2004 Halton Borough Council election

Last updated

The 2004 Halton Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Halton Unitary Council in Cheshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2002. [1] The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council. [2]

Contents

Campaign

All 56 seats were being contested after boundary changes had taken place, with 119 candidates competing for election. [3] Labour contested all 56 seats, compared to 32 for the Conservatives, 19 Liberal Democrats, 3 Green Party, 2 British National Party, 1 Legalise Cannabis Alliance and 1 independent. [3] There were also 4 candidates from the new Citizens Party of Halton, with 3 of them being former Labour councillors. [3] The election in Halton, along with the rest of North West England, was held with all postal voting as part of an attempt to increase turnout. [3]

Before the election Labour dominated the council with 47 of the 56 seats. [4] As a result, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were aiming just to reduce Labour's majority to provide a better opposition, with the Conservatives standing in every ward. [5]

A major issue in the election was the attempt by the council to secure funding for a second crossing over the River Mersey. [4] The Labour Party defended their record in control of the council, pointing to the regeneration of the town centres of Widnes and Runcorn and improvements in services. [5]

Results

The results saw both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives make significant gains against Labour, but with Labour keeping a safe majority on the council. [6] The Liberal Democrats made gains in Halton Brook, Norton North and Windmill Hill wards, while the Conservatives picked up seats in Birchfield and Farnworth wards. [6] Windmill Hill required 2 recounts before the Liberal Democrat, Kelly Marlow, was declared the winner by a single vote over the Labour candidate. [7] Labour councillors who failed to be re-elected included the deputy mayor, Dennis Middlemass, who lost in Mersey ward to the Liberal Democrats after 12 years on the council. [8] Overall turnout in the election was 38%, almost double what was seen at the last election in 2002. [6]

Labour's leader of the council, Tony McDermott, blamed national policies and mid term votes against the government for the losses, but was pleased at preserving a good majority which he said demonstrated "a welcome level of support". [6]

Halton Local Election Result 2004 [2] [9]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 35-1262.555.342,002-3.8
  Liberal Democrats 14+725.019.314,632-1.1
  Conservative 7+512.519.414,740+1.9
  Green 000.02.51,906+2.5
 Citizens Party of Halton000.02.01,513+2.0
  BNP 000.00.7529+0.7
  Independent 000.00.6440-1.0
  Legalise Cannabis 000.00.2158+0.2

