1992 North Hertfordshire District Council election

1992 North Hertfordshire District Council election

7 May 1992 (1992-05-07)
17 of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con Lab LD Leader Bob Flatman Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Seats before 26 18 2 Seats after 26 17 3 Seat change 1 1   Fourth party Fifth party   RA Ind Party Ratepayers Independent Seats before 3 1 Seats after 3 1 Seat change
Leader before election Bob Flatman Conservative Leader after election Geoff Woods Conservative

The 1992 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 7 May 1992, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. There were 17 out of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council up for election, being the usual third of the council.

The Conservatives retained their narrow majority on the council; they lost one seat to the Liberal Democrats but gained one seat from Labour. Following the election, at the annual council meeting on 19 May 1992, the Conservative leader of the council, Bob Flatman, was appointed to the more ceremonial role of vice-chairman. He had been leader since the council's creation in 1974. Geoff Woods was appointed as the new leader of the council and Conservative group leader in his place.

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:

1992 North Hertfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	11		64.7	15	26	52.0	14,033	43.1	+7.9
	Labour	4	1	35.3	13	17	34.0	8,993	27.6	-5.8
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	5.9	2	3	6.0	6,849	21.1	-1.3
	Ratepayers	1		5.9	2	3	6.0	2,585	7.9	+1.0
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	65	0.2	-0.4

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows. An asterisk(*) indicates a sitting councillor standing for re-election. A double dagger (‡) indicates a sitting councillor contesting a different ward.

Ashbrook ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Tatham*	789	70.4	+5.9
	Labour	John Saunders	215	19.2	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Upchurch	116	10.4	−0.6
Turnout				54.0
Registered electors			2,136
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6

Baldock ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Crow*	1,536	51.0	+4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Penfold	846	28.1	+9.6
	Labour	Rodney Leete	629	20.9	−13.9
Turnout				42.4
Registered electors			7,133
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.7

Cadwell ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Lee*	620	67.8	+12.8
	Labour	David Lawson	294	32.2	−1.3
Turnout				50.3
Registered electors			1,832
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.1

Hitchin Bearton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judi Billing*	845	42.0	−9.3
	Conservative	Michael East	704	35.0	+1.7
	Ratepayers	Chris Parker ‡	315	15.7	+15.7
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Canning	148	7.4	−8.1
Turnout				44.6
Registered electors			4,520
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.5

Hitchin Highbury ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dee	1,067	46.1	+6.3
	Ratepayers	Evelyn Mary Burton (Mary Burton)	657	28.4	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Clark	304	13.1	+0.2
	Labour	Paul Gater	288	12.4	−6.6
Turnout				45.7
Registered electors			5,073
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

Hitchin Oughton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joan Kirby*	796	58.4	−7.3
	Conservative	Julia McLean	431	31.6	+10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Palmer	135	9.9	−2.7
Turnout				34.6
Registered electors			3,972
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.7

Hitchin Priory ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Thake*	822	63.4	+9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Seabrook	321	24.8	−5.0
	Labour	David Tizzard	153	11.8	−4.5
Turnout				46.3
Registered electors			2,802
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.3

Hitchin Walsworth ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ratepayers	Dennis Ward	1,613	60.8	+3.4
	Labour	Philip Kirk	821	30.9	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Penelope Cunningham	220	8.3	−2.1
Turnout				43.5
Registered electors			6,091
	Ratepayers hold		Swing	+2.4

Knebworth ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Hilton*	861	62.6	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Stiff	335	24.3	+13.1
	Labour	Jack Ashwell	180	13.1	−10.0
Turnout				40.7
Registered electors			3,402
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.4

Letchworth East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorna Kercher*	878	45.0	−5.1
	Conservative	Ravinder Athwal	603	30.9	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Gammell	405	20.8	+4.5
	Green	Eric Blakeley	65	3.3	−1.5
Turnout				39.8
Registered electors			4,926
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.6

Letchworth Grange ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Kearns*	1,078	52.3	−2.0
	Conservative	Carole McNelliey	613	29.8	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Cathleen Worcester	369	17.9	+0.5
Turnout				40.0
Registered electors			5,169
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

Letchworth South East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pauline Wood*	1,261	44.6	+7.6
	Labour	Teresa Trangmar (Tre Trangmar)	969	34.3	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Poole	596	21.1	−1.0
Turnout				46.4
Registered electors			6,097
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4

The poll in Letchworth South East ward was delayed until 11 June following the death of one of the original candidates, former SDP and Labour councillor Tony Quinn, who was to have stood for Labour.

Letchworth South West ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Woods* (Geoff Woods)	1,206	48.3	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Kingman	1,030	41.2	−5.4
	Labour	Linda Grimes	263	10.5	−3.5
Turnout				55.0
Registered electors			4,551
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.2

Letchworth Wilbury ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Raymond Shakespeare-Smith (Ray Shakespeare-Smith)	773	41.7	+1.1
	Labour	Peter Mardell*	660	35.6	−7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Booton	422	22.7	+6.8
Turnout				47.4
Registered electors			3,920
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.5

Royston East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis John Smith* (John Smith)	1,131	61.1	+12.8
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Pitts	386	20.8	+7.7
	Labour	Jessie Etheridge	335	18.1	−12.4
Turnout				43.5
Registered electors			4,254
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Royston West ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Hughes*	1,288	48.1	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Kennington	833	31.1	−11.4
	Labour	Les Baker	559	20.9	+0.7
Turnout				43.5
Registered electors			6,189
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.1

Weston ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Jarvis (Steve Jarvis)	383	51.7	+24.2
	Conservative	Robert Evans*	328	44.3	−12.3
	Labour	Teresa Trangmar (Tre Trangmar)	30	4.0	−11.8
Turnout				58.8
Registered electors			1,259
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+18.3

Changes 1992–1994

On 12 June 1992 Labour councillor Don Kitchiner, who represented Letchworth Grange, announced his defection to the Conservatives.

Some time between the 1992 and 1994 elections it would appear that there was a by-election in Hitchin Walsworth ward which saw Ratepayer councillor Jack Swain being replaced by Labour councillor Philip Kirk, whilst the seat in that ward held by Dennis Ward in 1992 had also gone to Labour by the time of the 1994 election, although whether by a defection or a by-election has yet to be established.