Before the election only a small swing would have seen the Labour party lose its majority on Redditch council,[3] with the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats only needing to pick up three seats between them for this to happen.[4] The Labour Party was defending seven of the eleven seats to be decided and campaigned on its success over the previous years in eliminating all council debt.[4] There was an extra seat in West ward where the Conservative leader on the council, Carol Grandy, stood down.[4]
Labour lost its majority but remained the largest party.[5] Labour had held control of the council for the previous 20 years but lost this after the other parties gained three seats in the election.[6] Among Labour losses was its leader on the council, Albert Wharrad, who lost in Winyates ward to the Liberal Democrats.[6] One of the closest results was in Lodge Park ward where Labour held on by 22 votes and Mohammed Nasir became the first Asiancouncillor on Redditch council.[7] The results meant no party had a majority on the council for the first time in over 50 years,[6] and the Conservative party claimed that the results would have been sufficient for them to have gained Redditch constituency in a general election.[8]Turnout in the election was higher than in the last few years at 29.8%.[9]
Following the election the Labour and Conservative parties on the council elected new leaders and attempted to gain Liberal Democrat support to control the council.[7] However the Liberal Democrats said that they would not form an agreement with either Labour or the Conservatives on their own.[10] In the end at the council's annual general meeting on 15 May all parties joined the executive of the council, which was formed with four Labour, three Conservative and one Liberal Democrat members.[11] The Conservatives had wanted an executive in which both they and Labour had the same number of seats and accused the Liberal Democrats of backing Labour to prevent this.[12] The new Labour leader, David Cartwright, was elected leader of the council and retained the chairman's casting vote.[11][13]
^"Local Elections: Results : Redditch". The Guardian. 3 May 2002. p. 9.
^Ward, Lucy; Maguire, Kevin (11 April 2002). "Policy and politics: Blunkett declares war on 'vile racism' of BNP: Home secretary wants head-on challenge in local elections". The Guardian. p. 10.
^ abc"Labour control on a knife-edge ; Mail focus on the May 2 local council elections". Birmingham Mail. 12 April 2002. p. 8.
^Walker, David (3 May 2002). "Local Elections: Postal voting increases turnout by 28%: Ballots: Participation higher in BNP areas candidates". The Guardian. p. 9.
^ abcSmith, Sue (3 May 2002). "Local Election Results 2002: protest's healthy majority". Birmingham Mail. p. 17.
^ abProbert, Andy (7 May 2002). "Redditch on a knife-edge ; Power talks begin". Birmingham Mail. p. 11.
^Brogan, Benedict (4 May 2002). "Late wins in London lift the Tories". The Daily Telegraph. p. 6.
