Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2002

Last updated

Map of the results of the 2002 Wigan council election. Wigan96.png
Map of the results of the 2002 Wigan council election.

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 2 May 2002, with one-third of the council to be re-elected. There had been a number of by-elections in the gap year, with a Labour gain from the Liberal Democrats in Hindsford, effectively cancelling out an earlier loss to them in Atherton. A Labour hold in Hope Carr in-between left both parties unchanged going into the election.

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.

Liberal Democrats (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

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.

Candidates contesting rose slightly on the prior election's, with the Socialist Alliance's debut eclipsing the Liberal Democrat offering, with 9 candidates to 8, and the newly formed Community Action Party fielding their first handful, as well as a sole BNP contender in Abram. This counteracted the traditional opposition parties - the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats - fielding slightly less this year and one fewer Independent contester than the last election.

The Socialist Alliance was a left-wing electoral alliance in England between 1992 and 2005.

Community Action Party

The Community Action Party is a minor political party in the United Kingdom, mostly active in Greater Manchester and Merseyside. It advocates free health care and education provision, a managed public transport infrastructure free to all at the point of use and a moratorium on the use of green belt land for building. It also supports a zero tolerance policy toward crime, and is against the introduction of identity cards and recent anti-terrorist legislation on civil liberties grounds.

The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its current leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK government. Founded in 1982, the party reached its greatest level of success in the 2000s, when it had over fifty seats in local government, one seat on the London Assembly, and two Members of the European Parliament.

The worrying string of poor turnout seen in recent elections was partially reversed, as turnout rose by a quarter upon the 2000s figure of 19.5%, to 25.2%. The Conservatives and the Independents fell back from their impressive performances in 2000, to the benefit of the newcomers, with Community Action immediately gaining two seats in the previously-unblemished Labour strongholds of Bryn and Lightshaw. Labour successfully defended Orrell from another Tory gain, but suffered a loss in the former Conservative bastion of Swinley, with the Conservatives holding representation in Orrell and Swinley for the first time in just shy of twenty years. Elsewhere, the Lib Dems comfortably captured another seat in Hindsford. These gains reverted Labour's majority to a more normative 58, ending their five-year peak. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Orrell, Greater Manchester human settlement in United Kingdom

Orrell is a village and a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward had fallen at the 2011 Census to 11,513. The centre of the area lies 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west of Wigan town centre and serves as a predominantly residential suburb of Wigan. The area is contiguous with the district of Pemberton.

Election result

Wigan Local Election Result 2002
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 20 0 4 -4 83.3 56.7 32,772 -0.2%
  Community Action 2 2 0 +2 8.3 9.2 5,307 +9.2%
  Conservative 1 1 0 +1 4.2 17.2 9,936 -7.9%
  Liberal Democrat 1 1 0 +1 4.2 11.6 6,681 -0.3%
  Socialist Alliance 0 0 0 0 0.0 2.5 1,428 +2.5%
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.5 859 -2.9%
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.0 571 +1.0%

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

PartyPrevious councilNew council
Labour 69 65
Liberal Democrat 2 3
Community Action 0 2
Conservative 1 2
Socialist Alliance 0 0
Independent 0 0
BNP 0 0
Total 72 72
Working majority 66  58 

