2002 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

File: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.

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 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.

Election result

Wigan Local Election Result 2002

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		20	0	4	-4	83.3	56.7	32,772	-0.2%
		2	2	0	+2	8.3	9.2	5,307	+9.2%
		1	1	0	+1	4.2	17.2	9,936	-7.9%
		1	1	0	+1	4.2	11.6	6,681	-0.3%
		0	0	0	0	0.0	2.5	1,428	+2.5%
		0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	859	-2.9%
		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:

Party		Previous council	New council
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Labour	69	65
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Liberal Democrat	2	3
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Community Action	0	2
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Conservative	1	2
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Socialist Alliance	0	0
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	Independent	0	0
style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" |	BNP	0	0
Total		72	72
Working majority		66	58

Ward results

Abram

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Eunice Smethurst	1,631	65.2
		Dennis Shambley	571	22.8
		Alicia Eccles	292	11.7
Rejected ballots			7	0.3
Majority			1,060	42.4
Turnout			2,501	28.1
	hold		Swing	-13.2

Ashton-Golborne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Andrew Bullen	1,313	44.3
		Stanley Barnes	1,250	42.1
		Jonathan Cartwright	300	10.1
		Marian Markham	100	3.4
Rejected ballots			4	0.1
Majority			63	2.1
Turnout			2,967	26.9
	hold		Swing	-31.1

Aspull-Standish

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Hilton	1,584	44.3
		Trevor Beswick	1,091	30.5
		Barry Wolley	792	22.2
		Janet Philips	105	2.9
Rejected ballots			2	0.1
Majority			493	13.8
Turnout			3,574	30.5
	hold		Swing	-8.3

Atherton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Susan Loudon	1,353	54.8
		Patricia Myler	827	33.5
		Ann Davies	155	6.3
		David Shallcross	132	5.3
Rejected ballots			1	0.0
Majority			526	21.3
Turnout			2,468	28.6
	hold		Swing	-10.6

Bedford-Astley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frederick Walker	Unopposed	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

Beech Hill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Garry Rankin	1,416	57.8
		Malcolm Hudson	774	31.6
		William Hurst	252	10.3
Rejected ballots			9	0.4
Majority			642	26.2
Turnout			2,451	27.1
	hold		Swing	+5.2

Bryn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Hodgkinson	1,397	48.0
		Alan Melling	1,311	45.0
		Marion Green	200	6.9
Rejected ballots			3	0.1
Majority			86	2.9
Turnout			2,911	29.4
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+36.2

Hindley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stuart Shaw	1,656	73.7
		Andre Walker	567	25.2
Rejected ballots			25	1.1
Majority			1,089	48.4
Turnout			2,248	21.3
	hold		Swing	+5.3

Hindley Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stanley Simmons	1,535	71.7
		Rosina Oxley	580	27.1
Rejected ballots			27	1.3
Majority			955	44.6
Turnout			2,142	19.6
	hold		Swing	+7.5

Hindsford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Neil Hogg	1,724	55.4
		Philip Loudon	1,024	32.9
		Stephen Hall	234	7.5
		William Graham	125	4.0
Rejected ballots			4	0.1
Majority			700	22.5
Turnout			3,111	28.5
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+10.1

Hope Carr

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kevin Anderson	1,498	52.1
		Andrew Oxley	713	24.8
		Peter Solinas	549	19.1
		Keith Fry	104	3.6
Rejected ballots			11	0.4
Majority			785	27.3
Turnout			2,875	28.1
	hold		Swing	+8.0

Ince

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joan Hurst	1,231	76.3
		Michael Doherty	200	12.4
		Robert Rees	176	10.9
Rejected ballots			6	0.4
Majority			1,031	63.9
Turnout			1,613	21.2
	hold		Swing	-5.6

Langtree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John O'Neill	1,733	51.9
		Gareth Fairhurst	988	29.6
		Freda Graham	607	18.2
Rejected ballots			11	0.3
Majority			745	22.3
Turnout			3,339	28.7
	hold		Swing	+3.9

Leigh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Peter Smith	1,298	71.5
		Timothy Matthews	301	16.6
		Daniel Burrows	212	11.7
Rejected ballots			5	0.3
Majority			997	54.9
Turnout			1,816	21.5
	hold		Swing	+7.2

Leigh East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Anne Turnock	1,571	76.9
		Derek Davies	454	22.2
Rejected ballots			17	0.8
Majority			1,117	54.7
Turnout			2,042	19.0
	hold		Swing	+9.6

Lightshaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Peter Franzen	1,899	44.5
		Tom Sherratt	1,776	41.7
		James Grundy	581	13.6
Rejected ballots			8	0.2
Majority			123	2.9
Turnout			4,264	34.9
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+31.5

Newtown

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Christine Hitchen	1,204	76.9
		Barry Conway	332	21.2
Rejected ballots			29	1.9
Majority			872	55.7
Turnout			1,565	18.8
	hold		Swing	-6.6

Norley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Jeanette Prescott	1,017	83.5
		William Markham	195	16.0
Rejected ballots			6	0.5
Majority			822	67.5
Turnout			1,218	17.9
	hold		Swing	N/A

Orrell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ernest Swift	1,478	52.2
		Stuart Foy	1,336	47.2
Rejected ballots			15	0.5
Majority			142	5.0
Turnout			2,829	30.4
	hold		Swing	+4.1

Swinley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		James Davies	1,189	40.3
		Susan Turner	1,084	36.8
		Alan Robinson	365	12.4
		Stephen Halsall	241	8.2
		Frances Thomas	65	2.2
Rejected ballots			5	0.2
Majority			105	3.6
Turnout			2,949	34.4
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+3.7

Tyldesley East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Brian Wilson	1,574	64.0
		Richard Derricutt	866	35.2
Rejected ballots			19	0.8
Majority			708	28.8
Turnout			2,459	20.9
	hold		Swing	+2.4

Whelley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		James Roberts	1,391	70.8
		Jean Beswick	427	21.7
		Judith Ford	138	7.0
Rejected ballots			10	0.5
Majority			964	49.0
Turnout			1,966	24.2
	hold		Swing	-13.0

Winstanley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Evans	1,667	64.6
		Richard Clayton	895	34.7
Rejected ballots			20	0.8
Majority			772	29.9
Turnout			2,582	20.0
	hold		Swing	-0.3

Worsley Mesnes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Rotherham	1,427	74.6
		Thomas Sutton	292	15.3
		Jacqueline Pointon	189	9.9
Rejected ballots			6	0.3
Majority			1,135	59.3
Turnout			1,914	20.1
	hold		Swing	+10.0

By-elections between 2002 and 2003

Leigh Central By-Election 26 September 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Myra Whiteside	904	62.6
		Peter Solinas	392	27.1
		Tim Matthews	149	10.3
Majority			512	35.5
Turnout			1,445	17.1
	hold		Swing	-12.1