2003 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2003 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 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 55
• Conservative 9
• Liberal Democrat 6
• British National Party 2 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the Labour party held control of the council with 57 seats, while the Conservatives had 8 seats and the Liberal Democrats 6 seats. ^[3] A further seat was vacant in Great Bridge ward after the death of Labour councillor Jean Marson. ^[3] 24 seats were being contested in the election by a total of 83 candidates. ^[3] Labour was defending 20 of the 24 seats, with the mayor and 5 members of the cabinet among those contesting the election. ^[3] The Conservatives contested every seat, the Socialist Labour Party stood in 15 seats, Liberal Democrats 10, British National Party 5 and there were 2 candidates from the Freedom Party. ^[4]

The candidates from the British National Party and the Freedom Party caused controversy, with the UNISON trade union calling on its members to vote against them and boycott any councillors from those parties. ^[5] A local Labour Member of Parliament Tom Watson meanwhile said that property prices would fall if any candidates from the British National Party were elected. ^[6]

Election result

The results saw the British National Party win 2 seats on the council for the first time. ^[7] The British National Party's John Salvage gained Princes End by 37 votes and David Watkins took Great Bridge by nearly 100 votes. ^[8] Meanwhile, Labour held control of the council despite dropping seats. ^[8] The Conservatives gained 1 seat, while the Liberal Democrats stayed on 6 seats. ^[8]

The first council meeting following the election on 20 May saw a protest by union members against the presence of a British National Party councillor. ^[9]

Sandwell Local Election Result 2003 ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	17	1	4	-3	70.8	47.0	27,739	-4.6%
	Conservative	3	2	1	+1	12.5	28.6	16,897	+1.1%
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	1	0	8.3	10.6	6,261	-0.6%
	BNP	2	2	0	+2	8.3	5.9	3,483	+4.5%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	4.2	2,487	+1.1%
	Freedom Party	0	0	0	0	0	2.1	1,219	+0.4%
	2003 Community Party	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	732	+1.2%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	150	+0.3%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	69	+0.1%

Ward results

Abbey ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Piper	1,544	56.1	+1.8
	Conservative	Ewart Johnson	638	23.2	-3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Prior	490	17.8	+3.3
	Socialist Labour	Jasvinder Singh	81	2.9	-1.9
Majority			906	32.9	+5.0
Turnout			2,753	31.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Blackheath ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Price	1,200	51.9	-2.2
	Conservative	Mary Docker	1,056	45.7	+9.5
	Socialist Labour	Rajinder Singh	54	2.3	+2.3
Majority			144	6.2	-11.8
Turnout			2,310	25.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Bristnall ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Young	1,292	56.0	+2.0
	Conservative	John McHard	896	38.8	-0.8
	Socialist Labour	Sukhjinder Clair	119	5.2	-1.2
Majority			396	17.2	+2.8
Turnout			2,307	24.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Charlemont ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Ward	1,153	40.3	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Underhill	922	32.2	-3.3
	Labour	Victoria Handy	740	25.9	+0.2
	Socialist Labour	Nirmala Devi	47	1.6	+1.6
Majority			231	8.1	+4.9
Turnout			2,862	32.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Cradley Heath and Old Hill ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Southall	1,316	61.2	-0.9
	Conservative	Susan Bennett	835	38.8	+0.9
Majority			481	22.4	-1.7
Turnout			2,151	23.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Friar Park ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Lewis	935	59.9	-2.8
	Conservative	Gaynor Skeldon	444	28.4	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Reed	183	11.7	+2.0
Majority			491	31.4	-3.6
Turnout			1,562	19.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Great Barr ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Wilson	1,188	40.9	-3.5
	Conservative	Robert White	942	32.4	+5.4
	Labour	Sharron Devonport	774	26.7	-1.8
Majority			246	8.5	-7.4
Turnout			2,904	29.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Great Bridge ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	David Watkins	772	31.5	+31.5
	2003 Community Party	Fred Perry	732	29.9	-5.1
	Labour	Bob Patel	674	27.5	-19.9
	Conservative	Diane Meacham	273	11.1	-6.4
Majority			40	1.6
Turnout			2,451	25.9
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing

