The Mayor of Watford is the head of the borough council of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The holder of the position is a directly elected mayor using the supplementary vote every four years. The current mayor of Watford is Peter Taylor, who was elected in May 2018 for the Liberal Democrats.
| Mayor of Watford | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the Borough of Watford | |
 | |
| Style | No courtesy title or style |
| Appointer | Electorate of Watford |
| Term length | Four years |
| Inaugural holder | Dorothy Thornhill (May 2002) |
| Succession | Quadrennial |
History
editDorothy Thornhill was the first directly elected mayor of Watford; she was elected in May 2002. Thornhill was the first female directly elected mayor in England and the Liberal Democrats' first directly elected mayor. She was re-elected in May 2006, May 2010 and May 2014.
In the 2018 election, Peter Taylor, also member of the Liberal Democrats, was elected as Mayor of Watford.
Referendum
edit| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Elected Mayor
|
7,636 | 51.7 |
| Cabinet System | 7,140 | 48.3 |
| Required majority | 50 | |
| Total votes | 14,776 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 60,630[1] | 24.5 |
| Source: House of Commons Library[2] | ||
Election results
editThe position was established after a referendum in 2001 and the first election was held in 2002.
2002
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 2 May 2002[3] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | |||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 10,954 | 49.4% | 2,519 | 13,473 | 71.9% |
| ||
| Labour | Vince Muspratt | 4,899 | 22.1% | 370 | 5,269 | 28.1% |
| ||
| Conservative | Gary Ling | 4,746 | 21.4% |
| |||||
| Green | Stephen Rackett | 851 | 3.8% |
| |||||
| Socialist Alliance | Paul Woodward | 390 | 1.8% |
| |||||
| Fat Cat | Tristram Cooke | 330 | 1.5% |
| |||||
| Liberal Democrats win | |||||||||
2006
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 4 May 2006[4] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 11,963 | 51.2% |
| ||||
| Conservative | Stephen O'Brien | 4,838 | 20.7% |
| ||||
| Labour | Ruth Ellis | 4,062 | 17.4% |
| ||||
| Green | Stephen Rackett | 2,522 | 10.8% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | ||||||||
2010
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 6 May 2010[5] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 19,153 | 45.9% | 4,276 | 23,429 | 67.1% |
| |
| Conservative | Stephen Johnson | 10,403 | 24.9% | 1,105 | 11,508 | 32.9% |
| |
| Labour | Nigel Bell | 10,029 | 24.0% |
| ||||
| Green | Alex MacGregor-Mason | 2,173 | 5.2% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | ||||||||
2014
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 22 May 2014[6] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 11,741 | 45.90% | 2,452 | 14,193 | 65.4% |
| |
| Labour | Jagtar Dhindsa | 6,577 | 25.71% | 927 | 7,504 | 34.6% |
| |
| UKIP | Philip Cox | 3,789 | 14.81% |
| ||||
| Conservative | Linda Topping | 3,470 | 13.57% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | ||||||||
2018
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 3 May 2018[7] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Taylor | 13,274 | 48.7% | 2,657 | 15,931 | 61.6% |
| |
| Labour | Jagtar Dhindsa | 9,223 | 33.8% | 728 | 9,951 | 38.4% |
| |
| Conservative | George Jabbour | 4,787 | 17.5% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | ||||||||
2022
edit| Watford Mayoral Election 5 May 2022[8][9] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Taylor | 12,895 | 54.8% |
| ||||
| Labour Co-op | Asif Khan | 6,234 | 26.5% |
| ||||
| Conservative | Binita Mehta-Parmar | 4,404 | 18.7% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Watford leads the way to elected mayor". Watford Observer. 13 July 2001. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- ^ "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 9 May 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Election Results - Mayoral 2 May 2002". Watford Borough Council. 3 May 2002. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Election Results - Mayoral 4 May 2006". Watford Borough Council. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Election results - Mayoral 6 May 2010". Watford Borough Council. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Vote 2014: Watford mayoral election result". BBC News. 23 May 2014.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated Watford Mayoral Election 3-5-18". Watford Borough Council. 6 April 2018.
- ^ "Watford Mayor Election 2022 Candidates and Results". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "2022 Watford Mayoral Elections". Watford Borough Council. Retrieved 15 July 2024.