2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and stayed under no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 23
• Liberal Democrats 19
• Conservative 6

Background

Before the election, the Labour Party needed to gain 1 seat to regain a majority on the council they had lost at the last election in 2004. Labour had 24 seats before the election, while the Liberal Democrats had 18 and the Conservatives had 6. However, labour was able to run the council as the Conservative mayor had agreed not to use her casting vote.

Among the councillors who were defending seats at the election was the Labour group leader Marie Rimmer in West Park ward, while the seat in Blackbrook was vacant after the death of Labour councillor Albert Smith earlier in 2006. 16 seats were up for election, and candidates from the three political parties who held seats on the council, there were also four candidates from the Community Action Party and one each from the British National Party and the Socialist Labour Party.

Election result

Labour remained the largest party on the council but lost one seat to the Liberal Democrats, leave the party with 23 councillors. The Liberal Democrat gain from Labour came in the Town Centre ward and moved them to 19 seats on the council. However, the Labour council leader, Marie Rimmer, held her seat in West Park with a 457-vote majority. Meanwhile, the Conservatives remained on 6 seats after holding the 2 seats they had been defending.

Following the election, Liberal Democrat Brian Spencer became the new leader of the council after an agreement between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats taking 5 of the seats on the cabinet and the Conservative group leader Wally Ashcroft taking the other seat. This came after Labour rejected proposals for all three parties to share power on the council, which meant Labour lost power after 70 years.

St Helens local election result 2006

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
		7	0	1	-1	43.8	40.4	18,549	+1.7%
		7	1	0	+1	43.8	39.6	18,219	+2.3%
		2	0	0	0	12.5	17.3	7,942	-1.5%
		0	0	0	0	0	1.9	895	+1.9%
		0	0	0	0	0	0.7	308	+0.1%
		0	0	0	0	0	0.1	64	+0.1%

Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Susan Murphy	1,504	47.8
		David Davies	970	30.8
		Charles Gadsden	672	21.4
Majority			534	17.0
Turnout			3,146	34.8
	hold		Swing

Blackbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Paul McQuade	1,257	48.7
		Ruth Smith	712	27.6
		William Guest	327	12.7
		Judith Collins	221	8.6
		Ronald Waugh	64	2.5
Majority			545	21.1
Turnout			2,581	30.3
	hold		Swing

Bold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Matthew Dunn	1,087	48.7
		Paul Pritchard	1,001	44.9
		Charmian Pyke	142	6.4
Majority			86	3.8
Turnout			2,230	30.9
	hold		Swing

Earlestown

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Banks	1,153	48.6
		David Smith	953	40.2
		Catherine Perks	266	11.2
Majority			200	8.4
Turnout			2,372	29.7
	hold		Swing

Eccleston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Geoffrey Pearl	2,666	67.3
		Kathleen Barton	690	17.4
		Martin Bond	608	15.3
Majority			1,976	49.8
Turnout			3,964	42.8
	hold		Swing

Haydock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Eric Sheldon	1,811	55.1
		Jeanette Banks	1,284	39.1
		Anthony Rigby	189	5.8
Majority			527	16.0
Turnout			3,284	36.5
	hold		Swing

Moss Bank

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard Ferry	1,648	52.3
		Brian Hart	1,269	40.2
		William Highcock	237	7.5
Majority			379	12.1
Turnout			3,154	36.1
	hold		Swing

Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Neil Taylor	1,787	64.1
		Stuart Hughes	756	27.1
		Margaret Harvey	244	8.8
Majority			1,031	37.0
Turnout			2,787	34.6
	hold		Swing

Parr

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Terence Shields	1,384	66.0
		Janet Hennessy	595	28.4
		Madeleine Wilcock	117	5.6
Majority			789	37.6
Turnout			2,096	25.6
	hold		Swing

Rainford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Parr	1,740	59.9
		David Wood	798	27.5
		Sandra Ferry	369	12.7
Majority			942	32.4
Turnout			2,907	42.7
	hold		Swing

Rainhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Glover	1,463	46.1
		Henry Spriggs	961	30.3
		Christina Duncan	749	23.6
Majority			502	15.8
Turnout			3,173	34.7
	hold		Swing

Sutton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Julie Jones	1,721	61.4
		Marlene Newman	873	31.2
		Barbara Johnson	207	7.4
Majority			848	30.2
Turnout			2,801	25.6
	hold		Swing

Thatto Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard McCauley	1,308	55.9
		Carol Pearl	453	19.4
		Michael Perry	363	15.5
		Barbara Woodcock	217	9.3
Majority			855	36.5
Turnout			2,341	26.7
	hold		Swing

Town Centre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Crowther	1,052	41.0
		Margaret McLachlan	1,005	39.2
		Michael Pearcey	308	12.0
		Jill Jones	113	4.4
		Leslie Teeling	89	3.5
Majority			47	1.8
Turnout			2,567	31.3
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

West Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Marie Rimmer	1,900	51.8
		Stephen Broughton	1,443	39.3
		Charlotte Wood	210	5.7
		Tracy Lavelle	116	3.2
Majority			457	12.5
Turnout			3,669	41.6
	hold		Swing

Windle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kenneth Roughley	1,418	48.9
		Geoffrey Almond	986	34.0
		Kenneth Knowles	494	17.0
Majority			432	14.9
Turnout			2,898	36.5
	hold		Swing

By-elections between 2006 and 2007

Rainford by-election 23 November 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Grice	1,584	73.3
		David Wood	484	22.4
		Kenneth Knowles	93	4.3
Majority			1,100	50.9
Turnout			2,161	31.5
	hold		Swing