2011 Gedling Borough Council election



An election was held on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Gedling Borough Council in Nottinghamshire, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council from the Conservative Party.

Campaign
Before the election the Conservatives ran the council with 28 seats, compared to 9 for Labour, 8 Liberal Democrats and 5 independents.

A big issue in the election was the introduction of car parking charges by the Conservative council. Labour said that local businesses were suffering because of the charges and proposed to end the charges and cut the number of councillors, while the Conservatives said the charges enabled them to preserve services and keep council tax down. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats expected that they and the Conservatives would suffer due to the cuts being made by the national coalition government.

Election result
The results saw Labour gain control of the council from the Conservatives, after taking 13 seats from the Conservative party, 5 from the Liberal Democrats and all 5 independent seats. This left Labour with 32 seats, compared to 15 Conservatives and 3 Liberal Democrats. Overall turnout in the election was 45.3%.

By-Elections between May 2011 - April 2015
By-elections are called when a representative Councillor resigns or dies, so are unpredictable. A by-election is held to fill a political office that has become vacant between the scheduled elections.