Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election, 1988

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Map of the results of the 1988 Wigan council election. Wigan86.png
Map of the results of the 1988 Wigan council election.

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1988, with one third of the seats up for election as well as an extra vacancy in Beech Hill. Following the previous election, two by-elections had taken place, with the Labour Party successfully defending their seats in Ince and Newtown. This year's election seen an improvement in participation, with all wards fought and five parties contesting in some form, by way of the Greens fielding their first ever slate of four candidates and the return of long-time Communist contender H. Kedward in Leigh Central. Despite this, the number of candidates contesting actually fell by five from the previous year's 64, as the turbulent new merger of the old SDP-Liberal Alliance, Social and Liberal Democrats, fielded just half the number of candidates they'd managed in 1987 and, at 11, the lowest since 1980.

Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town and former county borough, Wigan and includes the towns and villages of Leigh, part of Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, Hindley, Orrell, Standish, Atherton, Tyldesley, Golborne, Lowton, Billinge, Astley, Haigh and Aspull. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an amalgamation of several former local government districts and parishes. The borough has three civil parishes and lies directly to the west of the City of Salford and southwest of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The local authority is Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.

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.

Ince-in-Makerfield human settlement in United Kingdom

Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward. Adding on this area brings the total in 2011 to 15,664.

Contents

This was reflected by the results on the night as the SLD suffered a large drop in their vote, returning them to third place behind the Conservatives and reducing their vote total to four figure for the first time since the aforementioned 1980 election. The overwhelming beneficiary of SLD losses were the Labour, helping their vote share hit a record high of 68.6% and the highest vote figure gained - beyond the anomaly of 1979 - since the council's creation. Seat wise, Labour made two gains of the night, one in the SLD-Labour marginal of Aspull-Standish and the other in the more significant SLD bastion of Langtree, which until this point had only elected SLD candidates, where Labour managed to equal SLD votes and draw the larger straw. Labour achieved a record capture of seats, with opposition wins curtailed to an exceptional SLD performance - and gain - of one of the seats fought in Beech Hill and a Conservative hold in their bastion of Swinley. Overall turnout fell from 37.1% to 32.4%. [1]

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

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.

Aspull village in United Kingdom

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, Greater Manchester village in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England

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.

Election result

Wigan Local Election Result 1988
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 23 2 1 +1 92.0 68.6 52,325 +9.3%
  Conservative 1 0 0 0 4.0 17.1 13,083 +1.8%
  Social and Liberal Democrats 1 1 2 -1 4.0 12.6 9,640 -10.5%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.5 1,155 +1.5%
  Communist 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 62 +0.1%

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

PartyPrevious councilNew council
Labour 62 63
Social and Liberal Democrats 6 5
Conservatives 3 3
Independent Labour 1 1
Green 0 0
Communist 0 0
Total 72 72
Working majority 52  54 

