2004 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2004 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003. The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Campaign

During the lead up to the election the Labour Party suffered 2 defections. Firstly councillor Jim Ryan quit the party to sit as an independent after disagreements over policy.^[2] He was then followed in May 2004 by Jeff Potts who defected to join the Conservatives and blamed infighting within the Labour Party for his decision.^[2] Both councillors contested the election, Jim Ryan as an independent,^[3] and Jeff Potts as a Conservative in Kingshurst and Fordbridge ward.^[2]

The election saw the British National Party (BNP) contest 2 seats in Chelmsley Wood and Olton wards,^[4] while the National Front contested Silhill ward.^[5] The presence of these candidates led the leaders of each of the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour parties on the council to condemn the policies of both the BNP and National Front.^[5]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council but with their majority cut from 5 to 3 seats.^[6] The Conservative dropped by 1 seat, while the Liberal Democrats became the next largest party on the council after gaining 5 seats.^[6] Labour dropped by 5 seats, 3 of which could be put down to the boundary changes, while another seat was lost by Labour to the Conservatives in Kingshurst and Fordbridge.^[6] The final Labour loss came in Bickenhill where former Labour councillor Jim Ryan was re-elected onto the council as an independent.^[6] Overall turnout increased by 10% from 2003 to reach 39%.^[6]

Solihull Local Election Result 2004^[7]^[8]
	Seats	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	27	52.9	46.3	30,098	-12.6%
Liberal Democrats	15	29.4	32.7	21,232	+10.1%
Labour	8	15.7	15.6	10,116	-2.6%
Independent	1	2.0	3.6	2,346	+3.6%
BNP	0	0.0	1.4	935	+1.4%
National Front	0	0.0	0.4	287	+0.4%

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections :

Party		Previous council	New council
	Conservatives	28	27
	Liberal Democrat	10	15
	Labour	13	8
	Independent	0	1
Total		51	51
Working majority		5	3

Ward results

Bickenhill^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jim Ryan	2,346	48.5	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Sleigh	1,510	31.2	N/A
	Conservative	Alan Martin	1,472
	Conservative	James Williams	1,079
	Labour	Arthur Harper	554	11.4	N/A
	Labour	Ann Wood	464
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Wright	430	8.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Hamilton	413
Majority			836	17.3	N/A
Turnout			4,840	40.4	N/A
	Independent win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Blythe^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Allen	1,720	46.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Leonard Cresswell	1,664
	Conservative	Brian Burgess	1,605	43.4	N/A
	Conservative	David Skelding	1,589
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Robinson	1,555
	Conservative	Rosemary Worsley	1,553
	Labour	Shirley Young	376	10.2	N/A
Majority			115	3.1	N/A
Turnout			3,701	40.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Castle Bromwich^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Richards	2,603	64.5	N/A
	Conservative	Ian Hillas	2,133
	Conservative	Michael Robinson	2,074
	Labour	Kenneth Nye	796	19.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Daniell	639	15.8	N/A
	Labour	Patricia Harrop	636
Majority			1,807	44.7	N/A
Turnout			4,038	38.3	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Chelmsley Wood^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Hill	1,051	40.1	N/A
	Labour	Michael Corser	871
	Labour	Nicholas Stephens	778
	BNP	George Morgan	679	25.9	N/A
	Conservative	Gail Sleigh	510	19.5	N/A
	Conservative	Martin McCarthy	487
	Conservative	Graham Juniper	484
	Liberal Democrats	John Scriven	380	14.5	N/A
Majority			372	14.2	N/A
Turnout			2,620	25.5	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Dorridge and Hockley Heath^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Meeson	2,889	59.2	N/A
	Conservative	Andrzej Mackiewicz	2,710
	Conservative	Ian Courts	2,533
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Berry	1,398	28.6	N/A
	Labour	Janet Fletcher	595	12.2	N/A
Majority			1,491	30.5	N/A
Turnout			4,882	47.6	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elmdon^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Bramham	1,832	44.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Harber	1,651	40.3	N/A
	Conservative	Kenneth Hawkins	1,642
	Conservative	James Wild	1,612
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Dyer	1,553
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Reeves	1,519
	Labour	Frederick Churchill	609	14.9	N/A
Majority			181	4.4	N/A
Turnout			4,092	41.5	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Kingshurst and Fordbridge^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kimberley	872	40.2	N/A
	Labour	Frederick Nash	840
	Conservative	Robert Hall	831	38.3	N/A
	Labour	Kenneth Harrop	811
	Conservative	Jeffrey Potts	775
	Conservative	Elspeth Martin	757
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Hayes	468	21.5	N/A
Majority			41	1.9	N/A
Turnout			2,169	24.2	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Knowle^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Blake	2,617	61.6	N/A
	Conservative	Leslie Kyles	2,384
	Conservative	Diana Holl-Allen	2,370
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Verduyn	1,050	24.7	N/A
	Labour	Alan Jacques	581	13.7	N/A
Majority			1,567	36.9	N/A
Turnout			4,248	44.8	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Lyndon^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Chamberlain	2,319	58.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Olive Hogg	2,100
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Reeves	1,983
	Conservative	Theresa Tedd	1,143	28.8	N/A
	Conservative	David Williams	1,106
	Conservative	Shailesh Parekh	980
	Labour	Catherine Connan	506	12.7	N/A
Majority			1,176	29.6	N/A
Turnout			3,968	38.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Meriden^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Lea	2,489	62.9	N/A
	Conservative	David Bell	2,182
	Conservative	Kenneth Allsopp	2,087
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Johnson	888	22.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Whitlock	759
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh McCredie	742
	Labour	Jonathan Maltman	581	14.7	N/A
Majority			1,601	40.4	N/A
Turnout			3,958	40.9	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Olton^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Honor Cox	2,209	51.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Davies	2,161
	Liberal Democrats	John Windmill	2,009
	Conservative	Charles Drayson	1,489	34.5	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Groom	1,375
	Conservative	Dipak Shah	1,033
	Labour	Gerald Dufficy	362	8.4	N/A
	BNP	Mark James	256	5.9	N/A
Majority			720	16.7	N/A
Turnout			4,316	45.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Shirley East^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	June Gandy	2,181	53.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Reeve	2,058
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hedley	1,841
	Conservative	Neill Watts	1,540	37.7	N/A
	Conservative	Patricia Handslip	1,431
	Conservative	Joseph Tidesley	1,391
	Labour	Kevin Raven	360	8.8	N/A
Majority			641	15.7	N/A
Turnout			4,081	46.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Shirley South^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Allport	2,158	52.0	N/A
	Conservative	David Elsmore	1,999
	Conservative	John Hawkswood	1,922
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Knight	1,312	31.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Gemmell	1,253
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Lynes	1,030
	Labour	James Burman	676	16.3	N/A
Majority			846	20.4	N/A
Turnout			4,146	40.4	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Shirley West^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Allen	1,802	52.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Reeve	1,753
	Liberal Democrats	Elsie Cotton	1,741
	Conservative	James Pike	1,315	38.4	N/A
	Conservative	Lee Watts	1,152
	Conservative	Jeffrey Stocks	1,119
	Labour	Rajeshwar Singh	308	9.0	N/A
Majority			487	14.2	N/A
Turnout			3,425	38.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Silhill^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Gomm	2,005	51.4	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Hogarth	1,944
	Conservative	Sheila Pittaway	1,846
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Davies	1,158	29.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Knight	1,042
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Hogg	976
	Labour	Una Kimberley	453	11.6	N/A
	National Front	Norman Tomkinson	287	7.3	N/A
Majority			847	21.7	N/A
Turnout			3,903	43.2	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Smith's Wood^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Hendry	1,014	47.1	N/A
	Labour	Graham Craig	1,004
	Labour	Donald Cornock	994
	Conservative	Daniel Kettle	713	33.1	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Jolley	544
	Conservative	Clive Nelson	537
	Liberal Democrats	Bernard Wright	427	19.8	N/A
Majority			301	14.0	N/A
Turnout			2,154	23.5	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

