were held on Thursday 7 May.
Six candidates stood for the parliamentary election and the sitting MP, Nick Harvey, was ousted by the Conservative ‘blow-in’ from Swindon:
Name of Candidate | Description | Number of votes |
Cann, Mark Michael Robert | Labour Party | 3,699 |
Crowther, Steve | UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 7,719 |
Harvey, Nick | Liberal Democrats | 15,405 |
Heaton-Jones, Peter | The Conservative Party Candidate | 22,341 ELECTED |
Knight, Ricky | Green Party Candidate | 3,018 |
Sables, Gerrard Anthony | Communist Party | 138 |
Eleven candidates stood for the two South Molton District Council seats and the existing two councillors retained their seats:
Surname | First Names | Description | Number of Votes |
---|---|---|---|
Abbott | Emily Anne | Green Party Candidate | 318 |
Buckingham | Michael Andrew | Conservative Party Candidate | 547 |
Bushell | Matthew Thomas | Liberal Democrats | 585 |
Cornelius | Marc Peter | Independent | 289 |
Elvidge | John Robert | Green Party Candidate | 199 |
Lewis | Tracey | Independent | 486 |
Herniman | Ron | Independent | 98 |
Lock | Stephen William | Independent | 295 |
Moore | John | Independent | 996 – ELECTED |
Smith | Mike | Conservative Party Candidate | 432 |
Worden | David John | Liberal Democrats | 651 – ELECTED |
Spoilt papers: | 52 | %Turnout: | 66.22 |
Being present at the count it was very noticeable that people were frequently voting purely on party lines. In other words they were voting for the party and not the candidate. This was particularly marked in the case of the Conservatives
People who voted for Mike Smith virtually always voted for Michael Buckingham as well. A similar pattern was seen with the Green Party candidates. I strongly suspect that if there hadn’t been a general election at the same time the Lib Dem incumbent may well have lost his seat.
Last, but certainly not least, there were fifteen candidates standing for the twelve South Molton Town Council seats:
Surname | First Names | Description | Number of Votes |
---|---|---|---|
Abbott | Emily Anne | Green Party Candidate | 612 |
Buckingham | Michael Andrew | Independent | 611 |
Bush | Sally | Liberal Democrats | 758 – ELECTED |
Bushell | Matthew Thomas | Liberal Democrats | 923 – ELECTED |
Cornelius | Marc Peter | Independent | 765 – ELECTED |
Foster | Jean Helen | Liberal Democrats | 837 – ELECTED |
Goodman | David James | Independent | 1213 – ELECTED |
Lewis | Tracey | Independent | 936 – ELECTED |
Herniman | Ron | Independent | 524 |
Kingdon | Martin James | 836 – ELECTED | |
Lock | Christine Elizabeth | Independent | 696 – ELECTED |
Lock | Stephen William | Independent | 842 – ELECTED |
Moore | John | Independent | 1432 – ELECTED |
Way | Mervyn Frederick | Independent | 1288 – ELECTED |
Worden | David John | Liberal Democrats | 1079 – ELECTED |
Spoilt papers: | 173 | % Turnout | 66.2 |
I think it’s fantastic that so many people stood for the District and Town Council elections.
At the last four full District elections there were just four candidates in 2011 and 2003 and only five in the other two elections (2007 and 1999).
In three of the last four full elections for the Town Council there were only twelve candidates for the twelve seats (2011, 2007 and 1999). The last full election where votes were actually cast was in 2003, when there were also fifteen candidates (four Lib Dem and eleven Independents).