2004 Hull City Council election

File:Kingston upon Hull UK 2004 Local Election map.svg

Map of the results of the 2004 Hull council election. Labour in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Conservatives in blue, UKIP in purple, Uncontested in cream.

The 2004 Hull City Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Hull City Council in England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 27
• Liberal Democrat 24
• Independent 5
• Conservative 2
• United Kingdom Independence Party 1

Campaign

Before the election the Labour Party formed the administration after becoming the largest party in the 2003 election. Their administration however was criticised by the Audit Commission, which raised the hopes of the Liberal Democrats that they could regain control of the council.

Labour campaigned saying that voters should choose "order and progress" under themselves rather than the chaos they said the Liberal Democrats had brought while they were in office. They hoped to expand their pilot programme of free school meals for all children to all schools within the city. The Liberal Democrats however wanted to abolish the programme and pledged to establish crime prevention funds for neighbourhoods, free off-peak bus travel for pensioners and expand recycling. The Liberal Democrats also pledged to keep council tax increases to the same level as rises in earnings for the 2 years after the election.

20 of the 59 seats on the council were contested in the election, which was conducted with all postal voting in common with councils across 4 of the English regions.

Election result

The results saw the Labour Party remain the largest party on the council with 27 seats but with the Liberal Democrats gaining 2 seats to hold 24 after the election. As a result, the council remained hung with no party having a majority on the council. The most high-profile result saw the United Kingdom Independence Party win their first local council seat after John Cornforth defeated the independent councillor, John Considine, in Derringham ward by 7 votes after 6 recounts. However the independents immediately said that they would mount a legal challenge to the result.

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Legal challenge

The independent candidate in Derringham said he would make a legal challenge to the result as the Returning Officer had said 3,540 ballot papers had been returned but that when the results were declared 140 ballot papers were missing. The independents claimed that these missing papers had ended up in counting rooms for other wards. They also said that people in Derringham had received ballots in the post that were intended for Marfleet ward and that no one knew how many people this had affected and were thus unable to vote.

The court challenge was successful with the High Court ruling that the result "may well have been affected". As a result, a new vote was ordered to be held, with the election set for 13 January 2005. The by-election was won by Michael Rouse-Deane of the Liberal Democrats who had come fourth in the original election in Derringham.

Ward results

Avenue

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Robinson	Template:Replace	46.6
		Andrew Dorton	811	23.4
		James Russell	492	14.2
		Basil Bulmer	365	10.5
		Ginette Andrew	181	5.2
Majority			805	23.2
Turnout			3,465
	hold		Swing

Beverley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Geraldine Gough	Template:Replace	59.5
		Daniel Brown	677	23.5
		Andrew Forster	490	17.0
Majority			1,037	36.0
Turnout			2,881
	hold		Swing

Boothferry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Keith Toon	Template:Replace	41.4
		Freda Longbottom	1,020	26.8
		Tineke Robinson	660	17.4
		John Sharp	547	14.4
Majority			555	14.6
Turnout			3,802
	hold		Swing

Bricknell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Andrew Percy	Template:Replace	60.7
		Brian Wadworth	626	21.3
		Andrew Sloan	530	18.0
Majority			1,163	39.4
Turnout			2,945
	hold		Swing

Derringham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Cornforth	Template:Replace	28.5
		John Considine	938	28.2
		Garry White	856	25.8
		Michael Rouse-Deane	300	9.0
		Zena Rowley	282	8.5
Majority			7	0.3
Turnout			3,321
	gain from		Swing

Drypool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Adam Williams	Template:Replace	40.0
		Alan Gardiner	1,118	31.6
		Michael Kemp	797	22.6
		John Abbott	204	5.8
Majority			296	8.4
Turnout			3,533
	gain from		Swing

Holderness

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Nicholson	Template:Replace	55.1
		Rilba Jones	1,352	32.4
		Albert Greendale	518	12.4
Majority			947	22.7
Turnout			4,169
	hold		Swing

Ings

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Allen Healand	Template:Replace	51.1
		Tracy Holmes	1,531	35.5
		James Parker	330	7.7
		John Reeve	250	5.8
Majority			671	15.6
Turnout			4,313
	gain from		Swing

Kings Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Elaine Garland	Template:Replace	55.6
		Kathryn Nicholson	451	20.6
		Paul Buckley	374	17.1
		Sheila Airey	147	6.7
Majority			767	35.0
Turnout			2,190
	hold		Swing

Longhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Hewitt	Template:Replace	50.5
		Barbara Stark	729	22.5
		James Morrell	540	16.7
		Patrick Belding	334	10.3
Majority			905	28.0
Turnout			3,237
	hold		Swing

Marfleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Sheila Waudby	Template:Replace	59.7
		Ann Godden	649	25.6
		Alan Siddle	373	14.7
Majority			862	34.1
Turnout			2,533
	hold		Swing

Myton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Daren Hale	Template:Replace	51.6
		Anthony Sloan	478	17.4
		Joanne Robinson	450	16.4
		Alan Winzor	270	9.8
		Miriam Benson	129	4.7
Majority			937	34.2
Turnout			2,742
	hold		Swing

Newington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Katrina Peat	Template:Replace	36.5
		Glenn Dickinson	649	27.5
		Michael Johnson	400	17.0
		David Thompson	239	10.1
		Frederick Beedle	209	8.9
Majority			210	9.0
Turnout			2,356
	hold		Swing

Newland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Michael Ross	Template:Replace	65.3
		Philip Morrell	355	20.1
		Robert Brown	148	8.4
		Carl Wagner	109	6.2
Majority			799	45.2
Turnout			1,766
	hold		Swing

Orchard Park and Greenwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Steven Bayes	Template:Replace	53.5
		Tony Fee	754	30.2
		Angela Simpson	407	16.3
Majority			580	23.3
Turnout			2,495
	hold		Swing

Pickering

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Pete Allen	Template:Replace	33.8
		David Harris	1,024	30.8
		Barry Dibnah	436	13.1
		Edward Scott	423	12.7
		Reginald Britton	319	9.6
Majority			98	3.0
Turnout			3,324
	gain from		Swing

Southcoates East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas McVie	Template:Replace	60.2
		Harold Neilson	318	19.9
		Danielle Martine	318	19.9
Majority			643	40.3
Turnout			1,597
	hold		Swing

Southcoates West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Mary Glew	Template:Replace	45.3
		Martin Uzzell	868	43.1
		Colin Baxter	234	11.6
Majority			46	2.2
Turnout			2,016
	hold		Swing

St Andrews

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Albert Penna	Template:Replace	51.7
		John Nicholson	399	24.6
		Peter Mawer	284	17.5
		Robert Cook	100	6.2
Majority			440	27.1
Turnout			1,622
	hold		Swing

Sutton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kalvin Neal	Template:Replace	57.5
		Anouska Clark	1,028	26.5
		Clare Hammant	413	10.7
		Ian Brown	205	5.3
Majority			1,201	31.0
Turnout			3,875
	hold		Swing

No elections were held in Bransholme East, Bransholme West and University wards.