2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

File:St Helens UK local election 2002 map.png

Map of the results of the 2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election. Labour in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 33
• Liberal Democrats 15
• Conservative 5
• Socialist Labour 1

Background

Before the election Labour held a 16-seat majority on the council, with 18 seats being contested in 2002. Among the councillors who were defending seats at the election was the Liberal Democrat group leader Brian Spencer.

In an attempt to increase turnout, primary school children in the 2 wards with the lowest turnout in previous elections, Blackbrook and West Sutton were given balloons with the date of election printed on them to remind their parents of the election date. Access to polling places had also been improved and there was greater publicity about the availability of postal voting, which led to 5,086 requests for postal votes compared to 1,100 at the last election in 2000.

Election result

Labour held control of the control with 33 councillors after losing 1 seat to the Conservatives. The Conservative gain came in Windle, where Nancy Ashcroft joined her husband as a councillor for the ward. This took the Conservatives to 5 seats on the council, while the Liberal Democrats remained on 15 seats. Overall turnout at the election was 26.4% and ranged between a low of 19.3% in West Sutton and a high of 36.93% in Rainford.

St Helens local election result 2002

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		11	0	1	-1	61.1	47.6	17,126	+2.3%
		5	0	0	0	27.8	34.4	12,365	+1.4%
		2	1	0	+1	11.1	17.6	6,338	-3.7%
		0	0	0	0	0	0.3	99	-0.2%
		0	0	0	0	0	0.1	32	+0.1%

Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Bessie Griffin	1,530	59.8
		Elizabeth Black	589	23.0
		Christine Langley	439	17.2
Majority			941	36.8
Turnout			2,558	24.9
	hold		Swing

Blackbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Linda Maloney	928	63.4
		Matthew Dunn	393	26.9
		Judith Collins	142	9.7
Majority			535	36.6
Turnout			1,463	21.0
	hold		Swing

Broad Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ken Pinder	928	55.7
		Alec Mills	654	39.2
		Joan Foster	85	5.1
Majority			274	16.4
Turnout			1,667	25.2
	hold		Swing

Eccleston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Teresa Sims	2,064	71.3
		Stephen Glover	415	14.3
		William Highcock	415	14.3
Majority			1,649	57.0
Turnout			2,894	34.0
	hold		Swing

Grange Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Terence Hanley	851	51.9
		David Evans	446	27.2
		John Willis	245	14.9
		Michael Perry	99	6.0
Majority			405	24.7
Turnout			1,641	21.9
	hold		Swing

Haydock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Swift	1,387	63.2
		Eric Sheldon	507	23.1
		Keith Winstanley	299	13.6
Majority			880	40.1
Turnout			2,193	24.3
	hold		Swing

Marshalls Cross

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Beirne	1,047	69.6
		Michael Glover	418	27.8
		Jill Jones	39	2.6
Majority			629	41.8
Turnout			1,504	25.3
	hold		Swing

Moss Bank

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Carole Kavanagh	1,495	56.4
		Barbara Jakubiak	1,005	37.9
		John Cunliffe	152	5.7
Majority			490	18.5
Turnout			2,652	32.5
	hold		Swing

Newton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Neil Taylor	1,325	59.4
		Charles Banks	747	33.5
		Margaret Harvey	160	7.2
Majority			578	25.9
Turnout			2,232	29.4
	hold		Swing

Newton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Keith Deakin	1,202	61.8
		David Crowther	512	26.3
		Catherine Perks	232	11.9
Majority			690	35.5
Turnout			1,946	23.5
	hold		Swing

Parr and Hardshaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Mark Arnold	897	72.1
		Noreen Knowles	238	19.1
		Madeleine Wilcock	77	6.2
		David Round	32	2.6
Majority			659	53.0
Turnout			1,244	21.1
	hold		Swing

Queens Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard McCauley	897	54.8
		Lesley Ronan	596	36.4
		Charmain Pyke	143	8.7
Majority			301	18.4
Turnout			1,636	23.4
	hold		Swing

Rainford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Tony Brown	1,544	60.4
		David Wood	797	31.2
		Stephen Topping	215	8.4
Majority			747	29.2
Turnout			2,556	36.9
	hold		Swing

Rainhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Lee Myers	1,517	59.1
		Jonathan Mackie	629	24.5
		Kenneth Knowles	419	16.3
Majority			888	34.6
Turnout			2,565	26.7
	hold		Swing

Sutton and Bold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Brian Spencer	1,202	58.8
		Derek Maylor	744	36.4
		Stephen Holt	97	4.7
Majority			458	22.4
Turnout			2,043	27.4
	hold		Swing

Thatto Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Patricia Robinson	1,061	68.8
		Carol Pearl	318	20.6
		Barbara Woodcock	164	10.6
Majority			743	48.2
Turnout			1,543	21.5
	hold		Swing

West Sutton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Robinson	784	64.5
		Darren Makin	291	24.0
		Henry Spriggs	140	11.5
Majority			493	40.6
Turnout			1,215	19.3
	hold		Swing

Windle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Nancy Ashcroft	1,186	49.3
		Geoffrey Almond	1,018	42.3
		Gary Pulfer	204	8.5
Majority			168	7.0
Turnout			2,408	34.9
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

By-elections between 2002 and 2003

Marshalls Cross by-election 19 September 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
			813	72.3
			275	24.5
			36	3.2
Majority			538	47.9
Turnout			1,124	18.9
	hold		Swing