The 2019 Spelthorne Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect all members of Spelthorne Borough Council in England. The Conservatives retained control of the council, but with a reduced majority of 7, down from 31.
Summary
Election result
Results by ward
Ashford Common
Ashford East
Ashford North and Stanwell South
Ashford Town
Halliford and Sunbury West
Laleham and Shepperton Green
Riverside and Laleham
Shepperton Town
Staines
Staines South
Stanwell North
Sunbury Common
Ian Beardsmore was elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2015.
Sunbury East
Changes 2019–2023
The 2 May 2019 Spelthorne Borough Council elections resulted in 23 Conservative seats, 8 Liberal Democrat seats, four Labour seats, two Green Party seats and two Independents. The Conservative Party thus maintained their overwhelming majority on the council.
9 June 2020: 6 Conservative councillors, including council leader Ian Harvey and deputy leader Olivia Rybinski, resigned from the Conservative Party and created the new United Spelthorne Group on the council. With the Conservatives now having fewer than half of all seats on the council, the borough was now in "no overall control", leaving the Conservative Party without a governing majority for the first time in the borough's history. 25 June 2020: John Boughtflower was elected as leader of the council and Jim McIlroy as his deputy. February 2021: Joanne Sexton and Richard Smith-Ainsley left the United Spelthorne Group, citing differences over its approach to governance, and formed the new Independent Spelthorne Group. 27 May 2021: Lawrence Nichols (Liberal Democrats) was elected as leader and Joanne Sexton (Independent) as his deputy. 8 March 2022: Veena Silva and Jenny Vinson, elected as Labour, disbanded the Independent Labour group to join the Breakthrough Party. March 2022: Bob Noble left the Conservative Party to sit as an Independent. May 2022: Michele Gibson left the Conservative Party to sit as an Independent, before formally joining the Liberal Democrats on 24 March 2023. 26 May 2022: John Boughtflower was elected as leader of the council, defeating Independent Spelthorne Group leader Joanne Sexton by one vote with the support of the United Spelthorne Group, and Tony Mitchell was elected his deputy.
By-elections
Staines South
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Nichola Cornes.
Staines
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Green Party councillor Jan Doerfel on 7 June 2021, in protest at the council's plans to release green belt land for development.
Stanwell North
The by-election was triggered by the departure of Conservative councillor Jim McIlroy, who left the council in late 2021.
Laleham and Shepperton Green
The by-election was triggered by the death of Conservative councillor Mary Madams, a former mayor of Spelthorne and councillor for the ward since 2003.
Laleham and Shepperton Green
The by-election was triggered by the death of Richard Smith-Ainsley, deputy leader of the Independent Spelthorne Group, who had represented the ward since 1995 and left the Conservative Party in June 2020.
References