2002 Redditch Borough Council election

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The 2002 Redditch Borough Council election of 2 May 2002 elected members of Redditch Borough Council in the West Midlands region, England. One third of the council stood for re-election and the Labour Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control for the first time in many years. [1]

Contents

After the election, the council comprised:

Campaign

Before the election only a small swing would have seen the Labour party lose its majority on Redditch council, [3] with the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats only needing to pick up three seats between them for this to happen. [4] The Labour Party was defending seven of the eleven seats to be decided and campaigned on its success over the previous years in eliminating all council debt. [4] There was an extra seat in West ward where the Conservative leader on the council, Carol Grandy, stood down. [4]

Election results

Labour lost its majority but remained the largest party. [5] Labour had held control of the council for the previous 20 years but lost this after the other parties gained three seats in the election. [6] Among Labour losses was its leader on the council, Albert Wharrad, who lost in Winyates ward to the Liberal Democrats. [6] One of the closest results was in Lodge Park ward where Labour held on by 22 votes and Mohammed Nasir became the first Asian councillor on Redditch council. [7] The results meant no party had a majority on the council for the first time in over 50 years, [6] and the Conservative party claimed that the results would have been sufficient for them to have gained Redditch constituency in a general election. [8] Turnout in the election was higher than in the last few years at 29.8%. [9]

Following the election the Labour and Conservative parties on the council elected new leaders and attempted to gain Liberal Democrat support to control the council. [7] However the Liberal Democrats said that they would not form an agreement with either Labour or the Conservatives on their own. [10] In the end at the council's annual general meeting on 15 May all parties joined the executive of the council, which was formed with four Labour, three Conservative and one Liberal Democrat members. [11] The Conservatives had wanted an executive in which both they and Labour had the same number of seats and accused the Liberal Democrats of backing Labour to prevent this. [12] The new Labour leader, David Cartwright, was elected leader of the council and retained the chairman's casting vote. [11] [13]

Redditch Local Election Result 2002
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Conservative 520+245.542.67,645
  Labour 403-336.433.05,925
  Liberal Democrats 210+118.223.24,172
  Independent 000001.2207

Ward results

Abbey [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Diane Thomas98663.7
Labour Robin King34522.3
Conservative Gordon Hazelton21614.0
Majority64141.4
Turnout 1,547
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Batchley [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cookson79352.0
Conservative Peter Anderson52334.3
Liberal Democrats Kathleen Cummings20813.6
Majority27017.7
Turnout 1,524
Labour hold Swing
Central [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Stephen Wheeler80647.1
Conservative Michael Braley68440.0
Liberal Democrats Adam Isherwood22213.0
Majority1227.1
Turnout 1,712
Labour hold Swing
Crabbs Cross [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Sarah Sulley79150.5
Labour Les Smith58437.3
Liberal Democrats David Gee19212.3
Majority20713.2
Turnout 1,567
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Feckenham [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Michael Chalk96757.3
Labour Patricia Hill44926.6
Liberal Democrats Graham Pollard27316.2
Majority51830.7
Turnout 1,689
Conservative hold Swing
Greenlands [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Philip Mould79043.8
Conservative Tracey Smithers76742.6
Liberal Democrats Anthony Pitt24513.6
Majority231.2
Turnout 1,802
Labour hold Swing
Lodge Park [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Mohammad Nasir47435.6
Conservative Janet Clark45233.9
Independent Simon Preston20715.5
Liberal Democrats Ian Webster20015.0
Majority221.7
Turnout 1,333
Labour hold Swing
Matchborough [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Anita Clayton86750.8
Labour Iris Beech57033.4
Liberal Democrats Christopher Hennessey27015.8
Majority29717.4
Turnout 1,707
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
West (2) [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Karen Lumley1,182
Conservative Gavin Smithers1,047
Labour John Witherspoon536
Liberal Democrats Caroline Ashall415
Liberal Democrats Michael Ashall383
Turnout 3,563
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Winyates [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Cyril Springall77851.7
Labour Albert Wharrad57838.4
Conservative Gordon Craig1499.9
Majority20013.3
Turnout 1,505
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing

References

  1. ↑ "Redditch". BBC News. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "Local Elections: Results : Redditch". The Guardian. 3 May 2002. p. 9.
  3. ↑ Ward, Lucy; Maguire, Kevin (11 April 2002). "Policy and politics: Blunkett declares war on 'vile racism' of BNP: Home secretary wants head-on challenge in local elections". The Guardian. p. 10.
  4. 1 2 3 "Labour control on a knife-edge ; Mail focus on the May 2 local council elections". Birmingham Mail . 12 April 2002. p. 8.
  5. ↑ Walker, David (3 May 2002). "Local Elections: Postal voting increases turnout by 28%: Ballots: Participation higher in BNP areas candidates". The Guardian. p. 9.
  6. 1 2 3 Smith, Sue (3 May 2002). "Local Election Results 2002: protest's healthy majority". Birmingham Mail . p. 17.
  7. 1 2 Probert, Andy (7 May 2002). "Redditch on a knife-edge ; Power talks begin". Birmingham Mail . p. 11.
  8. ↑ Brogan, Benedict (4 May 2002). "Late wins in London lift the Tories". The Daily Telegraph. p. 6.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Labour ousted". Worcester News. 3 May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Parties struggle for sway". Worcester News. 15 May 2002. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  11. 1 2 "Labour bid to retain power". Birmingham Mail . 15 May 2002. p. 5.
  12. ↑ "Labour keep hold". Worcester News. 16 May 2002. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  13. ↑ Probert, Andy (27 June 2002). "Council in cash crisis". Birmingham Mail . p. 38.
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