2012 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2012 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election. Labour in red, Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow.

The 2012 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the LabourPparty stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

At the end of the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 40
• Liberal Democrats 5
• Conservative 3 ^[2]

Background

Before the start of the election, Labour ran the council with 35 seats, while the Liberal Democrats had 9 seats and the Conservatives had 4 seats. ^[3] 16 seats were contested in 2012, with Labour defending 9, Liberal Democrats 5 and the Conservatives 2. ^[3]

Five councillors stood down at the election, two Conservatives, Betty Lowe and the former leader of the Conservative group Wally Ashcroft, two Labour members Leon McGuire and Eric Smith, and one Liberal Democrat, John Beirne. ^[3] Meanwhile, a former Liberal Democrat cabinet member, Carole Kavanagh, resigned her membership of the party over the policies of the national coalition government and defended her seat as an independent candidate. ^[3]

While the Conservative, Labour and the Green parties contested every seat, the Liberal Democrats only put up candidates in 9 of the 16 wards. ^{[3] [4]}

Election result

Labour gained 5 seats at the election to have 40 of the 48 councillors on St Helens council. ^[5] The Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats to Labour to be reduced to 5 councillors, while the Conservatives lost 1 seat to have 3 councillors. ^[5]

The Labour gains included defeating both the Liberal Democrat group leader and councillor for 27 years, ^[6] Brian Spencer, in Sutton and the Liberal Democrat deputy leader Suzanne Knight in Newton. ^[5] The Liberal Democrats held only one seat at the 2012 election in Eccleston, while the Conservatives held one seat in Rainford. ^[7] Meanwhile, after contesting every seat at the election, the Greens failed to win any seats, but did come second in Blackbrook, Thatto Heath and West Park wards. ^[8]

Brian Spencer, the former Liberal Democrat leader of St Helens council, was involved in an altercation with an Labour candidate, Mark Johnson, at the election count and would later in 2012 be convicted and fined for assault over the incident. ^{[5] [9]}

St Helens local election result 2012 ^{[2] [10]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	14	5	0	+5	87.5	62.1	26,580	+2.0%
	Conservative	1	0	1	-1	6.3	12.9	5,532	-4.2%
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	4	-4	6.3	12.5	5,338	-5.0%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	8.0	3,421	+6.0%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	3.5	1,506	+1.8%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	391	-0.1%
	Socialist Equality	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	68	+0.2%

Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison Bacon	1,802	63.3	+10.4
	Conservative	Michael Hodgson	536	18.8	-8.1
	Independent	Peter Peers	371	13.0	-2.5
	Green	Susan Rahman	140	4.9	+4.9
Majority			1,266	44.4	+18.4
Turnout			2,849	31.8	-8.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Blackbrook ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Cunliffe	2,005	77.6	+0.6
	Green	Ellen Finney	321	12.4	+12.4
	Conservative	Judith Collins	258	10.0	-1.4
Majority			1,684	65.2	-0.3
Turnout			2,584	30.8	-5.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Bold ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Hargreaves	1,560	74.3	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Marise Roberts	220	10.5	-4.5
	Green	David Hughes	177	8.4	+8.4
	Conservative	Barbara Woodcock	144	6.9	-1.4
Majority			1,340	63.8	+8.5
Turnout			2,101	27.0	-9.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Earlestown ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Preston	1,676	72.1	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Smith	239	10.3	-5.6
	Conservative	David Skeech	218	9.4	-5.4
	Green	Brian Banawich	192	8.3	+8.3
Majority			1,437	61.8	+8.3
Turnout			2,325	28.2	-4.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Eccleston ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Teresa Sims	1,961	52.0	+15.2
	Labour	Mark Johnson	1,122	29.8	-3.7
	Conservative	Kathleen Barton	365	9.7	-11.9
	Green	Francis Williams	323	8.6	+0.6
Majority			839	22.2	+18.9
Turnout			3,771	40.6	-4.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Haydock ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anthony Burns	2,132	78.6	+16.6
	Conservative	Anthony Rigby	310	11.4	+4.6
	Green	Andrew Brownlow	270	10.0	+10.0
Majority			1,822	67.2	+28.8
Turnout			2,712	30.0	-5.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Moss Bank ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Lynch	1,628	53.9	-0.1
	Independent	Carole Kavanagh	1,135	37.6	+28.4
	Green	Ian Donnelly	144	4.8	+4.8
	Conservative	Margaret Harvey	115	3.8	-1.1
Majority			493	16.3	-5.8
Turnout			3,022	35.0	-8.9
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Newton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Severiano Gomez-Aspron	1,453	46.8	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Knight	1,349	43.4	+1.3
	Conservative	Brian Honey	168	5.4	-6.5
	Green	Ann Shacklady-Smith	138	4.4	+4.4
Majority			104	3.3	-0.6
Turnout			3,108	36.1	-0.5
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Parr ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Bowden	1,601	84.2	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Brown	120	6.3	-2.9
	Green	Carys Claffey	104	5.5	+5.5
	Conservative	Madeleine Wilcock	76	4.0	-3.0
Majority			1,481	77.9	+3.2
Turnout			1,901	21.0	-6.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Rainford ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Nichols	1,381	53.7	-0.1
	Labour	Keith Aspinall	980	38.1	+2.6
	Green	William Fitzpatrick	210	8.2	+0.5
Majority			401	15.6	-2.6
Turnout			2,571	38.5	-11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rainhill ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barrie Grunewald	2,088	67.1	+2.4
	Conservative	Robert Reynolds	685	22.0	+0.5
	Green	Sandra Banawich	341	11.0	+11.0
Majority			1,403	45.1	+1.9
Turnout			3,114	35.0	-9.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Sutton ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donald Jackson	1,765	59.7	-3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Spencer	901	30.5	+5.8
	BNP	Peter Clayton	124	4.2	-1.2
	Green	David Parr	106	3.6	+3.6
	Conservative	Charmian Pyke	61	2.1	-4.3
Majority			864	29.2	-9.6
Turnout			2,957	32.5	-4.8
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Thatto Heath ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sheila Seddon	1,857	74.8	-3.3
	Green	Karen Atherton	187	7.5	+7.5
	Conservative	Henry Spriggs	178	7.2	-5.6
	BNP	Paul Telford	136	5.5	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Pearl	124	5.0	-4.1
Majority			1,670	67.3	+2.0
Turnout			2,482	25.7	-7.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Town Centre ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jo-Ann Willmitt	1,502	70.3	-2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Ollerhead	239	11.2	-9.7
	BNP	Leila Bentham	131	6.1	+6.1
	Conservative	Richard Barton	102	4.8	-1.3
	Green	Winifred Brodie	96	4.5	+4.5
	Socialist Equality	Danny Dickinson	68	3.2	+3.2
Majority			1,263	59.1	+7.0
Turnout			2,138	25.9	-6.8
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