Ward results

Abram [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Bennett 2,094 86.8 +6.8
Green P. Tarleton 319 13.2 +13.2
Majority 1,775 73.5 +4.8
Turnout 2,413 25.2 -9.6
Labour hold Swing -3.2
Ashton-Golborne [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour T. Jones 2,140 78.1 +12.8
Conservative S. Edwards 598 21.8 +0.6
Majority 1,542 56.3 +12.2
Turnout 2,738 27.9 -6.6
Labour hold Swing +6.1
Aspull-Standish [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Durkin 2,201 47.9 +6.6
Social and Liberal Democrats P. Wilson 1,645 35.8 -6.2
Conservative K. Hart 751 16.3 -0.4
Majority 556 12.1 +11.4
Turnout 4,597 43.5 -5.9
Labour gain from Social and Liberal Democrats Swing +6.4
Atherton [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour J. Clark 2,755 81.8 +5.6
Conservative M. Hatton 613 18.2 -5.6
Majority 2,142 63.6 +11.3
Turnout 3,368 35.9 +0.9
Labour hold Swing +5.6
Bedford-Astley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour J. Jones 1,954 62.5 +4.0
Conservative D. Angell 861 27.5 +27.5
Green S. Philbrock 310 9.9 +9.9
Majority 1,093 35.0 +18.0
Turnout 3,125 31.5 -2.7
Labour hold Swing -11.7
Beech Hill [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Social and Liberal Democrats J. McGarty 1,725 47.7 +18.8
Labour T. Bishop 1,621 44.9 -12.3
Social and Liberal Democrats L. Marshall 1,603
Labour S. Turner 1,437
Conservative E. Bispham 266 7.4 -6.4
Conservative J. Whitehead 194
Majority 104 2.9 -25.3
Turnout 3,612 40.9 +4.8
Social and Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing +15.5
Labour hold Swing
Bryn [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour C. Brown 2,532 82.0 +9.1
Conservative R. Clayton 557 18.0 +3.0
Majority 1,975 63.9 +6.1
Turnout 3,089 31.3 -6.2
Labour hold Swing +3.0
Hindley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Robinson 2,394 87.2 +54.5
Green A. Wood 352 12.8 +12.8
Majority 2,042 74.3 +52.8
Turnout 2,746 28.5 -7.9
Labour hold Swing +20.8
Hindley Green [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour S. Murphy 2,198 80.6 +8.4
Social and Liberal Democrats J. Cranfield 530 19.4 -8.4
Majority 1,668 61.1 +16.9
Turnout 2,728 24.1 -4.1
Labour hold Swing +8.4
Hindsford [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour W. Smith 2,543 78.6 +14.6
Conservative M. Sharland 691 21.4 +21.4
Majority 1,852 57.3 +29.3
Turnout 3,234 30.2 -1.7
Labour hold Swing -3.4
Hope Carr [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Roberts 2,013 63.0 +7.1
Conservative E. Manson 1,183 37.0 +5.8
Majority 830 26.0 +1.3
Turnout 3,196 32.1 -4.0
Labour hold Swing +0.6
Ince [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour J. Horrocks 2,074 89.0 +1.2
Conservative D. Edwards 165 7.1 +1.1
Social and Liberal Democrats S. Cairns 92 3.9 -2.4
Majority 1,909 81.9 +0.5
Turnout 2,331 29.3 -4.7
Labour hold Swing +0.0
Langtree [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour J. Ball 1,924 41.8 +2.9
Social and Liberal Democrats K. White 1,924 41.8 -2.5
Conservative J. Wolstenholme 753 16.4 -0.4
Majority 0 0.0 -5.5
Turnout 4,601 42.0 -4.3
Labour gain from Social and Liberal Democrats Swing +2.9
Leigh Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour G. Macdonald 2,032 82.1N/A
Conservative M. Turner 380 15.3N/A
Communist H. Kedward 62 2.5N/A
Majority 1,652 66.8N/A
Turnout 2,474 27.6N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Leigh East [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour J. Riley 1,973 70.9 +9.2
Conservative M. Stewart 810 29.1 +5.1
Majority 1,163 41.8 +4.1
Turnout 2,783 27.0 -2.3
Labour hold Swing +2.0
Lightshaw [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour N. Holt 2,857 73.3 +14.7
Conservative J. Wright 721 18.5 -7.6
Social and Liberal Democrats J. Wilson 318 8.2 -7.1
Majority 2,136 54.8 +22.3
Turnout 3,896 36.8 -2.1
Labour hold Swing +11.1
Newtown [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour C. Hitchen 2,352 86.5 +9.5
Conservative I. Nicholson 368 13.5 +0.1
Majority 1,984 72.9 +9.3
Turnout 2,720 29.9 -4.6
Labour hold Swing +4.7
Norley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour E. Maddocks 2,337 88.5 +3.0
Conservative J. Carrington 167 6.3 -0.4
Social and Liberal Democrats R. Richardson 136 5.1 -2.6
Majority 2,170 82.2 +4.4
Turnout 2,640 33.5 -4.0
Labour hold Swing +1.7
Orrell [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour E. Swift 2,262 59.9 +13.5
Conservative W. Smith 1,515 40.1 +8.0
Majority 747 19.8 +5.5
Turnout 3,777 37.0 -3.8
Labour hold Swing +2.7
Swinley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative W. Chadwick 2,019 48.3 +8.3
Labour M. Gallagher 1,627 38.9 +1.9
Social and Liberal Democrats W. Claypole 359 8.6 -14.4
Green G. Wood 174 4.1 +4.1
Majority 392 3.4 +6.4
Turnout 4,179 46.7 -6.3
Conservative hold Swing +3.2
Tyldesley East [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Stephenson 2,086 67.5 +11.5
Social and Liberal Democrats A. Shaw 1,003 32.5 -11.5
Majority 1,083 35.0 +23.0
Turnout 3,089 28.7 -6.9
Labour hold Swing +11.5
Whelley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour A. Coyle 2,174 81.4 +4.4
Conservative F. Sidebotham 310 11.6 -0.6
Social and Liberal Democrats L. Peet 185 6.9 -3.8
Majority 1,864 69.8 +5.0
Turnout 2,669 30.3 -5.7
Labour hold Swing +2.5
Winstanley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour R. Winkworth 2,031 54.1 +11.8
Social and Liberal Democrats C. Hilton 1,723 45.9 +1.1
Majority 308 8.2 +5.7
Turnout 3,754 32.1 -10.1
Labour hold Swing +5.3
Worsley Mesnes [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour W. Brogan 2,151 85.8 +12.1
Conservative J. Grimshaw 355 14.2 +4.8
Majority 1,796 71.7 +14.9
Turnout 2,506 25.3 -6.2
Labour hold Swing +3.6

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