Greets Green and Lyng ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Badham	1,024	54.5	-4.0
	Conservative	Rosemarie Campbell	537	28.6	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Roberts	317	16.9	-1.0
Majority			487	25.9	-9.0
Turnout			1,878	24.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Hateley Heath ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Blyth	930	44.0	-4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Cheeseman	865	41.0	+2.1
	Conservative	Mark Elliott	270	12.8	-0.1
	Socialist Labour	Chuhar Singh	47	2.2	+2.2
Majority			65	3.1	-6.2
Turnout			2,112	23.1
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Langley ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Prestidge	1,395	48.4	-6.9
	Conservative	Roland Hill	750	26.0	-5.6
	BNP	Alan Hipkiss	643	22.3	+22.3
	Socialist Labour	Bahadur Shankar	93	3.2	-0.1
Majority			645	22.4	-1.3
Turnout			2,881	30.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Newton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joyce Underhill	1,341	44.6	-0.6
	Labour	Simon Hackett	1,232	40.9	+3.0
	Conservative	Valerie Ward	386	12.8	-2.4
	Socialist Labour	Baldeesh Singh	50	1.7	+0.0
Majority			109	3.6	-3.6
Turnout			3,009	33.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Oldbury ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mahboob Hussain	1,619	55.1	+3.2
	Conservative	David Hadley	756	25.7	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Reed	291	9.9	-2.7
	Socialist Labour	Atma Matharu	270	9.2	-4.6
Majority			863	29.4	-0.6
Turnout			2,936	35.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Old Warley ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terri Grainger	1,453	54.2	+10.6
	Labour	Brian Caddick	1,228	45.8	+4.4
Majority			225	8.4	+6.2
Turnout			2,681	31.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Princes End ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	John Salvage	754	37.0	+12.7
	Labour	Elaine Giles	717	35.1	-5.5
	Conservative	Margaret Dixon	365	17.9	-6.8
	Freedom Party	Alison Aitken-Jones	135	6.6	+6.6
	UKIP	Kevin Walker	69	3.4	+2.4
Majority			37	1.9
Turnout			2,040	21.9
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing

Rowley ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iris Boucher	1,398	60.3	-5.4
	Conservative	Joanne Hadley	859	37.1	+2.8
	Socialist Labour	Amarjit Takhar	61	2.6	+2.6
Majority			539	23.3	-8.0
Turnout			2,318	24.5
	Labour hold		Swing

St. Pauls ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bawa Dhallu	1,467	52.6	-16.2
	Socialist Labour	Hari Randhawa	860	30.8	+12.1
	Conservative	Manjit Lall	461	16.5	+4.0
Majority			607	21.8	-28.3
Turnout			2,788	33.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Smethwick ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Davies	1,258	60.9	-16.2
	Conservative	John Patterson	563	27.3	+4.4
	Socialist Labour	Boota Singh	243	11.8	+11.8
Majority			695	33.7	-20.5
Turnout			2,064	24.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Soho and Victoria ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Darren Cooper	995	73.1	+0.3
	Conservative	Salahadin Adrwish	203	14.9	+3.7
	Socialist Labour	Malcolm Connigale	163	12.0	-4.1
Majority			792	58.2	+1.5
Turnout			1,361	27.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Tipton Green ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syeda Khatun	1,724	42.0	-3.7
	Freedom Party	Stephen Edwards	1,084	26.4	+2.3
	Conservative	Ian Davies	633	15.4	+5.0
	BNP	Terence Taylor	526	12.8	+5.3
	Socialist Labour	Surinder Sandhu	134	3.3	-0.2
Majority			640	15.6	-6.0
Turnout			4,101	34.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Tividale ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maria Crompton	1,079	41.4	-9.0
	BNP	Carl Butler	788	30.2	+30.2
	Conservative	Steven Hockley	459	17.6	-10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Gorton	281	10.8	+0.5
Majority			291	11.2	-10.9
Turnout			2,607	27.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Wednesbury North ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Costigan	1,429	62.6	-6.0
	Labour	Peter Allen	702	30.8	-0.6
	Green	John Macefield	150	6.6	+6.6
Majority			727	31.9	-5.3
Turnout			2,281	24.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wednesbury South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Turton	1,158	51.9	-6.8
	Conservative	Jean Nugent	943	42.2	+0.9
	Socialist Labour	Karam Singh	131	5.9	+5.9
Majority			215	9.6	-7.9
Turnout			2,232	24.7
	Labour hold		Swing

West Bromwich Central ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohinder Tagger	1,338	54.7	-14.2
	Conservative	Norman Lawley	593	24.2	+7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Berisford	383	15.6	+4.9
	Socialist Labour	Barinder Sandhu	134	5.5	+1.7
Majority			745	30.4	-22.0
Turnout			2,448	30.3
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 15 February 2011.
2. "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent . 3 May 2003. pp. 18–19.
3. "Black country council nominations: Labour ready to keep power; Sandwell: But the Tories and Lib-Dems seeking gains". Birmingham Mail . 8 April 2003. p. 13.
4. Johnson, Steve (2 May 2003). "Election 2003: All eyes on fate of BNP candidates; Sandwell". Birmingham Post . p. 3.
5. Johnson, Steve (24 April 2003). "Staff to boycott extreme parties; Union's election pledge". Birmingham Mail . p. 14.
6. "BNP in homes boom 'threat'". Birmingham Mail . 28 April 2003. p. 1.
7. Norfolk, Andrew; Sherman, Jill (2 May 2003). "BNP surges in Burnley but stalls in Sunderland". The Times . p. 15.
8. "Elections 2003: Far right cheer two seats win; Sandwell". Birmingham Mail . 2 May 2003. p. 11.
9. Johnson, Steve (21 May 2003). "BNP councillor faces union fury; Protest at first meeting". Birmingham Mail. p. 5.
10. "Election Results - May 2003". Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 27 February 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
11. "Election results". Financial Times . 2 May 2003. p. 4.