2002 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2002 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, 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 56
• Conservative 9
• Liberal Democrat 6
• Vacant 1 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the Labour Party controlled the council with 55 seats, compared to 8 Conservatives, 7 Liberal Democrats and 1 independent. ^[3] A further seat was vacant after the recent death of Labour councillor Fred Smith. ^[3]

Candidates in the election included five independents who were standing in protest at a decision by the council to close a swimming pool in Tipton and a nearby leisure centre. ^{[4] [5]} The Tipton area also saw 2 candidates from the British National Party standing in the wards of Princes End and Tipton Green. ^[3]

Election result

The results saw Labour easily keep its strong majority on the council after winning 19 of the 24 seats contested. ^[6] Neither the British National Party, nor the candidate from the Freedom Party managed to win a seat on the council, ^[7] but the British National Party did win 24% in Princes End ward. ^[8]

Sandwell Local Election Result 2002 ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	19			+1	79.2	51.6	31,948	+5.3%
	Conservative	3			+1	12.5	27.5	17,054	-7.0%
	Liberal Democrats	2			-1	8.3	11.2	6,967	-1.9%
	Independent	0			-1	0	3.4	2,116	-0.8%
	Socialist Labour	0			0	0	3.1	1,897	+3.1%
	Freedom Party	0			0	0	1.7	1,070	+1.7%
	BNP	0			0	0	1.4	870	+1.4%
	UKIP	0			0	0	0.0	22	+0.0%

Ward results

Abbey ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steven Eling	1,491	54.3	-6.3
	Conservative	John McHard	724	26.4	-0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Prior	397	14.5	+2.4
	Socialist Labour	Malcolm Connigale	133	4.8	+4.8
Majority			767	27.9	-5.4
Turnout			2,745

Blackheath ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Walker	1,375	54.1	+10.3
	Conservative	Mary Docker	919	36.2	+13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Walter Bowdler	246	9.7	+2.4
Majority			456	18.0	+0.6
Turnout			2,540

Bristnall ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lois Griffin	1,384	54.0	+0.6
	Conservative	Terry Grainger	1,014	39.6	-7.0
	Socialist Labour	Sukhjinder Clair	163	6.4	+6.4
Majority			370	14.4	+7.6
Turnout			2,561

Charlemont ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anne Hughes	1,100	38.7	-10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Underhill	1,009	35.5	+4.7
	Labour	Babu Patel	730	25.7	+5.5
Majority			91	3.2	-14.9
Turnout			2,839

Cradley Heath and Old Hill ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Glenis Webb	1,462	62.1	+8.6
	Conservative	James Musk	894	37.9	+1.4
Majority			568	24.1	+7.1
Turnout			2,356

Friar Park ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joyce Edis	1,068	62.7	+11.8
	Conservative	Janet Williams	471	27.6	-10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Reed	165	9.7	-1.5
Majority			597	35.0	+21.9
Turnout			1,704

Great Barr ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sadie Smith	1,393	44.4	+3.7
	Labour	Sharron Devonport	895	28.5	+8.8
	Conservative	Robert Lawrence	847	27.0	-10.5
Majority			498	15.9	+12.8
Turnout			3,135

Great Bridge ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Rowley	1,105	47.4	-1.4
	Independent	Fred Perry	817	35.0	+35.0
	Conservative	Philip Mansell	409	17.5	-15.7
Majority			288	12.4	-3.2
Turnout			2,331

Greets Green and Lyng ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gurchuran Sudhu	1,169	58.5	-3.2
	Conservative	Rosemarie Campbell	471	23.6	-5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Roberts	358	17.9	+8.5
Majority			698	34.9	+2.0
Turnout			1,998

Hateley Heath ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Terry Williams	989	48.2	+13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Wilson	799	38.9	-9.1
	Conservative	Gaynor Skeldon	265	12.9	-4.5
Majority			190	9.3
Turnout			2,053

Langley ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Sullivan	1,601	55.3	+8.2
	Conservative	Roland Hill	915	31.6	-8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Reid	285	9.8	-2.8
	Socialist Labour	Jasvir Gill	96	3.3	+3.3
Majority			686	23.7	+16.8
Turnout			2,897

Newton ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Fowler	1,440	45.2	-7.4
	Labour	Simon Hackett	1,209	37.9	+14.1
	Conservative	Anthony Ward	485	15.2	-8.4
	Socialist Labour	Baldeesh Singh	54	1.7	+1.7
Majority			231	7.2	-21.6
Turnout			3,188

