Elections were held on Thursday, 4 May 1995, with one third of the seats set for re-election, with an extra vacancy in Leigh East. Ahead of this election Labour had gained the seat being fought in Beech Hill from the Liberal Democrats, and defended a seat in Worsley Mesnes in by-elections. The major parties marginally increased their number of candidates upon last year's totals, whereas the number of Independent Labour candidates fighting returned to just the incumbent in Hindley. Having been the only party opposing Labour in Atherton, the Independent Labour absence there meant that went uncontested this time round, alongside two of last year's unopposed wards, Ince and Leigh Central. In total unopposed wards were reduced from the previous year's four to three. Turnout fell to 26.4%, the second lowest in the council's history, only surpassing the 1992 nadir.
The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Vince Cable. They have 11 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 96 members of the House of Lords, one member of the European Parliament, five Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Assembly and London Assembly. At the height of its influence, the party formed a coalition government with the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2015 with its leader Nick Clegg serving as Deputy Prime Minister.
Worsley Mesnes is a mainly residential area of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ward population at the 2011 census was 11,973.
The election seen mixed fortunes for the main parties. For the Conservatives, this was undoubtedly their worst performance, with the lowest vote share (and at 10.2%, very close to dropping into single-digits) and vote figure obtained in their 22-year history of contesting for this council. Despite receiving near-two thousand fewer votes from the election the year before, Labour, however, beat the record share they'd recorded then, capturing 72.8% of votes cast. The Lib Dem vote fell further into the four-digit territory seen recently in their tumultuous merger period, but unlike then managed to stay within mid-teens in vote share.
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. The governing party since 2010, it is the largest in the House of Commons, with 313 Members of Parliament, and also has 249 members of the House of Lords, 18 members of the European Parliament, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 8,916 local councillors.
With such an overwhelming vote, Labour captured every seat except the Independent Labour-held Hindley, making a total of four gains, and securing the largest majority since 1973. All but one were at the Lib Dem's expense, with their incumbent in Aspull-Standish standing for his third term ousted, their seat in Bedford-Astley fought and won by their previous incumbent for Labour and being reduced to one in the increasingly marginal, but one-time stronghold, ward of Langtree. The Conservatives suffered a loss to Labour in their only remaining favourable territory of Swinley, reducing their representation to an all-time low of one in both ward and council. The sole non-Labour victor in Hindley, standing under the title as Real Labour, seen her majority reduced. [1]
Aspull is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, Aspull, along with Haigh, is surrounded by greenbelt and agricultural land, separated from Westhoughton, on its southeast side, by a brook running through Borsdane Wood. The ground rises from south to north, reaching 400 feet (122 m), and has views towards Winter Hill and the West Pennine Moors. It has a population of 4,977.
Standish is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the A49 road between Chorley and Wigan, near Junction 27 of the M6 motorway. The population of the village was 13,278 in the 2011 census.
Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 24 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 96.0 | 72.8 | 39,936 | +2.5% | |
Independent Labour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 2.2 | 1,207 | -0.1% | |
Liberal Democrat | 0 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 8,075 | -1.3% | |
Conservative | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0.0 | 10.2 | 5,610 | -1.1% | |
This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:
Party | Previous council | New council | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 62 | 66 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 7 | 4 | |||
Conservatives | 2 | 1 | |||
Independent Labour | 1 | 1 | |||
Total | 72 | 72 | |||
Working majority | 52 | 60 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | B. Hampson | 1,746 | 90.7 | +0.9 | |
Conservative | A. Eccles | 178 | 9.2 | -0.9 | |
Majority | 1,568 | 81.5 | +1.8 | ||
Turnout | 1,924 | 20.4 | -3.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +0.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Hilton | 1,965 | 76.8 | -0.5 | |
Conservative | M. Winstanley | 376 | 14.7 | +3.7 | |
Liberal Democrat | S. Cooper | 216 | 8.4 | -3.2 | |
Majority | 1589 | 62.1 | -3.5 | ||
Turnout | 2,557 | 26.1 | -3.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -2.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | D. Standring | 1,726 | 48.9 | +0.4 | |
Liberal Democrat | G. Davies | 1,494 | 42.4 | +1.7 | |
Conservative | J. Davies | 306 | 8.7 | -2.1 | |
Majority | 232 | 6.5 | -1.3 | ||
Turnout | 3,526 | 32.1 | -5.2 | ||
