Map of the results of the 2011 Great Yarmouth council election.
Conservatives in blue and
Labour in red. Wards in grey were not contested in 2011.
The 2011 Great Yarmouth Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of
Great YarmouthBorough Council in
Norfolk,
England. One third of the council was up for election and the
Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1] At the same time as the election, the introduction of a
directly elected mayor in Great Yarmouth was rejected in a
referendum.[2]
After the election, the composition of the council was:
Before the election the Conservatives ran the council with 24 seats, compared to 15 for
Labour.[3] 13 seats were being contested with Labour targeting
Caister North and St Andrews, while the Conservatives were threatening Caister South and Nelson
wards.[3]
Election result
The results saw the Conservatives remain in control of the council, with no change in their majority.[4] The Conservatives gained one seat from Labour in Caister South, but lost a seat back in St Andrew's by 54 votes.[4] The successful Labour candidate in St Andrew's ward was Barbara Wright, the wife of the former
Member of Parliament for
Great YarmouthTony Wright.[4] Meanwhile, Kerry Payne held the seat in Nelson for Labour, despite being challenged by the
incumbentcouncillor Brenda Taylor, who ran as an
independent after being de-selected by Labour.[4]
At the same time as the council election Great Yarmouth held a referendum on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor.[2] This came after the Labour councillors Michael Castle and Trevor Wainwright collected the necessary 3,500 signatures, 5% of the population of the area.[6] However both the local Conservative and Labour parties opposed the introduction of a directly elected mayor, with the Conservative leader of the council, Barry Coleman, leading the campaign for a no vote.[2]
The results of the referendum saw 15,595 vote no, as against 10,051 yes, with 291
ballot papers being spoilt, therefore the introduction of a directly elected mayor was rejected.[2]