
The2015 Rother District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members ofRotherDistrict Council inEast Sussex,England. The whole council was up for election and theConservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]
At thelast election in 2011 the Conservatives remained in control of the council with 27councillors, while theLiberal Democrats took 5 seats,independents 4 seats and theLabour Party won 2 seats.[2] By the time of the 2015 election three of the Conservative councillors forBexhill had resigned from the Conservatives to sit as independents.[3][4] Deirdre Williams and Paul Lendon left the party in July 2012 and then in May 2014 Joanne Gadd also became an independent councillor.[3][4]
The Conservatives increased their majority on the council after winning 31 seats, up from 24 before the election.[5] This came at the expense of the independents who were reduced in number from seven to four.[5] The Liberal Democrats also dropped three seats to have two councillors, with the group leader Kevin Dixon defeated by 65 votes inBattle.[5] The Labour group leader Sam Souster was also defeated inRye, leaving the party with only one councillor.[5]
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 31 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 81.6 | 48.8 | 39,720 | -4.4% | |
| Independent | 4 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 10.5 | 12.2 | 9,910 | +3.8% | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 5.3 | 13.2 | 10,720 | -7.8% | |
| Labour | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 2.6 | 15.2 | 12,340 | -0.6% | |
| UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.7 | 7,105 | +8.7% | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 1,556 | +0.3% | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Kathryn Field | 1,481 | |||
| Conservative | Martin Noakes | 1,199 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Kevin Dixon | 1,134 | |||
| Labour | Andrew Shepherd | 469 | |||
| Turnout | 4,283 | 69.9 | +21.9 | ||
| Liberal Democratshold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLiberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Joy Hughes | 824 | |||
| Conservative | Abul Azad | 735 | |||
| Labour | Paul Courtel | 709 | |||
| Labour | Ruairi McCourt | 603 | |||
| UKIP | Michael Phillips | 558 | |||
| Independent | Paul Plim | 355 | |||
| Independent | Mark Plews | 347 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | John Tunbridge | 226 | |||
| Independent | Andrew Crotty | 79 | |||
| Turnout | 4,436 | 63.2 | +25.5 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Tony Mansi | 1,309 | |||
| Independent | Doug Oliver | 1,220 | |||
| Conservative | Michael Ensor | 973 | |||
| Conservative | Colin Darker | 847 | |||
| UKIP | Alison Phillips | 417 | |||
| Green | John Gray | 282 | |||
| Labour | Kate Bird | 280 | |||
| Turnout | 5,328 | 78.1 | +20.6 | ||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Brian Kentfield | 1,675 | |||
| Conservative | Martin Kenward | 1,281 | |||
| UKIP | Lynne Hehir | 957 | |||
| Labour | Yvonne Cleland | 663 | |||
| Turnout | 4,576 | 71.1 | +19.4 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gillian Johnson | 618 | |||
| Conservative | Jacqueline Potts | 611 | |||
| UKIP | James Taylor | 510 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Vivienne Bond | 383 | |||
| Labour | Roger McCarthy | 367 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Diane Smith | 262 | |||
| Green | Linda Hills | 229 | |||
| Independent | Saleh Uddin | 222 | |||
| Independent | Sandy Melvin | 219 | |||
| Turnout | 3,421 | 65.6 | +22.9 | ||
| Conservativegain fromLiberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLiberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ian Hollidge | 742 | |||
| Conservative | Patrick Douart | 709 | |||
| Independent | Deirdre Williams | 680 | |||
| Independent | Yolanda Laybourne | 626 | |||
| UKIP | Sheila Allen-Rodgers | 563 | |||
| Labour | Paul Theaker | 543 | |||
| Turnout | 3,863 | 64.6 | +18.7 | ||
| Conservativegain fromIndependent | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Maurice Watson | 702 | |||
| Conservative | Jimmy Carroll | 694 | |||
| Conservative | Becky Bowley | 644 | |||
| Labour | Alan Bearne | 619 | |||
| UKIP | Barry Last | 573 | |||
| Independent | Helen Bridger | 304 | |||
| Independent | Keith Bridger | 261 | |||
| Turnout | 3,797 | 57.1 | +18.1 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Stuart Earl | 1,312 | |||
| Conservative | Thomas Graham | 1,148 | |||
| Independent | Joanne Gadd | 808 | |||
| Conservative | Brett Mclean | 671 | |||
| UKIP | Andrew Ellis | 608 | |||
| Labour | Timothy Fox | 318 | |||
| Turnout | 4,865 | 74.0 | +19.3 | ||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativegain fromIndependent | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Charles Clark | 1,134 | |||
| Conservative | Simon Elford | 789 | |||
| UKIP | Richard Corner | 613 | |||
| Independent | Laura Fermor | 499 | |||
| Labour | Conor Hill | 410 | |||
| Turnout | 3,445 | 63.3 | +20.8 | ||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Carroll | 914 | |||
| Conservative | Bridget George | 884 | |||
| UKIP | Pat Lee | 754 | |||
| Labour | Richard Sage | 563 | |||
| Independent | Paul Lendon | 535 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Graham Martin-Royle | 379 | |||
| Turnout | 4,029 | 66.9 | +25.7 | ||
