2003 Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council election

The 2003 Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Redcar and Cleveland Unitary Council in England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999.^[1] The Labour party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.^[2]

Background

Between 1999 and 2003 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England had made changes to the wards of the council.^[3] The changes included renaming Belmont ward to Westworth, and Redcar ward to Zetland, with 18 of the 22 wards having boundary changes.^[3]

Before the election Labour ran the council with 31 seats, compared to 14 Conservatives, 11 Liberal Democrats and 3 East Cleveland Independents.^[3] In total 151 candidates stood for the 59 seats that were being contested,^[3] an increase of 9 from the 1999 election.^[4]

The election had a trial of all postal voting to try and increase turnout,^[5] with ballots being delivered to voters 2 weeks before the election.^[3]

Election result

The count for Brotton ward was suspended on election night after 2 recounts and completed the following day.^[6] Overall turnout at the election was 51.5%, an increase from 37% in 1999.^[6]

Labour lost their majority on the council, finishing with 23 seats, 7 short of a majority.^[7] Among the Labour councillors to lose seats was the leader of the council Dave Walsh in Eston ward,^[7]^[8] after he had moved to contest Eston, instead of Loftus which he had previously been a councillor for.^[9]

Following the election Labour chose George Dunning, formerly the deputy leader, as the new leader of the party on the council, defeating Dave McLuckie by 12 votes to 11.^[9] Meanwhile, the 8 independents joined together, with Steve Kay as their leader, in an East Cleveland, Eston and Marske Independents group.^[8] After negotiations the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Independent groups formed a coalition to take control of the council from Labour.^[10]

Redcar and Cleveland local election result 2003^[2]^[11]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	23	0	8	-8	39.0	36.1	47,411	+4,313
Liberal Democrats	15	4	0	+4	25.4	26.4	35,596	+13,612
Conservative	13	5	6	-1	22.0	25.6	34,007	+10,145
Independent	4			+4	6.8	7.9	10,325	+6,353
East Cleveland Independent	4			+1	6.8	4.0	5,202	+5,202

One East Cleveland Independent was unopposed at the election.^[11]

Ward results

Brotton (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Brian Hogg	1,189
	Liberal Democrats	Valerie Miller	1,036
	Liberal Democrats	Kay Walker	1,002
	Labour	Barry Hunt	985
	Liberal Democrats	Norma Morris	834
	Labour	Eileen Goodenough	796
	Conservative	Roberta Jackson	497
Turnout			6,339

Coatham (2)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Crawford	788
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Curr	670
	Labour	Raymond Goddard	585
	Independent	Allan Parsons	492
	Conservative	Edward Dolan	378
	Labour	Paul McGrath	376
Turnout			3,289

Dormanstown (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Vilma Collins	1,276
	Labour	Cliff Houlding	1,185
	Labour	Peter Todd	1,058
	Liberal Democrats	Elsie Houston	806
	Independent	Peter Abramson	793
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Langner	775
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Slater	773
	Conservative	Frederick Walker	414
Turnout			7,080

Eston (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Ann Higgins	1,579
	Independent	Vincent Smith	1,487
	Independent	Christopher Beadle	1,464
	Labour	John Simms	1,154
	Labour	David Walsh	856
	Labour	Patrick Harford	841
	Conservative	Stewart Dadd	309
Turnout			7,690

Grangetown (2)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Lynn Pallister	927
	Labour	Peter Dunlop	857
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Tuffs	366
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Jones	283
	Conservative	Philip Jeffels	62
Turnout			2,495

Guisborough (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Bill Clarke	1,405
	Conservative	Anne Franklin	1,399
	Labour	Keith Pudney	1,277
	Labour	David Punshon	1,266
	Conservative	John Hale	1,217
	Labour	Denise Bunn	1,187
	Liberal Democrats	Eileen Slater	337
Turnout			8,088

Hutton (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Graham Jeffery	1,835
	Conservative	Valerie Halton	1,816
	Conservative	Peter Spencer	1,708
	Liberal Democrats	Shelagh Kidd	847
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Mackuin	791
	Liberal Democrats	Arthur Kidd	767
	Labour	Denise Robson	613
	Labour	Simon Matthews	605
Turnout			8,982

Kirkleatham (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Norman Davies	1,241
	Labour	Brenda Forster	1,228
	Labour	Mark Hannon	1,142
	Liberal Democrats	Kelly Abbott	657
	Liberal Democrats	John Reveley	624
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Johnson	623
	Conservative	Joan Bolton	520
	Conservative	Michael Moody	511
	Conservative	Jacqueline Rouse	417
Turnout			6,963

Lockwood^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	East Cleveland Independent	Stephen Kay	unopposed

Loftus (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	East Cleveland Independent	David Fitzpatrick	1,918
	Labour	Eric Jackson	1,149
	East Cleveland Independent	Mary Lanigan	1,045
	East Cleveland Independent	Stephanie Aplin-Wakefield	969
	Independent	Linda Bell	735
	Labour	Christine Swales	486
	Labour	Roger Clipsham	447
	Conservative	Susan King	282
Turnout			7,031

