2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

File:St Helens UK local election 2002 map.png

Map of the results of the 2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election. Labour Party in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The 2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 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 6

Background

Four councillors stood down at the election, Michael Blaney, Patricia Martinez-Williams, John Mealor and Bill Noctor, from Marshalls Cross, Windle, Haydock and West Sutton wards respectively. In Marshalls Cross two seats were contested in 2003, after the death of councillor Valerie Beirne on 7 January 2003 in Whiston Hospital.

Both the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties contested all 19 seats that were up for election, while the Conservatives had 18 candidates and there was 1 Socialist Alliance and 1 independent candidate. The Conservatives targeted gaining a seat in Windle, where the party had taken a seat from Labour for the last two election, while the Liberal Democrats aimed to make progress in Grange Park and Haydock wards.

For the 2003 election, St Helens had a trial of all postal voting across the whole council in an attempt to double the 26% turnout at the last election in 2002. By 29 April 2003 turnout had reached an average of 42% across the council, with the final turnout being 48% and with a high of 57% in Eccleston.

Election result

Labour retained control of the council with 33 councillors after gaining one seat from Socialist Labour, but losing one to the Conservatives. The Labour gain came in Grange Park ward, while the Conservatives took an extra seat in Windle. This meant the Liberal Democrats remained on 15 seats, while the Conservative gain took them to 6 councillors.

St Helens local election result 2003

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		11	1	1	0	57.9	48.5	32,246	+0.9%
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		6	0	0	0	31.6	33.4	22,209	-1.0%
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		2	1	0	+1	10.5	17.0	11,330	-0.6%
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		0	0	0	0	0	0.9	581	+0.8%
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		0	0	0	0	0	0.3	168	+0.3%
style="color:inherit; background-color: Template:If empty; width: 3px;" |		0	0	1	-1	0	0	N/A	-0.3%

Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Alma Atherton	2,686	59.9
		Vera Stanton	1,072	23.9
		Christine Langley	728	16.2
Majority			1,614	36.0
Turnout			4,486
	hold		Swing

Blackbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Albert Smith	2,046	62.7
		Matthew Dunn	791	24.2
		Joan Foster	426	13.1
Majority			1,255	38.5
Turnout			3,263
	hold		Swing

Broad Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Terence Shields	1,885	64.2
		Gail Mills	890	30.3
		Mark Collins	163	5.5
Majority			995	33.9
Turnout			2,938
	hold		Swing

Eccleston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Shirley Evans	3,197	66.2
		Jean West	844	17.5
		William Highcock	788	16.3
Majority			2,353	48.7
Turnout			4,829	57
	hold		Swing

Grange Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Glover	1,639	49.8
		David Evans	1,192	36.2
		Michael Marriott	461	14.0
Majority			447	13.6
Turnout			3,292
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Haydock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Janet Richardson	2,325	52.9
		Eric Sheldon	1,632	37.2
		Anthony Rigby	435	9.9
Majority			693	15.8
Turnout			4,392
	hold		Swing

Marshalls Cross (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Topping	1,477
		Alec Mills	1,421
		Michael Glover	807
		Derek Maylor	689
		Barbara Johnson	198
Turnout			4,592
	hold		Swing
	hold		Swing

Moss Bank

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard Ferry	2,026	47.0
		Barbara Jakubiak	1,859	43.1
		John Cunliffe	425	9.9
Majority			167	3.9
Turnout			4,310
	hold		Swing

Newton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Peter Astbury	1,827	48.3
		Mark Rahaman	1,588	42.0
		Margaret Harvey	370	9.8
Majority			239	6.3
Turnout			3,785
	hold		Swing

Newton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Leon Maguire	2,293	60.5
		Virginia Taylor	950	25.1
		Catherine Perks	547	14.4
Majority			1,343	35.4
Turnout			3,790
	hold		Swing

Parr and Hardshaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Jeffery Molyneux	1,731	69.2
		Kenneth Knowles	419	16.7
		Madeline Wilcock	185	7.4
		Leslie Teeling	168	6.7
Majority			1,312	52.4
Turnout			2,503
	hold		Swing

Queens Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Margaret McLachlan	1,962	61.2
		Lesley Ronan	857	26.7
		Charmian Pyke	386	12.0
Majority			1,105	34.5
Turnout			3,205
	hold		Swing

Rainford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Parr	2,045	57.1
		David Wood	1,233	34.4
		Gary Pulfer	302	8.4
Majority			812	22.7
Turnout			3,580
	hold		Swing

Rainhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joseph DeAsha	2,479	57.2
		Jonathan Mackie	803	18.5
		Neil Thompson	581	13.4
		Noreen Knowles	469	10.8
Majority			1,676	38.7
Turnout			4,332
	hold		Swing

Sutton and Bold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephanie Topping	2,086	56.4
		Philip Wiseman	1,380	37.3
		Jill Jones	231	6.2
Majority			706	19.1
Turnout			3,697
	hold		Swing

Thatto Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Sheila Seddon	2,090	63.8
		Carol Pearl	812	24.8
		Barbara Woodcock	375	11.4
Majority			1,278	39.0
Turnout			3,277
	hold		Swing

West Sutton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Wiseman	1,580	62.4
		Marise Roberts	663	26.2
		Ian Hunt	290	11.4
Majority			917	36.2
Turnout			2,533	41
	hold		Swing

Windle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kenneth Roughley	2,130	57.1
		Susan Murphy	1,130	30.3
		Katrina Young	470	12.6
Majority			1,000	26.8
Turnout			3,730	55
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing