Fareham Borough Council sees Conservative Party gain two seats in 'Super Thursday' election results

The Conservative Party took Stubbington and Fareham South from two councillors who had stood as part of a group of independent candidates.

Councillor Sean Woodward, Conservative group leader and council leader, said the wins were ‘absolutely fantastic’.

He said: 'I am so pleased that only have do we retain our seats and return Fareham South to the fold, but we have also gained Stubbington, a seat that we have not held for many years.’

The politician said that councillors should now focus on two key projects - the promise of thousands of homes in the Welborne Garden Village and thousands of jobs at Solent Airport.

Newly elected Councillor Pal Hayre, who also retained her seat on Hampshire County Council, took the Stubbington seat from Carolyn Heneghan, a Fareham Independent Group candidate.

It is the third time Cllr Hayre has tried to win in the ward.

Cllr Hayre, who has lived in the Stubbington area for 25 years, said: 'My team have worked so hard to make this possible. And for the last four years I have been on Hampshire County Council and I feel that I have really shown the residents how committed I am to the area.’

The new councillor is committed to taking up residents' long-standing concerns about the strategic gap and anti-social behaviour.

She said: 'I am very aware residents have put their trust in me.'

In Fareham South, Conservative Nick Gregory took the seat from former Conservative Keith Barton, who broke with the local party last year after decrying Cllr Woodward’s leadership.

The former councillor had stood as part of the Fareham Independent Group, a loosely affiliated group of councillors formed after Councillor Leslie Keeble left the Conservatives in March, 2020, after more than 20 years of party membership.

Despite the loses, the group was left feeling positive after picking up thousands of votes across the borough and coming second in some areas, according to candidate Jeannie Wigmore.

She said: ‘We believe party politics should be left to national elections and councils should be run by the residents for the residents.

‘We have taken inspiration from Frome Independent Party that now control that council and have created an inclusive, resilient and participative community.’

It comes as the Conservatives take control of councils across the country in historically Labour-voting areas, as well as winning a historic victory in a by-election in Hartlepool.

In Fareham, those from opposing political parties said Conservative wins across the country and locally was a case of the party 'riding on the coat-tails' of the NHS Covid-19 vaccine roll-out.

Councillor Roger Price, group leader of the Liberal Democrats on Fareham Borough Council, said: 'Nationally the mood is that people have voted Conservative because of what they have been doing over the past few months with vaccinations.

‘If you look before that, they made a complete mess of how they have handled things.'

The vice-chairman of the Fareham Labour Party, Richard Ryan, agreed, and said that the Conservatives had gained 'a lot of credit' for the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out.

He added that the party is 'still suffering from the Corbyn effect'.

He said: 'When you look at the general election result, we have a mountain to climb - and you don't climb a mountain in a year.'

Conservative group leader Councillor Sean Woodward believes these considerations are being overstated by other parties.

'People know that Conservatives give the best value and services', he said.

'This has been a local election, fought on local issues. The Conservatives have fought a clean and truthful and accurate election.'

The results in Fareham are as follows:

Warsash

Mike Ford (Conservative) - 1746

Jim Palmer (Lib Dem) - 355

Anthony Ferraro (Lab) - 312

Conservative hold.

Majority - 1391

Sarisbury

Joanne Bull (Con) - 1529

Geoffrey Townley (Ind) - 417

Peter Davison (Lib Dem) - 335

James Webb (Lab) - 245

Conservative hold.

Majority - 1,112

Fareham South

Nick Gregory (Con) – 802

Andrew Mooney (Lab) – 361

Keith Barton (Ind) – 238

James Fowler (Liberal Democrats) – 194

Nick Lyle (Green) – 150

Conservative win.

Majority – 441

Fareham East

Katrina Trott (Lib Dem) – 1,204

Stephen Ingram (Conservative) – 950

Gemma Oughton (Labour) – 296

Paul Sturgess (Independent) – 105

Liberal Democrats hold.

Majority – 254

Fareham North

Louise Clubley (Con) – 1121

Jeannie Wigmore (Ind) – 536

Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett (Lib Dem) – 206

Nicholas John Knight (Lab) – 205

David Barton Harrison (Green) – 178

Conservative hold.

Majority – 585

Fareham North West

Fred Birkett (Con) – 1009

Jan Mondey (Ind) – 309

Gemma Furnivall (Lab) – 305

Dominic Leung Yan Wong (Lib Dem) – 181

Conservative hold.

Majority – 700