West Park ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Ayres	1,992	73.5	+4.2
	Green	Alison Donnelly	286	10.5	+3.7
	Conservative	David Foster	248	9.1	-2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mandy Stanley	185	6.8	-0.6
Majority			1,706	62.9	+5.3
Turnout			2,711	30.6	-6.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Windle ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sophie Robinson	1,417	56.9	+6.1
	Conservative	John Cunliffe	687	27.6	-10.5
	Green	Andrew Donnelly	386	15.5	+8.0
Majority			730	29.3	+16.6
Turnout			2,490	30.8	-9.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

By-elections between 2012 and 2014

Windle

A by-election was held in Windle on 2 May 2013 after the death of Labour councillor Pat Martinez-Williams. ^[11] The seat was held for Labour by David Baines with a majority of 717 votes over Conservative Robert Reynolds. ^[11]

Windle by-election 2 May 2013 ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Baines	1,329	58.1	+1.2
	Conservative	Robert Reynolds	612	26.8	-0.8
	Green	Francis Williams	345	15.1	-0.4
Majority			717	31.4	+2.1
Turnout			2,286	28.2	-2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Billinge and Seneley Green

A by-election was held in Billinge and Seneley Green on 28 November 2013 after the resignation of Labour councillor Alison Bacon. ^{[13] [14]} The seat was held for Labour by Dennis McDonnell with a majority of 494 votes over UK Independence Party candidate Laurence Allen. ^[14]

Billinge and Seneley Green by-election 28 November 2013 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dennis McDonnell	936	50.7	-12.6
	UKIP	Laurence Allen	442	24.0	+24.0
	Conservative	John Cunliffe	248	13.4	-5.4
	Green	Sue Rahman	94	5.1	+0.2
	BNP	Alan Brindle	73	4.0	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Noreen Knowles	52	2.8	+2.8
Majority			494	26.8	-17.6
Turnout			1,845	19.8	-12.0
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Vote 2012". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
2. "Election results 2012: Metro". The Guardian . NewsBank. 5 May 2012.
3. "St Helens Council set for injection of fresh blood". St Helens Star . NewsBank. 12 April 2012.
4. "Lib Dems in fight for future". Liverpool Echo . NewsBank. 30 April 2012.
5. "Scuffles as Lib Dems suffer in St Helens". Liverpool Echo . NewsBank. 4 May 2012.
6. "Labour confident as the counts under way". Liverpool Echo . NewsBank. 4 May 2012.
7. "Election latest: Lib Dem leader led away by police after alleged election night scuffle". St Helens Star . NewsBank. 4 May 2012.
8. "Greens grows in stature". St Helens Star . NewsBank. 18 May 2012.
9. "Ex-St Helens council leader fined after election assault". BBC News Online. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
10. "Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). St Helens Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
11. "Labour holds Windle ward following by-election". St Helens Star . 3 May 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
12. "Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). St Helens Council. Retrieved 7 March 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
13. "Vacancy for councillor in Billinge ward". St Helens Council. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
14. "Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). St Helens Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2015.