Ward results

Abram [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Eunice Smethurst 1,631 65.2 -3.6
BNP Dennis Shambley 571 22.8 +22.8
Conservative Alicia Eccles 292 11.7 -19.5
Rejected ballots 7 0.3
Majority 1,060 42.4 +4.7
Turnout 2,501 28.1 +15.7
Labour hold Swing -13.2
Ashton-Golborne [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Andrew Bullen 1,313 44.3 -20.1
Community Action Stanley Barnes 1,250 42.1 +42.1
Conservative Jonathan Cartwright 300 10.1 -25.5
Socialist Alliance Marian Markham 100 3.4 +3.4
Rejected ballots 4 0.1
Majority 63 2.1 -26.7
Turnout 2,967 26.9 +11.1
Labour hold Swing -31.1
Aspull-Standish [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour John Hilton 1,584 44.3 -5.8
Liberal Democrat Trevor Beswick 1,091 30.5 +10.8
Conservative Barry Wolley 792 22.2 -4.6
Socialist Alliance Janet Philips 105 2.9 +2.9
Rejected ballots 2 0.1
Majority 493 13.8 -9.6
Turnout 3,574 30.5 +9.1
Labour hold Swing -8.3
Atherton [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Susan Loudon 1,353 54.8 -8.6
Liberal Democrat Patricia Myler 827 33.5 +12.7
Conservative Ann Davies 155 6.3 -9.5
Independent David Shallcross 132 5.3 +5.3
Rejected ballots 1 0.0
Majority 526 21.3 -21.3
Turnout 2,468 28.6 +8.3
Labour hold Swing -10.6
Bedford-Astley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Frederick Walker UnopposedN/AN/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Beech Hill [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Garry Rankin 1,416 57.8 +2.7
Liberal Democrat Malcolm Hudson 774 31.6 -7.8
Independent William Hurst 252 10.3 +10.3
Rejected ballots 9 0.4
Majority 642 26.2 +10.4
Turnout 2,451 27.1 +1.0
Labour hold Swing +5.2
Bryn [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Community Action John Hodgkinson 1,397 48.0 +48.0
Labour Alan Melling 1,311 45.0 -24.4
Conservative Marion Green 200 6.9 -23.7
Rejected ballots 3 0.1
Majority 86 2.9 -36.0
Turnout 2,911 29.4 +12.2
Community Action gain from Labour Swing +36.2
Hindley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Stuart Shaw 1,656 73.7 +24.1
Conservative Andre Walker 567 25.2 +13.4
Rejected ballots 25 1.1
Majority 1,089 48.4 +37.5
Turnout 2,248 21.3 +3.8
Labour hold Swing +5.3
Hindley Green [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Stanley Simmons 1,535 71.7 +23.2
Conservative Rosina Oxley 580 27.1 +8.1
Rejected ballots 27 1.3
Majority 955 44.6 +28.7
Turnout 2,142 19.6 +3.6
Labour hold Swing +7.5
Hindsford [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Democrat Neil Hogg 1,724 55.4 +8.9
Labour Philip Loudon 1,024 32.9 -11.3
Independent Stephen Hall 234 7.5 +3.2
Conservative William Graham 125 4.0 -0.9
Rejected ballots 4 0.1
Majority 700 22.5 +20.3
Turnout 3,111 28.5 +4.8
Liberal Democrat gain from Labour Swing +10.1
Hope Carr [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Kevin Anderson 1,498 52.1 +13.0
Conservative Andrew Oxley 713 24.8 -3.0
Community Action Peter Solinas 549 19.1 +19.1
Socialist Alliance Keith Fry 104 3.6 +3.6
Rejected ballots 11 0.4
Majority 785 27.3 +16.0
Turnout 2,875 28.1 +4.3
Labour hold Swing +8.0
Ince [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Joan Hurst 1,231 76.3 +1.2
Socialist Alliance Michael Doherty 200 12.4 +12.4
Conservative Robert Rees 176 10.9 -3.4
Rejected ballots 6 0.4
Majority 1,031 63.9 +3.1
Turnout 1,613 21.2 +6.2
Labour hold Swing -5.6
Langtree [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour John O'Neill 1,733 51.9 +4.0
Conservative Gareth Fairhurst 988 29.6 -3.9
Liberal Democrat Freda Graham 607 18.2 -0.4
Rejected ballots 11 0.3
Majority 745 22.3 +7.9
Turnout 3,339 28.7 +8.5
Labour hold Swing +3.9
Leigh Central [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Peter Smith 1,298 71.5 +1.3
Conservative Timothy Matthews 301 16.6 -13.2
Community Action Daniel Burrows 212 11.7 +11.7
Rejected ballots 5 0.3
Majority 997 54.9 +14.5
Turnout 1,816 21.5 +6.8
Labour hold Swing +7.2
Leigh East [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Anne Turnock 1,571 76.9 +22.2
Conservative Derek Davies 454 22.2 +2.9
Rejected ballots 17 0.8
Majority 1,117 54.7 +25.9
Turnout 2,042 19.0 +4.0
Labour hold Swing +9.6
Lightshaw [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Community Action Peter Franzen 1,899 44.5 +44.5
Labour Tom Sherratt 1,776 41.7 -18.6
Conservative James Grundy 581 13.6 -26.1
Rejected ballots 8 0.2
Majority 123 2.9 -17.6
Turnout 4,264 34.9 +13.4
Community Action gain from Labour Swing +31.5
Newtown [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Christine Hitchen 1,204 76.9 +8.0
Socialist Alliance Barry Conway 332 21.2 +21.2
Rejected ballots 29 1.9
Majority 872 55.7 +9.5
Turnout 1,565 18.8 +5.8
Labour hold Swing -6.6
Norley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Jeanette Prescott 1,017 83.5N/A
Socialist Alliance William Markham 195 16.0N/A
Rejected ballots 6 0.5
Majority 822 67.5N/A
Turnout 1,218 17.9N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Orrell [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Ernest Swift 1,478 52.2 +3.9
Conservative Stuart Foy 1,336 47.2 -4.4
Rejected ballots 15 0.5
Majority 142 5.0 +1.8
Turnout 2,829 30.4 +9.1
Labour hold Swing +4.1
Swinley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative James Davies 1,189 40.3 -1.0
Labour Susan Turner 1,084 36.8 -8.4
Liberal Democrat Alan Robinson 365 12.4 +0.3
Independent Stephen Halsall 241 8.2 +6.7
Socialist Alliance Frances Thomas 65 2.2 +2.2
Rejected ballots 5 0.2
Majority 105 3.6 -0.2
Turnout 2,949 34.4 +7.9
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +3.7
Tyldesley East [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Brian Wilson 1,574 64.0 +7.1
Liberal Democrat Richard Derricutt 866 35.2 +2.3
Rejected ballots 19 0.8
Majority 708 28.8 +4.8
Turnout 2,459 20.9 +5.5
Labour hold Swing +2.4
Whelley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour James Roberts 1,391 70.8 -4.4
Liberal Democrat Jean Beswick 427 21.7 +21.7
Socialist Alliance Judith Ford 138 7.0 +7.0
Rejected ballots 10 0.5
Majority 964 49.0 -1.2
Turnout 1,966 24.2 -1.7
Labour hold Swing -13.0
Winstanley [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour William Evans 1,667 64.6 -0.7
Conservative Richard Clayton 895 34.7 +0.0
Rejected ballots 20 0.8
Majority 772 29.9 -0.7
Turnout 2,582 20.0 -5.5
Labour hold Swing -0.3
Worsley Mesnes [2] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour William Rotherham 1,427 74.6 +5.0
Conservative Thomas Sutton 292 15.3 -15.1
Socialist Alliance Jacqueline Pointon 189 9.9 +9.9
Rejected ballots 6 0.3
Majority 1,135 59.3 +20.1
Turnout 1,914 20.1 +7.1
Labour hold Swing +10.0