Old Warley ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Meacham	1,266	43.6	-17.7
	Labour	Michael Davis	1,202	41.4	+2.7
	Independent	Deborah Blewitt	437	15.0	+15.0
Majority			64	2.2	-20.5
Turnout			2,905

Oldbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Babu Bawa	1,358	51.9	-8.2
	Conservative	Jeanette Hill	571	21.8	-3.2
	Socialist Labour	Amarjit Singh	361	13.8	+13.8
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Gorton	329	12.6	-2.4
Majority			787	30.0	-5.1
Turnout			2,619

Princes End ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Raymond Howes	894	40.6	-4.2
	Conservative	Richard Geddes	543	24.7	-22.0
	BNP	John Salvage	536	24.3	+24.3
	Independent	Robert Roper	128	5.8	+5.8
	Independent	Alison Jones	79	3.6	+3.6
	UKIP	Kevin Walker	22	1.0	+1.0
Majority			351	15.9
Turnout			2,202

Rowley ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Price	1,578	65.7	+10.1
	Conservative	Joanne Hadley	825	34.3	+6.1
Majority			753	31.3	+3.9
Turnout			2,403

Smethwick ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linda Horton	1,847	77.1	+10.5
	Conservative	Ewart Johnson	549	22.9	-10.5
Majority			1,298	54.2	+20.9
Turnout			2,396

Soho and Victoria ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Rouf	1,178	72.8	+2.6
	Socialist Labour	Rajinder Kumar	260	16.1	+16.1
	Conservative	William Shipman	181	11.2	-18.6
Majority			918	56.7	+16.3
Turnout			1,619

St Paul's ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gurinder Josan	2,095	68.8	+24.0
	Socialist Labour	Ranjit Tagger	569	18.7	+18.7
	Conservative	Manjit Lall	381	12.5	-0.1
Majority			1,526	50.1	+47.8
Turnout			3,045

Tipton Green ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Jones	2,030	45.7	+1.5
	Freedom Party	Stephen Edwards	1,070	24.1	+24.1
	Conservative	Ian Davies	461	10.4	-16.3
	Independent	Malcolm Beckley	394	8.9	+8.9
	BNP	Kenneth Salvage	334	7.5	-16.2
	Socialist Labour	Surinder Sandhu	154	3.5	+3.5
Majority			960	21.6	+4.1
Turnout			4,443

Tividale ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hinton	1,205	50.4	+3.6
	Conservative	Steven Hockley	676	28.3	-10.9
	Independent	Michael Davenport	261	10.9	+10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Bradley	247	10.3	-3.7
Majority			529	22.1	+14.5
Turnout			2,389

Wednesbury North ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Archer	1,634	68.6	+6.4
	Labour	Elaine Giles	748	31.4	-6.4
Majority			886	37.2	+12.8
Turnout			2,382

Wednesbury South ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Melia	1,410	58.7	+6.3
	Conservative	Alan Nugent	991	41.3	-0.7
Majority			419	17.5	+7.1
Turnout			2,401

West Bromwich Central ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linda Turton	1,925	68.9	+7.5
	Conservative	Bhajan Shoker	462	16.5	-10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Samantha Ford	299	10.7	-1.2
	Socialist Labour	Dharam Pal	107	3.8	+3.8
Majority			1,463	52.4	+17.8
Turnout			2,793

References

1. "Sandwell". BBC News Online . Retrieved 14 February 2011.
2. "Full results". Financial Times . 4 May 2002. p. 7.
3. Johnson, Steve (1 May 2002). "Uphill job to oust Labour; But Tories hope for gains". Birmingham Mail .
4. Johnson, Steve (3 April 2002). "Poll fight by mother; ; Leisure protester stands". Birmingham Mail .
5. Johnson, Adrian (24 April 2002). "Society: frontline: Links: In deep water: Adrian Johnson on why the planned closure of a rundown pool in the West Midlands has provoked a political backlash". The Guardian . p. 14.
6. "Local Election Results 2002: Labour ward off the right; Majority retained against BNP challenge". Birmingham Mail . 3 May 2002. p. 17.
7. "Local Election Results 2002: No headway for far right". Birmingham Mail . 3 May 2002. p. 20.
8. Travis, Alan (9 May 2002). "Comment & Analysis: Analysis: The devil is in the detail: It is not just Burnley and Oldham we should be worrying about - the British National party made progress in 16 other areas too". The Guardian . p. 15.
9. "Sandwell". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
10. "Election results; Local Election". The Times . 4 May 2002. p. 16.