2005 Bristol City Council election

2005 Bristol City Council election
← 2003 5 May 2005 2006 →
← 2001 2009 →
23 of 70 seats (One Third) to Bristol City Council; 36 seats needed for a majority
	2005 local election results in Bristol
Council Leader before election before election; Peter Hammond; Labour	Council Leader after election ; Barbara Janke; Liberal Democrats

The 2005 Bristol City Council election took place on 5 May 2005, on the same day as other local elections. The Liberal Democrats made a number of gains and became the largest party on the Council, for the first time, but failed to gain enough seats to form an overall majority.^[3]^[4]

Background

Following the 2003 election, there was a month of dissuasions as to who would run the council before all three parties agreed to a cabinet of three Lib Dems, three Labour and two Conservative councillors, led by Lib Dem leader Barbara Janke.^[5]

On 13 October 2004 Labour leader Peter Hammond announced that they would be tabling a vote of no confidence in Janke,^[6] in relation to her role in the selection of now former councillor John Astley who had been convicted, in separate trials, of offences involving child pornography and electoral fraud.^[7] Hammond said "She [Janke] has indicated very clearly in public questions that she basically accepts no responsibility on behalf of her party for what happened. That, we think, is unacceptable."

On 28 October following the failure of the no confidence vote, the three Labour cabinet members, Hammond, Robin Moss and Helen Holland resigned. The Conservative group leader Peter Abraham told the BBC "This is a foolish, irresponsible move by the Labour Party. It is politics at its very worst, I'm ashamed of politicians who behave like this."^[8] In a council meeting on 9 November Hammond was voted in as council leader heading up a Labour minority administration.^[9]

Previous composition

2003 election

Party		Seats
	Labour	31
	Liberal Democrats	28
	Conservative	11
Total		70

Composition of council seats before election

Party		Seats
	Labour	31
	Liberal Democrats	27
	Conservative	11
	Independent	1
Total		70

Changes between elections

Summary

The four seat swing from Labour marked the first time since 1983 that they had failed to be largest party on the council.

Election result

2005 Bristol City Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	23	11	4	0	4	47.8	35.9	42,063
	Labour	23	10	0	4	4	43.5	31.3	36,740
	Conservative	23	2				8.7	23.4	27,430
	Green	19	0				0.0	8.1	9,469
	Independent	7	0				0.0	1.3	1,531
	Socialist	1	0				0.0	0.1	59
Total		96	23						117,292

Popular vote

Liberal Democrats			35.86%
Labour			31.32%
Conservative			23.39%
Green			8.07%
Other			1.36%

Council seats

Liberal Democrats			47.83%
Labour			43.48%
Conservative			8.70%

Election of Group Leaders

Barbara Janke (Clifton) was re-elected leader of the Liberal Democrats group with Simon Cook (Clifton East) as her deputy, Helen Holland (Whitchurch Park) was elected leader of the Labour Group^[10] and Richard Eddy (Bishopsworth) was elected leader of the Conservative group.

Government Formation

Barbara Janke the leader of the Liberal Democrats group was duly elected leader of the council and formed a minority administration.^[11]

Ward results

Ashley

Ashley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jon Rogers	2,203	40.41
	Labour	Simony Crew	1,728	31.69
	Green	David Simpson	1,233	22.62
	Conservative	Adam Tayler	288	5.28
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Avonmouth

Avonmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Terence Cook	2,522	47.14
	Conservative	Christopher Windows	1,406	26.28
	Liberal Democrats	David Wheeler	1,111	20.77
	Independent	Stephen Norman	311	5.81
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Bishopston

Bishopston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Beverley Knott *	2,743	45.75
	Labour	Gerald Rosenberg	1,662	27.72
	Green	Martin Harvey	806	13.44
	Conservative	Jonathan Thorne	784	13.08
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cabot

Cabot
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Wright	1,893	43.12
	Labour	Lucy Jenkins	857	19.52
	Conservative	Iain Dennis	758	17.27
	Green	Christopher Gittins	511	11.64
	Independent	Victor Tallis *	371	8.45
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Clifton

Clifton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Price *	2,397	45.80
	Conservative	Kevin Allen	1,217	23.25
	Labour	Faruk Choudhury	1,017	19.43
	Green	Tony Gosling	536	10.24
	Independent	Christopher Morrall	67	1.28
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Clifton East

Clifton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Cook *	2,037	45.31
	Conservative	Michael Popham	1,173	26.09
	Labour	Carolyn Manuel	727	16.17
	Green	Alan Clarke	559	12.43
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cotham

Cotham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Barrington Dodd *	2,406	45.76
	Labour	Karin Smyth	1,091	20.75
	Conservative	Nicholas Shatti	912	17.34
	Green	Geoff Collard	849	16.15
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Easton

Easton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Abdul Malik	2,169	43.62
	Labour	Robin Moss *	1,707	34.33
	Green	Jon Lucas	796	16.01
	Conservative	Seva Singh	301	6.05
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Eastville