By-elections between 2002 and 2003

Leigh Central By-Election 26 September 2002 [5] [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Myra Whiteside 904 62.6 -8.9
Community Action Peter Solinas 392 27.1 +15.4
Conservative Tim Matthews 149 10.3 -6.3
Majority 512 35.5 -19.4
Turnout 1,445 17.1 -4.4
Labour hold Swing -12.1

Related Research Articles

1998 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 7 May 1998. One third of the council was up for election. Following the previous election there had been three by-elections held—in Aspull-Standish, Ince and Hope Carr—with all three successfully defended by Labour.

1999 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 6 May 1999. One-third of the council was up for election. Prior to the election, the Liberal Democrats had gained the seat being fought in Beech Hill from Labour in a by-election, and long-time Labour councillor for Atherton, Jack Sumner, had defected to independent.

2000 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 4 May 2000. One-third of the council was up for election, as well as an extra vacancy in Norley - both of which were uncontested. Since the election, there had been a by-election in which the Liberal Democrats gained the seat being fought in Hindsford from Labour.

2003 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 1 May 2003 with one-third of the council was up for election. Prior to the election, there had been two vacancies in Leigh Central, with Labour winning a by-election in June and the seat being fought in this election filled unopposed by Barbara Jarvis.

2006 Barnet London Borough Council election

The 2006 Barnet Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Barnet London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.

2006 Swindon Borough Council election

The 2006 Swindon Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Swindon Unitary Council in Wiltshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.

2010 Sunderland City Council election

The 2010 Sunderland Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council. The election took place on the same day as the 2010 General Election.

The 2011 council elections in Guildford saw the Conservatives retain control over Guildford Borough Council with an increased majority of 20 seats. Full results for each ward can be found at Guildford Council election, full results, 2011.

