2002 Halton Borough Council election

The 2002 Halton Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Halton Unitary Council in Cheshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 47
• Liberal Democrat 7
• Conservative 2 ^[2]

Campaign

18 seats were contested in the election, ^[3] including 2 seats in Norton ward, where a Labour councillor had resigned his seat. ^[4] The seats being contested included those of the Labour mayor, Chris Loftus, and the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Alan Taylor. ^[5] 47 candidates stood in the election, including 3 married couples, with Labour contesting seats in all 17 wards, as compared to 14 for the Conservatives, 9 for the Liberal Democrats and 2 from the Runcorn Labour Councillors Group. ^[4]

Major issues in the election included housing, concerns over health effects from a local chemical plant and a proposal to close down a recreation centre in Norton. ^[6] The council was dominated by Labour before the election and this was seen as unlikely to change. ^[7]

Results

The results saw Labour increase its majority on the council by gaining 3 seats to have 47 councillors, while the Runcorn Labour Councillors Group lost their 2 remaining seats. ^[8] However the Liberal Democrats won an extra seat in Norton ward to remain the main opposition with 7 seats. ^[8] Overall turnout in the election was 21.5%. ^[9]

Halton Local Election Result 2002 ^{[2] [10]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	15			+2	83.3	59.1	11,919
	Liberal Democrats	3			+1	16.7	20.4	4,116
	Conservative	0			0	0.0	17.5	3,526
	Independent	0			-1	0.0	1.6	315
	Runcorn Labour Councillors Group	0			-2	0.0	1.5	300

Ward results

Appleton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerald Philbin	707	79.0
	Conservative	Janet Edge	188	21.0
Majority			519	58.0
Turnout			895

Broadheath ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Gilligan	898	81.0
	Conservative	David Lewis	210	19.0
Majority			688	62.0
Turnout			1,108

Castlefields ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liam Temple	671	69.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Casey	296	30.6
Majority			375	38.8
Turnout			967

Ditton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shaun Osborne	850	71.9
	Conservative	Gillian Hensley	332	28.1
Majority			518	43.8
Turnout			1,182

Farnworth ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Reynolds	909	54.3
	Conservative	Philip Balmer	765	45.7
Majority			144	8.6
Turnout			1,674

Grange ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Pearsall	586	62.3
	Liberal Democrats	James Maguire	188	20.0
	Conservative	William Denton	166	17.7
Majority			398	42.3
Turnout			940

Hale ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Wharton	422	57.3
	Independent	Agnes Mitchell	315	42.7
Majority			107	14.6
Turnout			737
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Halton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Hill	784	74.2
	Conservative	Denis Thomas	273	25.8
Majority			511	48.4
Turnout			1,057

Halton Brook ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Massey	723	63.5
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Higginson	316	27.7
	Conservative	Roger Tuson	100	8.8
Majority			407	35.8
Turnout			1,139

Heath ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Taylor	1,128	58.1
	Conservative	Marjorie Bradshaw	507	26.1
	Labour	Dorothy Fahey	305	15.7
Majority			621	32.0
Turnout			1,940

Hough Green ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Nolan	767	72.6
	Conservative	Maureen Forsyth	156	14.8
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Jump	133	12.6
Majority			611	57.8
Turnout			1,056

Kingsway ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Valerie Hill	823	79.7
	Conservative	Frank Lloyd	209	20.3
Majority			614	59.4
Turnout			1,032

Mersey ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Loftus	510	48.0
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Rowe	431	40.6
	Conservative	Colin Keam	121	11.4
Majority			79	7.4
Turnout			1,062
	Labour hold		Swing

Murdishaw ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Massey	537	73.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sue France	192	26.3
Majority			345	47.4
Turnout			729

Norton (2) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Sly	654
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Inch	644
	Labour	Alban Boyle	630
	Labour	Annette Lyons	472
	Conservative	Alan McKie	121
	Conservative	Barbara Price	115
	Runcorn Labour Councillors Group	Michael Gelling	85
	Runcorn Labour Councillors Group	Joseph Glover	72
Turnout			2,793

Palacefields ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kathleen Loftus	639	63.0
	Runcorn Labour Councillors Group	William Murphy	143	14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Clein	134	13.2
	Conservative	David Masheder	98	9.7
Majority			496	48.9
Turnout			1,014

Riverside ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Francis Nyland	686	80.6
	Conservative	Margaret Hill	165	19.4
Majority			521	61.2
Turnout			851

References

1. "Halton". BBC News Online . Retrieved 25 February 2010.
2. "Election results; Local Election". The Times . 4 May 2002. p. 16.
3. "33 city seats in May poll contest". Liverpool Echo. 5 April 2002. p. 2.
4. "Couples bid for election success". this is cheshire. 15 April 2002. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
5. Kelly, Andy (11 April 2002). "Town halls may have new leaders in weeks". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 13.
6. Jewell, Alan (26 April 2002). "Health fears and too much litter ; in the fifth part of our local election series Alan Jewell looks at the issues affecting Halton and Warrington". Liverpool Echo. p. 27.
7. Woodhead, Jane (10 April 2002). "Election candidates prepare to do battle". Liverpool Echo. p. 17.
8. "Local Elections: Labour grip is stronger ; Halton . . . No change". Liverpool Echo. 3 May 2002. p. 9.
9. "Local elections: Labour snatch Lib Dems' seats ; Party is now electable in Liverpool again, says MP". Liverpool Daily Post. 3 May 2002. p. 2.
10. "Halton". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 25 February 2010.