2007 Halton Borough Council election

The 2007 Halton Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Halton Unitary Council in Cheshire, 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 Democrat 15
• Conservative 8 ^[2]

Campaign

19 of the 56 seats on the council were contested in the election including the seat of the Conservative group leader on the council, David Findon. ^[3] Other candidates included the former Labour mayor, Peter Lloyd-Jones, standing in Norton North after losing his seat in the 2006 election and one British National Party candidate, Andrew Taylor, in Appleton ward. ^[4]

The campaign saw controversy over the possibility of transferring hospital services from Halton to Warrington, with a campaigner against the move standing for the Liberal Democrats in Halton Brook against the Labour chairman of the North Cheshire Hospitals Trust. ^{[4] [5]}

Results

The results saw Labour hold their majority on the council with 33 seats despite losing 2 in the election. ^[2] The Labour losses were Allan Massey in Halton Brook ward and the longest serving councillor Arthur Cole in Castlefield, who lost by only 3 votes. ^[6] Both seats were gained by Liberal Democrats who ended the election with 15 councillors, while the Conservatives still had 8. ^[6] Overall turnout in the election was 27.33%. ^[7]

Halton Local Election Result 2007 ^{[2] [7]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	10	0	2	-2	52.6	41.2	10,025	-4.9%
	Liberal Democrats	6	2	0	+2	31.6	30.8	7,506	+10.1%
	Conservative	3	0	0	0	15.8	22.6	5,509	-4.2%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	3.3	808	-0.3%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	287	-0.1%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	111	-0.2%
	Citizens Party of Halton	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	96	-0.4%

Ward results

Appleton ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ged Philbin	695	61.3	-6.2
	Conservative	Duncan Harper	214	18.9	-13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jimmy Tang	114	10.1	+10.1
	BNP	Andrew Taylor	111	9.8	+9.8
Majority			481	42.4	+7.4
Turnout			1,134	23.7	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Beechwood ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ulfar Norddahl	766	70.9
	Labour	Darran Lea	183	16.9
	Conservative	Barbara Price	132	12.2
Majority			583	54.0
Turnout			1,081	33.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Birchfield ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Findon	869	61.8	+6.5
	Labour	Jo Gleave	537	38.2	+5.8
Majority			332	23.6	+0.7
Turnout			1,406	29.8	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Broadheath ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Gilligan	776	64.6	-0.3
	Conservative	Philip Harper	229	19.1	-16.0
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Brown	197	16.4	+16.4
Majority			547	45.5	+15.7
Turnout			1,202	24.7	+0.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Castlefields ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Blackmore	565	46.1	+17.6
	Labour	Arthur Cole	562	45.8	+7.3
	Conservative	Philip Balmer	99	8.1	-0.9
Majority			3	0.3
Turnout			1,226	26.4	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Daresbury ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Bradshaw	580	48.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jayne Worrall	424	35.3
	Labour	Amanda Stockton	197	16.4
Majority			156	13.0
Turnout			1,201	37.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ditton ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shaun Osborne	784	49.4	+0.4
	Conservative	Peter Browne	485	30.6	-20.4
	Liberal Democrats	Damian Curzon	318	20.0	+20.0
Majority			299	18.8
Turnout			1,587	29.7	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Farnworth ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Murray	909	53.1	-1.6
	Labour	Robert Beck	450	26.3	-1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hare	242	14.1	+3.0
	Green	Maureen Miller	111	6.5	-0.4
Majority			459	26.8	-0.6
Turnout			1,712	32.2	-0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Grange ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joan Lowe	538	44.5	-4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Pickering	458	37.9	+8.8
	Conservative	William Dowdle	214	17.7	-4.3
Majority			80	6.6	-13.2
Turnout			1,210	23.6	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Halton Brook ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Bryant	714	55.0	+17.7
	Labour	John Massey	503	38.8	-11.3
	Conservative	Patricia Parkinson	81	6.2	-6.4
Majority			211	16.2
Turnout			1,298	26.8	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Halton Lea ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kathleen Loftus	554	52.7	-0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Clein	231	22.0	-7.7
	Conservative	Ian Adams	170	16.2	+6.4
	Citizens Party of Halton	Michael Gelling	96	9.1	+1.9
Majority			323	30.7	+7.2
Turnout			1,051	22.2	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Halton View ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Parker	719	42.3	+0.2
	Green	Derek Mellor	400	23.6	-1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Anna Curzon	372	21.9	+4.4
	Conservative	Denis Thomas	207	12.2	-2.9
Majority			319	18.7	+1.9
Turnout			1,698	32.0	-0.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Heath ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Ratcliffe	982	54.8	-0.2
	Conservative	Marjorie Bradshaw	295	16.5	-13.0
	Independent	Gareth Stockton	287	16.0	+16.0
	Labour	Christopher Loftus	228	12.7	-2.9
Majority			687	38.3	+12.8
Turnout			1,792	38.2	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hough Green ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevan Wainwright	675	53.4	-10.9
	Conservative	Ruth Rowan	311	24.6	-11.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Austin	151	12.0	+12.0
	Green	Miriam Hodgson	126	10.0	+10.0
Majority			364	28.8	+6.4
Turnout			1,263	23.4	+1.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Kingsway ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ann Gerrard	663	64.1	-1.6
	Conservative	Frank Lloyd	201	19.4	-2.1
	Green	Linda Mellor	171	16.5	+3.7
Majority			462	44.7	+0.5
Turnout			1,035	21.3	+1.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Mersey ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ernest Ratcliffe	693	54.1	+7.5
	Labour	Nortman Plumpton	429	33.5	-4.9
	Conservative	Maureen Forsyth	159	12.4	-2.6
Majority			264	20.6	+12.4
Turnout			1,281	26.0	-0.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Norton North ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Inch	830	58.0	+6.4
	Labour	Peter Lloyd Jones	429	30.0	+1.5
	Conservative	Mark Walsh	173	12.1	+0.2
Majority			401	28.0	+4.9
Turnout			1,432	29.2	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Norton South ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Cargill	625	63.3	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rick Rothwell	265	26.8	+4.6
	Conservative	Terence McDermott	98	9.9	-0.1
Majority			360	36.5	+1.7
Turnout			988	20.4	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Riverside ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pamela Wallace	478	64.2	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Meara	184	24.7	-2.2
	Conservative	Margaret Hill	83	11.1	+0.4
Majority			294	39.5	+4.0
Turnout			745	20.8	-0.4
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Halton". BBC News Online . Retrieved 28 February 2010.
2. "Cheshire local election results". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
3. Coligan, Nick (25 April 2007). "It's one fight that Labour cannot lose ; Lib Dems' mission impossible: Local elections 2007". Liverpool Echo. p. 15.
4. "Hopefuls fight for your vote". icCheshireOnline. 19 April 2007. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
5. "Labour aims for 2008 ; Results, reports and reaction from your council ... Local election 2007: Culture year claims on night of tension – and scuffles". Liverpool Echo. 4 May 2007. p. 2.
6. "Bob celebrates shock victory". This Is Cheshire. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
7. "Halton Election Results 2007". Halton Borough Council. Retrieved 28 January 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}