1984 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 3 May 1984, with one third of the seats up for vote. Three wards – Abram, Hindley and Lightshaw – were unopposed, leaving only twenty one of the twenty four wards going to vote – a number not seen since 1975. Also of note was the re-emergence of a fourth party, in the way of persistent Communist candidate H. Kedward contesting Leigh Central after a three-year absence. The election itself seen a Labour gain in Orrell from the Conservatives, which cancelled out the simultaneous Alliance gain from Labour in Aspell-Standish, leaving their majority unchanged. Overall turnout slumped to 29.2%, the lowest level since the aforementioned 1975 election.

1986 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 8 May 1986, with one third of the seats scheduled for re-election. Since the previous election three by-elections had taken place, with Labour gaining the seat being fought in Orrell from the Conservatives as well as holding their seats in Bedford-Astley and Beech Hill. The election seen fewer contestants than any previous election since the council's creation in 1973, with a record of four seats unchallenged. Even amongst those contested there were no minor parties represented, the fewest Alliance candidates since the 1980 election and a record low of Conservative contenders at sixteen. The results were similarly record-breaking as Labour won twenty two seats, with the Conservative and Alliance majorities in their respective heartland wards - and only holds - of Swinley and Langtree reduced to slender majorities. Labour won a high of 65% share of the vote, conversely the Conservatives share fell to a low of 13.1%, with their actual vote dropping into four figures for the first time. Overall turnout rose from the preceding year's underwhelming figure of 29.2%, to a more commonplace 35.8%.

1987 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 7 May 1987, with one third of the council up for election. Previous to the election there had been two by-elections held, resulting in a Labour gain of the seat being fought in Swinley from the Conservatives and Labour retaining one of their Hindley Green seats. Participation for this election increased substantially from the previous year's lows. Only one ward went unopposed as Labour reliably provided a full-slate of candidates, the Alliance all but Atherton and the Conservatives up from 16 to 18, by way of fielding candidates in the Labour strongholds of Abram and Worsley Mesnes this time around. An Independent Labour candidate also fought and won Hindley, with an Independent victory last seen in 1976, and Independent representation in 1980, when that same victor failed to survive the re-warding.

1988 Wigan Metropolitan Borough 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.

1990 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 3 May 1990, with one third of the seats up for election with an additional vacancy in Bryn. Previous to the election there had also been a by-election in Abram, which the Labour Party successfully defended. Despite a wider array of parties - mainly a product from the fractious SLD merger - contesting the election, in several ways it beat 1986's lows in participation. A record of six seats went uncontested as one quarter of the council's wards held no elections, with the Conservatives contesting one half of the wards and the SLD one quarter. The Greens repeated their last year's total of four candidates, but with only two in the same wards as previous. Elsewhere, Independent John Vickers fought his first of many elections in Hindley Green and the respective Social Democrat and Liberal sides opposed to Alliance merging into the SLD fielded a sole candidate each - the latter of which having previously came within a straw of winning Langtree for the SLD.

1991 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1991, with one third scheduled for re-election. Like the last election, this seen a wider variety of party candidates than most previous, but only marginally improved upon the nadir of the year before in terms of candidates, with four wards uncontested, Conservatives fighting just above one half of the seats and the Liberal Democrats just under - although the Lib Dems near doubled last year's total, both were historically disappointing. Minor party participation consisted of three Independent Labour candidates - including a former Beech Hill Labour councillor - two Liberals, a return of an Independent in Hindley Green and one remaining Green - their lowest fielded when participating - in Atherton.

1995 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

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.

1996 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Wigan council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1996, with an extra vacancy in Abram to be filled. Going into the election there were noticeably fewer candidates than usual, with the total candidate number and the five uncontested wards only narrowly lower than the all-time lows set at the 1990 election. This was mainly caused by the lack of any minor party candidates, and the Liberal Democrat slate dropping by half upon the previous election, to seven - their scarcest outing since their lowest ebb throughout their merger in 1990, but more reminiscent of their patchy participation of the seventies. Turnout had been consistently poor in recent elections, and this election continued the downward trend, dropping below a quarter of the electorate for the second time to 24.2%.

2008 Colchester Borough Council election

The 2008 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.

2015 Harlow District Council election

The 2015 Harlow District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and Labour party councillors increased their control of the council as the governing group, gaining one councillor and suffering no losses.

2018 Sunderland City Council election

The 2018 Sunderland City Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Sunderland City Council in England. The election took place on the same day as other local elections.

References