Ward results

Appleton (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Edward Jones1,101
Labour Gerald Philbin985
Labour Francis Nyland897
Conservative John Littler365
Conservative Desmond McDermott323
BNP Andrew Taylor297
Legalise Cannabis Emma O'Neill158
Turnout 4,127
Beechwood (2) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Linda Redhead942
Liberal Democrats Ulfar Norddahl865
Labour Martha Lloyd Jones333
Labour Maurice Craig243
Conservative Phillip Speed194
Conservative Patricia Parkinson182
Turnout 2,759
Birchfield (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Lewis868
Conservative David Findon851
Conservative Geoffrey Swift751
Labour Austin Clarke612
Labour Valerie Hill569
Labour John Fahey542
Turnout 4,193
Broadheath (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Anthony McDermott1,176
Labour Robert Gilligan889
Labour Keith Morley761
Conservative Philip Harper466
Turnout 3,292
Castlefields (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Tyrrell1,045
Labour Arthur Cole833
Labour Liam Temple816
Independent Jimmy Tang440
Liberal Democrats Barbara Sly369
Conservative Wendy Perraten300
BNP Anthony Watts232
Turnout 4,035
Daresbury (2) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats C Inch545
Conservative J Bradshaw517
Liberal Democrats K Newall506
Conservative B Price467
Labour J Johnston322
Labour A Stockton305
Turnout 2,662
Ditton (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Marie Wright1,185
Labour Shaun Osborne1,051
Labour Peter Lloyd Jones884
Conservative Colin Rowan681
Turnout 3,801
Farnworth (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Carl Cross1,049
Conservative Ian Whittaker905
Conservative Philip Drakeley884
Labour Andrew MacManus702
Labour Damian Curzon671
Labour Margaret Fahey630
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Hare602
Turnout 5,443
Grange (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Swain873
Labour Stephen Pearsall822
Labour Mark Dennett796
Liberal Democrats James Maguire622
Conservative Mary Taylor406
Turnout 3,519
Hale [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Michael Wharton60573.7
Conservative Suzannah Swift21626.3
Majority 38947.4
Turnout 821
Halton Brook (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Stefan Nelson944
Labour John Massey850
Liberal Democrats Kathleen Hodgkinson690
Labour Stanley Hill650
Conservative Roger Tuson366
Turnout 3,500
Halton Lea (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Thompson800
Labour Kathleen Loftus752
Labour Alan Lowe713
Citizens Party of HaltonMichael Gelling368
Liberal Democrats Janet Clein351
Citizens Party of HaltonDamian Matthews329
Conservative Elizabeth Ford258
Turnout 3,571
Halton View (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Robert Polhill1,149
Labour Stanley Parker961
Labour Thomas McInerney903
Green Derek Mellor566
Green Ann Martland562
Green Glenys Taylor509
Conservative Denis Thomas475
Turnout 5,125
Heath (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Hodgkinson1,134
Liberal Democrats Margaret Ratcliffe1,124
Liberal Democrats Christopher Rowe1,117
Conservative Marjorie Bradshaw605
Labour Joan Lowe371
Conservative Peter Murray340
Conservative Philip Balmer332
Labour Carol Redican326
Labour Karen Linforth253
Turnout 5,602
Hough Green (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Paul Nolan1,069
Labour Kevan Wainwright950
Labour Philip Harris948
Conservative Maureen Forsyth514
Conservative Brian Hensley456
Turnout 3,937
Kingsway (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Margaret Horabin996
Labour Ann Gerrard934
Labour Francis Fraser861
Conservative Frank Lloyd470
Conservative Terence McDermott429
Turnout 3,690
Mersey (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Sue Blackmore950
Liberal Democrats Ernest Ratcliffe847
Liberal Democrats Trevor Higginson814
Labour Reginald Eastup604
Labour Glyn Redican581
Labour Dennis Middlemas526
Conservative Colin Keam309
Turnout 4,631
Norton North (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Timothy Sly989
Liberal Democrats Diane Inch980
Liberal Democrats Gary Fowler928
Labour Ellen Cargill759
Labour Mary Massey685
Labour John Stockton646
Green Michael Davies269
Conservative David Wright263
Turnout 5,519
Norton South (3) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Ronald Hignett873
Labour David Cargill856
Labour Irene Ashley810
Citizens Party of HaltonIan Evans411
Citizens Party of HaltonJoseph Glover405
Conservative William Dowdle229
Turnout 3,584
Riverside (2) [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Leadbetter705
Labour Edwin Gleave623
Conservative Margaret Hill211
Turnout 1,539
Windmill Hill [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Kelly Marlow25745.0
Labour Peter Harding25644.8
Conservative Sylvia Dowdle5810.2
Majority 10.2
Turnout 571

References

  1. ↑ "Halton council". BBC News . Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Ballot box". The Times . 12 June 2004. p. 26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Ballot boxes banished in favour of postal voting". This Is Cheshire. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 "Elections 2004: Halton". Liverpool Daily Post . 13 May 2004. p. 15.
  5. 1 2 Weston, Alan (27 May 2004). "Halton places a strong emphasis on regeneration; Second river crossing a key issue". Liverpool Daily Post . p. 15.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Vote 2004: Halton". Liverpool Echo. 11 June 2004. p. 11.
  7. ↑ "Early morning election drama". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  8. ↑ "Elections 2004: The verdict; These ex-Labour councillors are among 460 who lost their seats in Thursday's elections. Why do they think it happened?". The Independent . 12 June 2004. p. 1.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "June Election 2004 Results". Halton Borough Council. Retrieved 27 February 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Declaration of result of poll". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.