| Conservativegain fromIndependent | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Carl Maynard | 1,818 | |||
| Conservative | Jonathan Johnson | 1,685 | |||
| Labour | Elaine Lee | 455 | |||
| Labour | Cheryl Creaser | 443 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Ian Stone | 428 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Robert Wakeford | 228 | |||
| Turnout | 5,057 | 74.2 | +25.3 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gary Curtis | 771 | 49.2 | −2.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Tracy Dixon | 307 | 19.6 | −17.5 | |
| Labour | Brian Basham | 260 | 16.6 | +5.4 | |
| UKIP | Tony Smith | 228 | 14.6 | +14.6 | |
| Majority | 464 | 29.6 | +15.0 | ||
| Turnout | 1,566 | 75.3 | +22.7 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Emily Rowlinson | 1,419 | |||
| Conservative | Eleanor Kirby-Green | 1,213 | |||
| UKIP | Eddie Smith | 574 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Mary Varrall | 564 | |||
| Green | Andrew Wedmore | 510 | |||
| Labour | Christopher Husbands | 347 | |||
| Turnout | 4,627 | 68.7 | +20.0 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Sally-Ann Hart | 1,441 | |||
| Conservative | Paul Osborne | 1,392 | |||
| Labour | Nick Warren | 705 | |||
| Labour | Paul Carey | 694 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Rachel Hills | 332 | |||
| Turnout | 4,564 | 71.4 | +21.6 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Tony Ganly | 1,131 | 75.7 | −1.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Angus Gilloughley | 363 | 24.3 | +1.9 | |
| Majority | 768 | 51.4 | −3.8 | ||
| Turnout | 1,494 | 72.5 | +20.9 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Roger Bird | 1,421 | |||
| Conservative | Christopher Saint | 1,271 | |||
| Labour | Bob Ball | 718 | |||
| Labour | Johnathan Lee | 679 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Derek Greenup | 308 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Gill Stone | 204 | |||
| Turnout | 4,601 | 77.5 | +23.5 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Martin Mooney | 1,566 | |||
| Conservative | Ian Jenkins | 1,372 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Susan Schlesinger | 792 | |||
| UKIP | Ian Slora | 750 | |||
| Turnout | 4,480 | 74.2 | +22.8 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | David Ampthill | 1,108 | |||
| Conservative | Gennette Stevens | 1,019 | |||
| Labour | Sam Souster | 886 | |||
| Labour | Ray Prewer | 656 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Sonia Holmes | 377 | |||
| Turnout | 4,046 | 68.0 | +17.8 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Sue Prochak | 1,318 | |||
| Conservative | Graham Browne | 1,184 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Stephen Hardy | 1,063 | |||
| Conservative | Gaynor Gough | 850 | |||
| Labour | Bob Collins | 251 | |||
| Turnout | 4,666 | 72.9 | +21.9 | ||
| Liberal Democratshold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Robert Elliston | 1,560 | |||
| Conservative | Mary Barnes | 1,541 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | George Hearn | 571 | |||
| Green | Don Nicholls | 535 | |||
| Turnout | 4,207 | 73.5 | +23.3 | ||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
Aby-election was held in Battle Town on 16 July 2015 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Martin Noakes due to ill health.[7][8] The seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by Kevin Dixon with a 409-vote majority over Conservative Hazel Sharman.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Kevin Dixon | 751 | 57.8 | +10.8 | |
| Conservative | Hazel Sharman | 342 | 26.3 | −11.8 | |
| UKIP | Tony Smith | 107 | 8.2 | +8.2 | |
| Labour | Timothy MacPherson | 100 | 7.7 | −7.2 | |
| Majority | 409 | 31.5 | |||
| Turnout | 1,300 | 32.4 | −37.5 | ||
| Liberal Democratsgain fromConservative | Swing | ||||
A by-election was held in Collington on 27 October 2016 after the resignation of independent councillor Tony Mansi for health reasons.[10] The seat was won by independent candidate Deirdre Earl-Williams.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Deirdre Earl-Williams | 818 | 60.0 | +60.0 | |
| Conservative | Andrew Burton | 393 | 28.8 | −1.0 | |
| Labour | Sara Watson | 87 | 6.4 | −2.2 | |
| UKIP | Michael Phillips | 66 | 4.8 | −8.0 | |
| Majority | 425 | 31.2 | |||
| Turnout | 1,364 | ||||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||
A by-election was held in Darwell on 27 October 2016 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Emily Rowlinson.[12] The seat was won by Conservative candidate John Barnes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | John Barnes | 359 | 43.5 | +1.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mary Varrall | 259 | 31.4 | +14.9 | |
| Labour | Antonia Berelson | 79 | 9.6 | −0.6 | |
| Green | Andrew Wedmore | 69 | 8.4 | −6.5 | |
| UKIP | Edward Smith | 60 | 7.3 | −9.5 | |
| Majority | 100 | 12.1 | |||
| Turnout | 826 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | ||||
A by-election was held in St Marks on 10 January 2019 after the death of independent councillor Stuart Earl.[14] The seat was won by independent candidate Kathy Harmer.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Kathy Harmer | 1,000 | 60.7 | +60.7 | |
| Conservative | Gino Forte | 521 | 31.6 | −2.3 | |
| Labour | John Walker | 79 | 4.8 | −4.6 | |
| UKIP | John Zipser | 48 | 2.9 | −15.1 | |
| Majority | 479 | 29.1 | |||
| Turnout | 1,648 | ||||
| Independenthold | Swing | ||||