2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election. Labour Party in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, 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 33
• Liberal Democrats 15
• Conservative 6 ^[2]

Background

Four councillors stood down at the election, Michael Blaney, Patricia Martinez-Williams, John Mealor and Bill Noctor, from Marshalls Cross, Windle, Haydock and West Sutton wards respectively. ^[3] In Marshalls Cross two seats were contested in 2003, after the death of councillor Valerie Beirne on 7th January 2003 in Whiston Hospital. ^[3]

Both the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties contested all 19 seats that were up for election, while the Conservatives had 18 candidates and there was 1 Socialist Alliance and 1 independent candidate. ^[4] The Conservatives targeted gaining a seat in Windle, where the party had taken a seat from Labour for the last two election, while the Liberal Democrats aimed to make progress in Grange Park and Haydock wards. ^[4]

For the 2003 election, St Helens had a trial of all postal voting across the whole council in an attempt to double the 26% turnout at the last election in 2002. ^[3] By the 29 April 2003 turnout had reached an average of 42% across the council, ^[5] with the final turnout being 48% and with a high of 57% in Eccleston. ^[6]

Election result

Labour retained control of the council with 33 councillors after gaining one seat from Socialist Labour, but losing one to the Conservatives. ^{[7] [2]} The Labour gain came in Grange Park ward, while the Conservatives took an extra seat in Windle. ^[7] This meant the Liberal Democrats remained on 15 seats, while the Conservative gain took them to 6 councillors. ^[2]

St Helens local election result 2003 ^{[2] [8]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	11	1	1	0	57.9	48.5	32,246	+0.9%
	Liberal Democrats	6	0	0	0	31.6	33.4	22,209	-1.0%
	Conservative	2	1	0	+1	10.5	17.0	11,330	-0.6%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	581	+0.8%
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	168	+0.3%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	1	-1	0	0	N/A	-0.3%

Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alma Atherton	2,686	59.9	+0.1
	Conservative	Vera Stanton	1,072	23.9	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Langley	728	16.2	−1.0
Majority			1,614	36.0	−0.8
Turnout			4,486
	Labour hold		Swing

Blackbrook ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Smith	2,046	62.7	−0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Dunn	791	24.2	−2.7
	Conservative	Joan Foster	426	13.1	+3.4
Majority			1,255	38.5	+1.9
Turnout			3,263
	Labour hold		Swing

Broad Oak ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Terence Shields	1,885	64.2	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gail Mills	890	30.3	−8.9
	Conservative	Mark Collins	163	5.5	+0.4
Majority			995	33.9	+17.5
Turnout			2,938
	Labour hold		Swing

Eccleston ^{[6] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Shirley Evans	3,197	66.2	−5.1
	Labour	Jean West	844	17.5	+3.2
	Conservative	William Highcock	788	16.3	+2.0
Majority			2,353	48.7	−8.3
Turnout			4,829	57	+23
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Grange Park ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Glover	1,639	49.8	−2.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Evans	1,192	36.2	+9.0
	Conservative	Michael Marriott	461	14.0	−0.9
Majority			447	13.6	−11.1
Turnout			3,292
	Labour gain from Socialist Labour		Swing

Haydock ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Richardson	2,325	52.9	−10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Sheldon	1,632	37.2	+14.1
	Conservative	Anthony Rigby	435	9.9	−3.7
Majority			693	15.8	−24.3
Turnout			4,392
	Labour hold		Swing

Marshalls Cross (2 seats) ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Topping	1,477
	Liberal Democrats	Alec Mills	1,421
	Labour	Michael Glover	807
	Labour	Derek Maylor	689
	Conservative	Barbara Johnson	198
Turnout			4,592
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Moss Bank ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Ferry	2,026	47.0	−9.4
	Labour	Barbara Jakubiak	1,859	43.1	+5.2
	Conservative	John Cunliffe	425	9.9	+4.2
Majority			167	3.9	−14.6
Turnout			4,310
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newton East ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Astbury	1,827	48.3	−11.1
	Labour	Mark Rahaman	1,588	42.0	+8.5
	Conservative	Margaret Harvey	370	9.8	+2.6
Majority			239	6.3	−19.6
Turnout			3,785
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newton West ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leon Maguire	2,293	60.5	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Virginia Taylor	950	25.1	−1.2
	Conservative	Catherine Perks	547	14.4	+2.5
Majority			1,343	35.4	−0.1
Turnout			3,790
	Labour hold		Swing

Parr and Hardshaw ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jeffery Molyneux	1,731	69.2	−2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth Knowles	419	16.7	−2.4
	Conservative	Madeline Wilcock	185	7.4	+1.2
	Socialist Alliance	Leslie Teeling	168	6.7	+6.7
Majority			1,312	52.4	−0.6
Turnout			2,503
	Labour hold		Swing

Queens Park ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret McLachlan	1,962	61.2	+6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Ronan	857	26.7	−9.7
	Conservative	Charmian Pyke	386	12.0	+3.3
Majority			1,105	34.5	+16.1
Turnout			3,205
	Labour hold		Swing

Rainford ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Parr	2,045	57.1	−3.3
	Labour	David Wood	1,233	34.4	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Pulfer	302	8.4	+0.0
Majority			812	22.7	−6.5
Turnout			3,580
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rainhill ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph DeAsha	2,479	57.2	−1.9
	Conservative	Jonathan Mackie	803	18.5	−6.0
	Independent	Neil Thompson	581	13.4	+13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Noreen Knowles	469	10.8	−5.5
Majority			1,676	38.7	+4.1
Turnout			4,332
	Labour hold		Swing

Sutton and Bold ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephanie Topping	2,086	56.4	−2.4
	Labour	Philip Wiseman	1,380	37.3	+0.9
	Conservative	Jill Jones	231	6.2	+1.5
Majority			706	19.1	−3.3
Turnout			3,697
	Labour hold		Swing

Thatto Heath ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sheila Seddon	2,090	63.8	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Pearl	812	24.8	+4.2
	Conservative	Barbara Woodcock	375	11.4	+0.8
Majority			1,278	39.0	−9.2
Turnout			3,277
	Labour hold		Swing

West Sutton ^{[2] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wiseman	1,580	62.4	−2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Marise Roberts	663	26.2	+2.2
	Conservative	Ian Hunt	290	11.4	−0.1
Majority			917	36.2	−4.4
Turnout			2,533	41	+22
	Labour hold		Swing

Windle ^{[2] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Roughley	2,130	57.1	+7.8
	Labour	Susan Murphy	1,130	30.3	−12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Katrina Young	470	12.6	+4.1
Majority			1,000	26.8	+19.8
Turnout			3,730	55	+20
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 23 February 2015.
2. "Local Elections 2003: Sefton battle remains in the balance". Liverpool Echo . NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
3. Neild, Larry (4 April 2003). "Local elections 2003: Final bow for the last 'fortyniner'". Liverpool Daily Post . NewsBank.
4. Kelly, Andy (28 April 2003). "Local elections 2003: It's stick or twist for town hall voters". Liverpool Daily Post . NewsBank.
5. Kilmurray, Andrew (30 April 2003). "Voting turnout reaches 42 per cent". Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications. NewsBank.
6. Harker, Sarah (8 May 2003). "Take a bow Mr Postie". Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications. NewsBank.
7. "Local elections 2003: St Helens". Liverpool Daily Post . NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
8. "Latest Releases". St. Helens Council. Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.