Labour gain from Liberal Democrat | Swing | -0.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Sumner | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Lea | 1,602 | 68.3 | -0.4 | |
Liberal Democrat | R. Bleakley | 543 | 23.1 | -8.1 | |
Conservative | J. Mosley | 200 | 8.5 | +8.5 | |
Majority | 1,059 | 45.1 | +7.6 | ||
Turnout | 2,345 | 27.0 | -1.7 | ||
Labour gain from Liberal Democrat | Swing | +3.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | C. Roscoe | 1,744 | 61.9 | +14.0 | |
Liberal Democrat | J. Beswick | 965 | 34.2 | -13.8 | |
Conservative | J. Cartwright | 109 | 3.9 | -0.2 | |
Majority | 779 | 27.6 | +27.5 | ||
Turnout | 2,818 | 31.6 | -5.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +13.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Foster | 2,385 | 87.5 | +1.0 | |
Conservative | W. Holmes | 340 | 12.5 | -1.0 | |
Majority | 2,045 | 75.0 | +2.1 | ||
Turnout | 2,725 | 27.7 | -1.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.0 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent Labour | E. Edwardson | 1,207 | 50.3 | +50.3 | |
Labour | P. Kelly | 984 | 41.0 | -40.7 | |
Liberal Democrat | F. Graham | 206 | 8.6 | -9.6 | |
Majority | 223 | 9.3 | -54.2 | ||
Turnout | 2,397 | 24.8 | -0.0 | ||
Independent Labour hold | Swing | +45.5 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | R. McAllister | 1,893 | 81.0 | -5.1 | |
Liberal Democrat | J. Hough | 228 | 9.7 | +9.7 | |
Conservative | C. Butterworth | 217 | 9.3 | -4.7 | |
Majority | 1,665 | 71.2 | -0.9 | ||
Turnout | 2,338 | 20.7 | -3.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -7.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | S. Little | 1,898 | 74.2 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrat | D. Soye | 406 | 15.9 | N/A | |
Conservative | R. Oxley | 253 | 9.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,492 | 58.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 2,557 | 23.7 | N/A | ||
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | G. Brooks | 1,859 | 57.1 | +6.6 | |
Liberal Democrat | P. Hough | 1,090 | 33.5 | -1.4 | |
Conservative | D. Morris | 307 | 9.4 | -5.2 | |
Majority | 769 | 23.6 | +8.1 | ||
Turnout | 3,256 | 32.5 | -3.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +4.0 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | D. Molyneux | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | M. Greenwood | 2,067 | 63.0 | +5.8 | |
Liberal Democrat | T, Beswick | 911 | 27.8 | +0.2 | |
Conservative | F. Parkinson | 301 | 9.2 | -0.5 | |
Majority | 1,156 | 35.2 | +5.6 | ||
Turnout | 3,279 | 28.6 | -6.1 | ||
Labour gain from Liberal Democrat | Swing | +2.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | B. Thomas | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | K. Cunliffe | 1,849 | 71.0 | +2.4 | |
Labour | S. Kennedy | 1,657 | |||
Liberal Democrat | S. Hide | 505 | 19.4 | -12.0 | |
Liberal Democrat | G. Waddup | 465 | |||
Conservative | A. Oxley | 249 | 9.6 | +9.6 | |
Majority | 1,344 | 51.6 | +14.4 | ||
Turnout | 2,603 | 25.8 | -1.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +7.2 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | B. Strett | 2,923 | 83.3 | +2.6 | |
Conservative | C. Duffy | 584 | 16.6 | -2.6 | |
Majority | 2,339 | 66.7 | +5.3 | ||
Turnout | 3,507 | 31.8 | -4.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Birch | 1,827 | 90.8 | +5.7 | |
Liberal Democrat | M. Wiswall | 184 | 9.1 | +1.2 | |
Majority | 1,643 | 81.7 | +4.5 | ||
Turnout | 2,011 | 22.8 | -3.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.2 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | S. Parker | 1,819 | 92.4 | +7.2 | |
Liberal Democrat | A. Sudworth | 150 | 7.6 | -7.2 | |
Majority | 1,669 | 84.7 | +14.4 | ||
Turnout | 1,969 | 26.1 | -4.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +7.2 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | R. Capstick | 1,839 | 73.8 | +3.1 | |
Conservative | M. Green | 654 | 26.2 | -3.1 | |
Majority | 1,185 | 47.5 | +6.1 | ||
Turnout | 2,493 | 26.7 | -5.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Ball | 1,606 | 59.7 | -3.2 | |
Conservative | K. Swift | 781 | 29.0 | -8.0 | |
Liberal Democrat | A. Robinson | 301 | 11.2 | +11.2 | |
Majority | 825 | 30.7 | +4.9 | ||
Turnout | 2,688 | 30.3 | -6.5 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +2.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | S. Hellier | 2,109 | 70.6 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrat | A. Pennington | 876 | 29.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,233 | 41.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 2,985 | 26.5 | N/A | ||
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | M. Pendleton | 1,859 | 90.9 | +2.5 | |
Conservative | T. Sharpe | 185 | 9.0 | -2.5 | |
Majority | 1,674 | 81.9 | +5.1 | ||
Turnout | 2,044 | 25.2 | -3.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.5 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | G. Roberts | 2,324 | 86.4 | +22.1 | |
Conservative | G. Whiston | 365 | 13.6 | -0.7 | |
Majority | 1,959 | 72.8 | +29.9 | ||
Turnout | 2,689 | 22.7 | -5.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +11.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | J. Baldwin | 1,912 | 90.3 | +30.5 | |
Conservative | T. Sutton | 205 | 9.7 | +4.2 | |
Majority | 1,707 | 80.6 | +46.2 | ||
Turnout | 2,117 | 21.2 | -8.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +13.1 | |||
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