2002 Eastbourne Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2002 Eastbourne Borough Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2002 Eastbourne Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Eastbourne Borough Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000 reducing the number of seats by 3. ^[1] The Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from the Conservative Party. ^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 18 seats, compared to 12 for the Liberal Democrats. ^[3] The whole council was elected after boundary changes reduced the number of wards from 10 to 9 and the number of councillors from 30 to 27. ^[3]

Election result

The Liberal Democrats gained a majority of 3 on the council with 15 seats, compared to 12 for the Conservatives. ^[4] Over a quarter of the Liberal Democrat councillors elected were new to the role, ^[5] with the Liberal Democrat gains in Old Town and St Anthony's wards being reported as crucial to them taking control. ^{[4] [6]} Overall turnout at the election was 33.9%, ^[7] up from 30.9% in 2000. ^[8]

The Liberal Democrat success was put down to controversy over the Old Town library, issues such as anti-social behaviour and abandoned cars, and boundary changes. ^[4]

Eastbourne local election result 2002 ^{[9] [2]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	15			+3	55.6	49.3	32,996	+13.9
	Conservative	12			-6	44.4	41.4	27,700	-15.7
	Labour	0			0	0.0	5.0	3,356	-1.3
	Green	0			0	0.0	3.3	2,241	+2.9
	Independent	0			0	0.0	0.5	321	+0.5
	UKIP	0			0	0.0	0.5	303	+0.5

Ward results

Devonshire (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Beryl Healy	1,600
	Liberal Democrats	Beryl Teso	1,480
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Stanley	1,462
	Conservative	Martin Charlton	515
	Conservative	Sandra Elkin	500
	Conservative	Diane Leagas	453
	Green	Daniel Richardson	269
	Labour	Peter Tucker	223
Turnout			6,502	27.9

Hampden Park (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Pooley	1,278
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Thompson	1,149
	Liberal Democrats	Olive Woodall	1,145
	Labour	Nora Ring	523
	Labour	David Brinson	514
	Labour	Martin Falkner	451
	Conservative	Jeanie Sowerby	328
	Conservative	Pamela Cook	321
	Conservative	Russell Riseley	312
	Green	Leslie Dalton	114
	Green	Finbar O'Shea	112
	Green	Richard Luxford	79
Turnout			6,326	29.2

Langney (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Berry	1,255
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Sims	1,178
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Slater	1,118
	Conservative	Alexander Richards	596
	Conservative	Iain Andrews	574
	Conservative	Thomas Walters	554
	Labour	John Morrison	139
	Labour	Jonathan Pettigrew	109
	Green	Christine Quarrington	86
Turnout			5,609	25.8

Meads (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Stevens	2,001
	Conservative	Barry Taylor	1,967
	Conservative	David Elkin	1,949
	Liberal Democrats	Beverley Berry	731
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Ticehurst	686
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Aylott	662
	Green	Clive Gross	351
	Labour	John Pettigrew	280
	UKIP	Kenneth Alderton	174
	UKIP	Royston Maryan	129
Turnout			8,930	38.9

Old Town (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Albert Leggett	2,161
	Liberal Democrats	Maurice Skilton	2,153
	Liberal Democrats	John Creaven	1,942
	Conservative	Ian Lucas	1,252
	Conservative	Simon Herbert	1,166
	Conservative	John Stanbury	1,156
	Green	Liam Stevens	408
	Labour	Robert Rossetter	216
	Independent	Michael Phipp	146
Turnout			10,600	45.0

Ratton (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Belsey	1,641	58.4
	Conservative	Barbara Goodall	1,628	57.9
	Conservative	Sandie Howlett	1,564	55.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jacqueline Harris	806	28.7
	Liberal Democrats	Penelope Cunliffe-Lister	793	28.2
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Shmoller	661	23.5
	Labour	David Buck	295	10.5
	Green	Nancy Dalton	242	8.6
Turnout			2,812	35.4

St Anthony's (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Tutt	2,005
	Liberal Democrats	John Harris	1,987
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Marsh	1,907
	Conservative	Sheila Charlton	827
	Conservative	John Davidson	762
	Conservative	John Wilton	705
	Labour	Helen Sedgewick	221
	Green	Robert Sier	164
Turnout			8,578	35.8

Sovereign (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Bowker	1,001
	Conservative	Christopher Williams	970
	Conservative	Patrick Warner	925
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Carroll	648
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Bloom	638
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Ellis	632
	Independent	Linus Gunning	175
	Labour	Jacqueline Pilkington	172
	Green	Jocelyn McCarthy	124
Turnout			5,285	31.8

Upperton (3 seats) ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Marsden	1,390
	Conservative	Robert Lacey	1,332
	Conservative	Ann Murray	1,311
	Liberal Democrats	Troy Tester	989
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Whitby	966
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Pritcher	964
	Green	Susan Montague	292
	Labour	Michael Tucker	213
Turnout			7,457	34.0

References

1. "Eastbourne". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
2. "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library . Retrieved 15 December 2011.
3. "Tories battle for lead". The Argus . 2 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
4. "Elated LibDems back in power". Eastbourne Herald . 3 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
5. "A fresh start for Eastbourne". Eastbourne Herald . 8 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
6. "Lib Dems seize power". The Argus . 3 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
7. "Results of elections held Thursday 1 May 2003". Eastbourne Borough Council. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
8. "Eastbourne Borough Council Election Results - 4 May 2000". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
9. "Results of elections held Thursday 2 May 2002". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.