Longbeck (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Norah Cooney	1,338
	Conservative	Vvera Moody	1,254
	Independent	Mike Findley	1,189
	Labour	Mike Stephen	574
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Fisher	295
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Plummer	281
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Crawford	219
	Conservative	Andrew Dixon	152
Turnout			5,302

Newcomen (2)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Abbott	1,423
	Liberal Democrats	Glynis Abbott	1,301
	Labour	Frederick Forster	438
	Conservative	Allan Gwenlan	197
	Conservative	George Bolton	123
Turnout			3,482

Normanby (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Wendy Wall	1,534
	Labour	Carole Ealand	1,483
	Labour	David Tomlin	1,315
	Conservative	Paul Lennox	935
	Conservative	Sarah Dadd	731
	Conservative	Jennifer Bell	702
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Broadhurst	321
	Liberal Democrats	Florence Sefton	310
	Liberal Democrats	Marjorie Paskin	303
Turnout			7,634

Ormesby (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Glyn Nightingale	1,959
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Empson	1,847
	Liberal Democrats	Irene Nightingale	1,784
	Labour	Richard White	577
	Conservative	Mary Dadd	459
Turnout			6,626

Saltburn (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Joan Sands	1,313
	Conservative	John Robinson	1,283
	Conservative	Barbara Harpham	1,129
	Labour	Joan Guy	1,024
	Labour	Cyril Hammond	863
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Grierson	703
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Clarke	299
	Liberal Democrats	Lilla Reveley	275
Turnout			6,889

Skelton (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Brian Briggs	1,700
	Labour	David McLuckie	1,492
	Labour	Helen McLuckie	1,378
	Conservative	Geoffrey Shaw	1,194
	Conservative	James Carrolle	1,027
	Conservative	Michael King	1,021
Turnout			7,812

South Bank (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ian Jeffrey	1,476
	Labour	Pearl Hall	1,407
	Labour	Sylvia Szintai	1,354
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Draper	473
	Liberal Democrats	Michele Elcoate	455
	Conservative	Stuart Bell	374
Turnout			5,539

St Germains (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Marjorie Moses	1,763
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Goodwill	1,702
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Wilson	1,477
	Independent	Peter Atkinson	1,025
	Independent	Kenneth Seymour	536
	Conservative	John Moody	487
	Labour	Peter Briggs	452
	Conservative	Vera Rider	428
	Labour	James Hill	355
Turnout			8,225

Teesville (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Sheelagh Clarke	1,595
	Labour	George Dunning	1,405
	Labour	Norman Pickthall	1,239
	Conservative	David Tabner	881
	Conservative	Andrew Harris	878
	Conservative	Andrew Leach	803
	Independent	Paul Jackson	476
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Cockburn	231
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Plummer	221
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth Cockburn	210
Turnout			7,939

West Dyke (3)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Joyce Benbow	1,971
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Blott	1,525
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Ovens	1,507
	Conservative	Adele Coleman	986
	Labour	Michael Blott	628
	Conservative	Gillian Dadd	544
	Conservative	Kenneth Emmerson	537
Turnout			7,698

Westworth (2)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Alma Thrower	756
	East Cleveland Independent	Bruce Mackenzie	660
	East Cleveland Independent	Tressa Cooper	610
	Labour	John Birtill	562
	Independent	David Williams	549
	Labour	Michael McGee	390
Turnout			3,527

Zetland (2)^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Stanway	845
	Conservative	Jean White	840
	Labour	Paul Dixon	791
	Labour	Albert Mills	653
	Liberal Democrats	Arthur Clarke	409
	Liberal Democrats	John Curr	353
Turnout			3,891

References

^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Candidates line up". The Northern Echo. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ "151 standing for council". The Northern Echo. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ "Voters go missing in election run-up". The Northern Echo. 25 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Brotton ward election recount today". Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. 2 May 2003. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "High drama as leader is beaten and breakaway group celebrates". The Northern Echo. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Party leaders set to unite". The Northern Echo. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Deputy voted into ousted leader's shoes". The Northern Echo. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ "Labour loses its grip on council". The Northern Echo. 12 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x "May 2003 Election Results". Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[lose-1] "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[council-2] "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[line-3] "Candidates line up". The Northern Echo. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[standing-4] "151 standing for council". The Northern Echo. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[missing-5] "Voters go missing in election run-up". The Northern Echo. 25 April 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[recount-6] "Brotton ward election recount today". Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. 2 May 2003. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[drama-7] "High drama as leader is beaten and breakaway group celebrates". The Northern Echo. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[unite-8] "Party leaders set to unite". The Northern Echo. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[deputy-9] "Deputy voted into ousted leader's shoes". The Northern Echo. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[grip-10] "Labour loses its grip on council". The Northern Echo. 12 May 2003. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

[results-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x "May 2003 Election Results". Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.

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