Tower Division, Suffolk

Tower
County Council constituency
for the Suffolk County Council
DistrictWest Suffolk
RegionEast of England
Population22,028 (2019)
Electorate17,045 (2025)
Major settlementsBury St Edmunds Town Centre
Current constituency
Created2005
Seats2
CouncillorDavid Nettleton (Conservative)
Martin Robinson (Reform)
Local councilWest Suffolk Council
Created fromNorthgate & St. Olaves, Risbygate & Sextons

Tower Division is an electoral division in Suffolk which returns two county councillors to Suffolk County Council.

Geography

It is made up of the central and North West Bury St Edmunds and consists of the West Suffolk council wards of Miden, St Olaves, Tollgate, and Abbeygate along with a small part of Westgate ward between the River Linnet, Hospital Road, and Petticoat lane.[1]

History

The first elections for this division were held as part of the 2005 United Kingdom local elections, after the two seat Suffolk County Council division was created through The County of Suffolk (Electoral Changes) Order 2004.[2][3] The first two councillors elected for this new division were David Lockwood (Labour) with 3,181 votes, and Paul Hopfensperger (Conservative) with 2,747 votes. To date, these are the highest number of votes received at any election for a Tower Divison candidate.

The seats of the division are currently held by one Conservative party councillor after David Nettleton defected to the Conservatives in December 2019 having been elected as an independent,[4] and one Reform councillor, Martin Lewis Robinson, the first ever Reform councillor to be elected in Suffolk, who won a by-election on July 3, 2025 following the death of Cllr Robert Everitt (Conservative) in April 2025.[5]

Members for Tower

Member Party Term Member Party Term
David Lockwood Labour 2005–2009 Paul Hopfensperger Conservative 2005–2008[6]
Independent 2008–2009
Paul Farmer Conservative 2009–2010 Mark Ereira-Guyer Green 2009–2017
Stefan Oliver Conservative 2010–2013
David Nettleton Independent 2013–2019
Conservative 2019–present Robert Everitt Conservative 2017–2025[7]
Martin Robinson Reform UK 2025–present

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

2025 Suffolk County Council By-election: Tower[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform UK Martin Robinson 1,332 28.8 N/a
Green Clare Higson 1,155 25.0
Conservative Joanna Rayner 808 17.5
Labour Judith Moore 667 14.4
Independent Frank Stennett 407 8.8
Liberal Democrats James Porter 259 5.6
Majority 177
Rejected ballots 4 0.1
Turnout 4,633 27.2
Registered electors 17,045 551
Reform UK gain from Conservative Swing
2021 Suffolk County Council election: Tower[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Everitt * 2,277 33.7 +4.9
Conservative David Nettleton * 2,104
Green Steph Holland 1,993 29.5 +7.4
Green Matthew Rowe 1,489
Labour Donna Higgins 1,409 20.8 +5.2
Labour Marilyn Sayer 830
Independent Frank Stennett 691 10.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats David Poulson 269 4.0 –2.3
Communist Darren Turner 120 1.8 N/A
Majority 284 4.2 +1.0
Rejected ballots 932 15.3 15.1
Turnout 6,090 36.9 3.8
Registered electors 16,494 928
Conservative hold Swing –1.2
Conservative gain from Independent Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2017 Suffolk County Council election: Tower[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Everitt 1,833 22.9 +0.2
Independent David Nettleton * 1,628 20.4 –5.4
Independent Paul Hopfensperger[12] 1,623 20.3 N/A
Green Mark Ereira-Guyer * 1,406 17.6 –9.9
Labour Quentin Cornish 998 12.5 –4.1
Labour Alex Griffin 907
Liberal Democrats Julia Lale 507 6.3 –1.1
Liberal Democrats Sheena Rawlings 173
Majority 205 2.6 +7.3
Turnout 5,147 33.1
Registered electors 15,566
Conservative gain from Green Swing 2.8
Independent hold Swing
2013 Suffolk County Council election: Tower
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Mark Ereira-Guyer * 1,481 23.2 –3.9
Independent David Nettleton 1,389 21.8 –4.2
Conservative Robert Everitt 1,227 19.3 –9.5
Conservative Patsy Warby 1,008
UKIP Luke Levene 983 15.4 +15.4
Labour Diane Hind 895 14.0 +5.0
Labour Nicola Ridgeway 840
UKIP James Lumley 823
Liberal Democrats Judy Roadway 399 6.3 –2.8
Majority 162 1.4 –0.3
Turnout 6,374 29.6 –5.5
Green hold Swing +0.2
Independent gain from Conservative Swing +2.7
Tower By-Election 11 November 2010[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stefan Oliver 1,005 28.8 0.0
Independent David Nettleton 950 27.2 +1.2
Labour Kevin Hind 759 21.7 +12.6
Green Pippa Judd 479 13.7 −13.4
Liberal Democrats David Chappell 300 8.6 −0.4
Majority 55
Turnout 3,505 20.9
Conservative hold Swing −0.6

Elections in the 2000s

2009 Suffolk County Council election: Tower[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Farmer 2,042 28.8
Green Mark Ereira-Guyer 1,924 27.1
Independent David Nettleton 1,846 26.0
Conservative Richard Rout 1,726
Labour Keith Waterson 645 9.1
Liberal Democrats Daniel Warren 641 9.9
Labour Kevin Hind 624
Liberal Democrats Allan Jones 605
Majority 118 & 78 1.7
Turnout 10,053 32.7
Registered electors 15,576
Conservative hold Swing
Green gain from Labour Swing
2005 Suffolk County Council election: Tower
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour David Lockwood * 3,181 32.7
Conservative Paul Hopfensperger[15] 2,747 28.3
Labour Ray Nowak * 2,720 -
Conservative Robert Everitt 2,663 -
Liberal Democrats David Chappell 1,738 17.9
Liberal Democrats Daniel Warren 1,266 -
UKIP Brian Lockwood 801 8.2
Independent David Nettleton 799 8.2
UKIP Ivan Cook 509 -
Independent Melinda Nettleton 498 -
Green Adam Stacey 455 4.7
Green Samantha Hunt Stacey 432 -
Majority 27 4.5
Turnout 68.6
Labour win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)

References

  1. ^ "Tower Electoral Division Profile 2017" (PDF). www.suffolkobservatory. Suffolk Observatory. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. ^ "The County of Suffolk (Electoral Changes) Order 2004", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 9 December 2004, SI 2004/3252
  3. ^ "Suffolk County Council Election Results" (PDF).
  4. ^ Geater, Paul. "Independent councillor joins Suffolk Tories for role in policy-making". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. ^ Santos, Joao. "First Reform UK candidate chosen in Suffolk County Council's Tower Division by-election win in Bury St Edmunds". Suffolk News. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Top Tory quits in middle schools protest". eadt.co.uk. East Anglian Daily Times. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Tributes paid following death of 'kind and wise' Bury St Edmunds community leader Robert Everitt". suffolknews.co.uk. Suffolk News. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  8. ^ "West Suffolk: Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). suffolk.gov.uk. Suffolk County Council. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  9. ^ "West Suffolk: Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). suffolk.gov.uk. Suffolk County Council. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Official Declaration of Result - Tower". Twitter. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Forest Heath & St Edmundsbury: Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). suffolk.gov.uk. Suffolk County Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Councillor Paul Hopfensperger - Official Website".
  13. ^ "Tower by-election results". Suffolk County Council. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Suffolk County Council Elections 2009". elections.suffolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Councillor Paul Hopfensperger - Official Website".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.