Council elections
No big shake-up as results announced

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THERE were no big surprises in Rugby's elections today (Friday) despite the recent shake-up of ward boundaries.

All seats on Rugby Borough Council were contested for the first time in years because of changes to the make up of the wards, but most of the previous councillors held on to their positions.

Those who did lose their seats were Rachel Watts, Conservative candidate for Newbold and Brownsover, Ian Spiers, Conservative candidate for Dunsmore, and Liberal Democrat candidates for Rokeby and Overslade Bill Lewis and Gwen Hotten - who also loses her position as mayor.

Newcomers to the council are Liberal Democrat Dale Keeling, for Eastlands, Conservatives Belinda Garcia, for Revel and Binley Woods, and Chris Pacey-Day, for Wolvey and Shilton, and Labour members Rob McNally, for New Bilton, and Howard Avis, for Rokeby and Overslade.

Under the new ward boundaries, seats on the council have been reduced from 48 to 42.

Today's elections mean the borough council remains firmly under the control of the Tories with 25 seats. Labour have ten and the Liberal Democrats six.

The one independent councillor is Howard Roberts, for Dunsmore ward, who left the Conservative party earlier this year and polled over 200 more votes than his nearest rival, Tory councillor Graham Francis.

Voter turnout ranged across the wards, with over 39 per cent having their say in Dunsmore - the highest in Rugby - compared to the lowest, Coton and Boughton, at under 24 per cent of those registered.

Visit www.rugby.gov.uk for the full list of results.

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