Eastville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Comer	2,249	44.32
	Labour	Brian Mead	1,557	30.68
	Conservative	Colin Bretherton	772	15.21
	Green	Martin Cottingham	387	7.63
	Independent	Anthony Locke	110	2.17
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Frome Vale

Frome Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William Payne	1,881	37.20
	Conservative	Margaret Coombe	1,820	36.00
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Carpenter	1,042	20.61
	Green	Peter Goodwin	313	6.19
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Henbury

Henbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Derek Pickup	2,017	45.40
	Conservative	Roy Pepworth	1,397	31.44
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Townsend	1,029	23.16
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Henleaze

Henleaze
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Dennis Brown *	3,445	53.86
	Conservative	Derek Fey	1,795	28.06
	Labour	Judith Sluglett	823	12.87
	Green	John Hills	333	5.21
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hillfields

Hillfields
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Noreen Daniels	2,475	46.49
	Liberal Democrats	John Hassell	1,504	28.25
	Conservative	Malcolm Lake	1,073	20.15
	Green	Graham Davey	272	5.11
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Horfield

Horfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Rosalie Walker *	1,887	37.79
	Conservative	Anthony Smith	1,543	30.90
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Harrison	1,230	24.63
	Green	Daniella Radice	334	6.69
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Kingsweston

Kingsweston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Judith Price *	1,556	34.90
	Liberal Democrats	Joanna Prescott	1,532	34.37
	Conservative	Michael Cobb	941	21.11
	Independent	Terence Thomas	429	9.62
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Lawrence Hill

Lawrence Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Brenda Hugill *	1,935	46.60
	Liberal Democrats	Fi Hance	1,492	35.93
	Conservative	Richard Manns	384	9.25
	Green	Michael Crawford	341	8.21
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Lockleaze

Lockleaze
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Emma Bagley	1,880	45.28
	Labour	Kerry Barker	1,542	37.14
	Conservative	Kevin Quartley	488	11.75
	Green	Christina Quinnell	183	4.41
	Socialist	Roger Thomas	59	1.42
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Redland

Redland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	James White	2,493	42.95
	Conservative	Douglas Newton	1,292	22.26
	Labour	Malcolm Patterson	1,191	20.52
	Green	Lela McTernan	828	14.27
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Southmead

Southmead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Peter Hammond *	2,106	51.80
	Conservative	Joe Long	946	23.27
	Liberal Democrats	Gerard Smith	771	18.96
	Independent	Andrew Richardson	243	5.98
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

St George East

St George East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Charles Price *	2,401	44.72
	Conservative	Matthew Denyer	1,439	26.80
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Elvin	1,223	22.78
	Green	Christine Prior	306	5.70
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

St George West

St George West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Ronald Stone *	2,218	46.90
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Potter	1,311	27.72
	Conservative	Alexander Culley	871	18.42
	Green	Samantha Pullinger	329	6.96
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Stoke Bishop

Stoke Bishop
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Abraham *	2,903	48.53
	Liberal Democrats	Saleh Ahmed	1,912	31.96
	Labour	Dianne Manning	758	12.67
	Green	Keith Wiltshire	409	6.84
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westbury-on-Trym

Westbury-on-Trym
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Geoff Gollop *	2,927	46.26
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Blythe	1,991	31.47
	Labour	Gillian Kirk	1,082	17.10
	Green	Donald Brown	327	5.17
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "Lib Dems Choose New Leader". Bristol Evening Post. 15 May 1999. p. 29. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
^ "Peter to lead the Tories". Bristol Evening Post. 14 January 1999. p. 5. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
^ "Bristol City Council Election Results for 5 May 2005". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
^ Colin Rallings; Michael Thrasher. "Bristol City Council Election Results 1995-2011" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. The Elections Centre Plymouth University. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
^ "Council crisis over as leader appointed". BBC News. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^ "Labour plans no confidence vote". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 13 October 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
^ "Election fraud councillor jailed". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 27 September 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
^ "City council chaos as Labour quit". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 29 October 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
^ "Labour regain control of Bristol". BBC News. 10 November 2004. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^ "City faces double digit tax hike". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 6 June 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
^ "Lib Dems take control of Bristol". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[1] "Lib Dems Choose New Leader". Bristol Evening Post. 15 May 1999. p. 29. Retrieved 30 July 2026.

[2] "Peter to lead the Tories". Bristol Evening Post. 14 January 1999. p. 5. Retrieved 30 July 2026.

[3] "Bristol City Council Election Results for 5 May 2005". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 24 April 2016.

[4] Colin Rallings; Michael Thrasher. "Bristol City Council Election Results 1995-2011" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. The Elections Centre Plymouth University. Retrieved 29 July 2026.

[5] "Council crisis over as leader appointed". BBC News. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

[6] "Labour plans no confidence vote". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 13 October 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[7] "Election fraud councillor jailed". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 27 September 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[8] "City council chaos as Labour quit". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 29 October 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[9] "Labour regain control of Bristol". BBC News. 10 November 2004. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

[10] "City faces double digit tax hike". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 6 June 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[11] "Lib Dems take control of Bristol". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

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v t e Council elections in Bristol
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