Lib Dems celebrate after dramatic wins in Council Elections

5.49.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Jun 2004

Peter Sandy stormed to win Aldershot's former rock-solid Labour ward of Heronwood from third place

Liberal Democrats across north east Hampshire are celebrating a spectacular series of wins at the Rushmoor Borough Council and Hart District Council elections on June 10th.

In Rushmoor, Liberal Democrat candidates made two dramatic gains in Aldershot, while holding all three seats they were defending in Farnborough and coming within 12 votes in yet another.

In Hart, there was another impressive gain in Fleet's Courtmoor ward, whilst all four seats they were defending elsewhere in the district were held, all with increased majorities.

Both councils remain under Conservative control, although with fewer Conservative councillors.

Brian Blewett increased the Liberal Democrat majority in Blackwater & Hawley from 16 to an astonishing 359

In Aldershot, Peter Sandy came from third place to storm the previously rock-solid Labour ward of Heronwood for the Liberal Democrats with a healthy majority of 88.

His colleague, George Paparesti, took Manor Park ward from the Conservatives with a majority of 44. Manor Park includes much of the old Manor ward that George represented for six years prior to boundary changes.

Chris Huhne MEP with Charlie Fraser-Fleming, who increased his majority to 391 in Mayfield, plus George Paparesti who triumphed in Manor Park and Adrian Collett, local Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

In Blackwater & Hawley, Brian Blewett increased the Liberal Democrat majority from 16 last year to an astonishing 359, after local voters realised that there was a serious danger the Conservatives would defeat him and turned out to vote in their hundreds.

In Farnborough, Charlie Fraser-Fleming held Mayfield ward with a large 391 vote majority, while Linda Neal and John Matthews saw off Conservative challenges in West Heath and Cove & Southwood to win by 57 and 38 votes respectively.

Alistair Mackie in St Marks ward increased his vote by 22% to come within 12 votes of taking yet another seat in Farnborough for the Liberal Democrats.

Linda Neal, who held off a Tory challenge in West Heath, with Emma Nicholson MEP and Hazel Manning, who took second place in Grange ward for the first time ever

Hazel Manning also did well in Grange ward taking second place for the first time, relegating Labour to third in a ward they used to hold. Leola Card came second in Empress, beating the former Conservative councillor for the ward who stood as an Independent after being deselected.

In Fleet, Paul Einchcomb surprised many by taking the Courtmoor ward with a majority of 36 while Sue Fisher increased her majority since the by-election she won last December in Pondtail ward from 264 to a spectacular 643!

Finally in Yateley, Stuart Bailey and Alan Hammersley held the East and West wards with majorities of 346 and 325 respectively.

Stuart Bailey increased the Liberal Democrat majority in Yateley East to 346

In Aldershot Constituency as a whole, 17 of the 19 wards had elections on June 10th. The two wards without elections, Frogmore & Darby Green and Yateley North, are both represented by Liberal Democrat councillors.

Of the other 17 wards, 8 went Liberal Democrat and another was missed by just 12 votes. Labour won just 1 seat with the Conservatives picking up the remaining 8.