St Alphege^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kathleen Wild	2,849	63.7	N/A
	Conservative	Jean Clark	2,799
	Conservative	Stuart Davis	2,664
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Chapple	1,202	26.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Small	1,023
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Hodgson	980
	Labour	Michelle Cluney	422	9.4	N/A
Majority			1,647	36.8	N/A
Turnout			4,473	44.6	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

By-elections between 2004 and 2006

St Alphege by-election 3 March 2005^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Theresa Tedd	1,760	49.4	−14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Reeves	1,673	46.9	+20.0
	Labour	Janet Fletcher	133	3.7	−5.7
Majority			87	2.5	−34.3
Turnout			3,566	36.0	−8.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-17.1

Knowle by-election 15 September 2005^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jefrey Potts	1,247	46.6	−15.0
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Berry	1,232	46.0	+21.3
	Green	Christopher Williams	134	5.0	+5.0
	Labour	Ian McDonald	63	2.3	−11.4
Majority			15	0.6	−36.3
Turnout			2,676	32.8	−12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-18.1

References

^ "Solihull council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dale, Paul (12 May 2004). "Solihull councillor blames party in-fighting as he quits Labour to rejoin Tories". Birmingham Post. p. 5.
^ Bell, David (8 June 2004). "Local council election nominations: Labour fears end of an era". Birmingham Mail. p. 30.
^ Johnson, Steve (14 May 2004). "Row on BNP vote push; Party branded 'Nazis in sharp suits'". Birmingham Mail. p. 2.
^ ^a ^b Jeys, Anna (15 May 2004). "Poll surprise for wealthy; NF candidate stands". Birmingham Mail. p. 12.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Election 2004: Tories stay in control to face new opposition". Birmingham Mail. 12 June 2004. p. 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Borough Council election" (PDF). Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
^ "Ballot box". The Times. 12 June 2004. p. 26.
^ "Tories hold St Alphege by whisker". Birmingham Post. 5 March 2005. p. 4.
^ "Tories slam Lib Dems after poll". Birmingham Post. 17 September 2005. p. 2.

[hold-1] "Solihull council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 14 December 2010.

[blames-2] Dale, Paul (12 May 2004). "Solihull councillor blames party in-fighting as he quits Labour to rejoin Tories". Birmingham Post. p. 5.

[era-3] Bell, David (8 June 2004). "Local council election nominations: Labour fears end of an era". Birmingham Mail. p. 30.

[sharp-4] Johnson, Steve (14 May 2004). "Row on BNP vote push; Party branded 'Nazis in sharp suits'". Birmingham Mail. p. 2.

[wealthy-5] Jeys, Anna (15 May 2004). "Poll surprise for wealthy; NF candidate stands". Birmingham Mail. p. 12.

[tories-6] "Election 2004: Tories stay in control to face new opposition". Birmingham Mail. 12 June 2004. p. 7.

[results-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Borough Council election" (PDF). Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.

[ballot-8] "Ballot box". The Times. 12 June 2004. p. 26.

[whisker-9] "Tories hold St Alphege by whisker". Birmingham Post. 5 March 2005. p. 4.

[slam-10] "Tories slam Lib Dems after poll". Birmingham Post. 17 September 2005. p. 2.

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