2002 West Lancashire District Council election

The 2002 West Lancashire District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of West Lancashire District Council in Lancashire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000 reducing the number of seats by 1.^[1] The Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from Labour.^[2]

After the election the composition of the council was:

	Seats	±
Conservative	30	+8
Labour	24	-7
Independent	0	-2

Campaign

Before the election Labour had 25 seats on the council, compared to 23 for the Conservatives.^[3] All the seats were being contested for the first time since 1974 after boundary changes had taken place.^[4] Among the candidates there was a record number of independents at 12, with 6 of them having defected from Labour.^[4]

Issues in the election including transport, housing and leisure facilities.^[5] The Labour Party said they were the only party that had the experience to run the council and pledged to remove charges for pensioners for pest control.^[5] However the Conservatives pledged to improve services, increase recycling, keep parking charges low, form partnerships with private firms to improve facilities, while making efficiency savings.^[5]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives gain control of the council after winning 30 seats compared to 24 for Labour.^[4] The Conservatives won the seats in Ormskirk, while Labour held the seats in Skelmersdale.^[4] However the former Labour chairman of the council, Andrew Johnson, was defeated in the election in Aughton and Downholland ward after his former seat of Downholland was merged with the more Conservative Aughton in the boundary changes.^[4] All of the independent candidates were defeated in the election, which saw an overall turnout of 32.5%.^[4]

West Lancashire Local Election Result 2002^[2]^[6]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes
Conservative	30	+8	55.6	47.5	26,397
Labour	24	-8	44.4	40.0	22,256
Independent	0	-2	0	11.5	6,378
Green	0	0	0	0.8	454
Socialist Alliance	0	0	0	0.2	93

Ward results

Ashurst

Ashurst (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ian Duffy	728
	Labour	Donna Duffy	726
	Labour	Ann Rice	656
	Independent	Marie McElhinney	382
	Independent	Patrick McElhinney	349
	Conservative	James Coomber	219
	Socialist Alliance	Lyndsey Shipstone	93
Turnout			3,153

Aughton and Downholland

Aughton and Downholland (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	David O'Toole	1,085
	Conservative	Una Atherley	1,069
	Conservative	David Westley	985
	Labour	Andrew Johnson	780
Turnout			3,919

Aughton Park

Aughton Park (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Ian Grant	879
	Conservative	Geoffrey Roberts	790
	Labour	Gordon Rankin	322
Turnout			1,991

Bickerstaffe

Bickerstaffe (1)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Patricia Taylor	440	62.2
	Labour	Paul Cotterill	267	37.8
Majority			173	24.4
Turnout			707

Birch Green

Birch Green (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Mary Pendleton	410
	Labour	Jane Roberts	320
	Independent	John Hiley	165
	Conservative	Florence Kean	56
Turnout			951

Burscough East

Burscough East (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Walter Carter	582
	Conservative	Florence Westley	582
	Labour	Anne Carter	580
	Conservative	Susan Murrin-Bailey	546
Turnout			2,290

Burscough West

Burscough West (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Draper	732
	Labour	Cynthia Dereli	713
	Conservative	Richard Shepherd	633
	Conservative	Graham Rhys Jones	607
Turnout			2,685

Derby

Derby (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Paul Greenall	811
	Conservative	Adrian Owens	750
	Conservative	David Swiffen	734
	Labour	Noel Delaney	610
	Labour	Elizabeth Rafferty	571
	Green	Anne Doyle	321
Turnout			3,797

Digmoor

Digmoor (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Terence Aldridge	609
	Labour	Anne Maguire	461
	Independent	Ian Givens	139
	Conservative	Malcolm Barron	85
Turnout			1,294

Halsall

Halsall (1)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Doreen Stephenson	431	73.8
	Labour	Dorothy Rimmer	153	26.2
Majority			278	47.6
Turnout			584

Hesketh-with-Becconsall

Hesketh-with-Becconsall (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Christopher Ashcroft	607
	Conservative	Martin Forshaw	592
	Independent	Gail Hodson	295
	Independent	Lesley Standish-Gore	285
	Labour	Susan Jones	113
Turnout			1,892

Knowsley

Knowsley (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Valerie Hopley	1,059
	Conservative	Peter Lea	1,010
	Conservative	Robert Bailey	913
	Labour	Margaret Pinnington	635
	Labour	Richard Nolan	541
Turnout			4,158

Moorside

Moorside (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Patricia Carson	423
	Labour	Susan Riley	415
	Independent	Ronald Ford	144
	Independent	Karl Taraldsen	128
Turnout			1,110

Newburgh

Newburgh (1)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Kenneth Vincent	533	72.2
	Labour	Jacqueline Citarella	205	27.8
Majority			328	44.4
Turnout			738

North Meols

North Meols (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Baldock	549
	Conservative	Jill Baldock	548
	Independent	Joan Draper	383
	Labour	Shan France	304
Turnout			1,784

Parbold

Parbold (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Waterworth	935
	Conservative	May Blake	920
	Labour	David McKay	305
Turnout			2,160

Rufford

Rufford (1)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Joan Colling	374	75.3
	Labour	Christopher Cheetham	123	24.7
Majority			251	50.6
Turnout			497

Scarisbrick

Scarisbrick (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Cropper	755
	Conservative	Margaret Edwards	695
	Labour	Paul Gray	281
Turnout			1,731

Scott

Scott (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Charles Gains	722
	Labour	Francis Williams	710
	Conservative	Cyril Ainscough	656
	Labour	John Hodson	636
	Conservative	Leslie Yeates	587
	Independent	John Fillis	463
	Independent	David Braid	187
Turnout			3,961

Skelmersdale North

Skelmersdale North (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Alan Bullen	514
	Labour	Jane McDermott	498
	Independent	Joan Morrison	368
	Independent	Alan Spears	301
Turnout			1,681

Skelmersdale South

Skelmersdale South (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Richard Cavanagh	754
	Labour	Sydney Jones	728
	Labour	Doreen Saxon	703
	Independent	Joan Britton	520
	Independent	Sharon Wright	329
	Conservative	Susan Cropper	140
	Green	Martin Lowe	133
Turnout			3,307

Tanhouse

Tanhouse (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Robert Pendleton	374
	Labour	William Roberts	321
	Independent	David Gibson	163
	Conservative	Irene O'Donnell	129
Turnout			987

Tarleton

Tarleton (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Hodge	986
	Conservative	John Mee	939
	Conservative	Rosemary Evans	833
	Independent	John Hodson	625
	Independent	Roy Hiscock	583
	Independent	Nadine Ashcroft	569
	Labour	Denise Francis	131
Turnout			4,666

Up Holland

Up Holland (3)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Barbara Burke	940
	Labour	Margaret Skilling	837
	Labour	Anthony Rice	796
	Conservative	Ruth Pollock	615
Turnout			3,188

Wrightington

Wrightington (2)^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Peter Gartside	661
	Conservative	Carolyn Evans	659
	Labour	Derek Thompson	542
	Labour	David Phythian	485
Turnout			2,347

References

^ "West Lancashire". BBC News Online. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Election results; Local Election". The Times. 4 May 2002. p. 16.
^ Woodhead, Jane (10 April 2002). "Election candidates prepare to do battle". Liverpool Echo. p. 17.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Local Elections: Tories at the reins ; W Lancs . . . Tory gain". Liverpool Echo. 3 May 2002. p. 9.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wildman, Jennifer (24 April 2002). "So incensed I'm going to vote! ; In the third part of our local election series, Jennifer Wildman examines the main issues affecting Sefton and West Lancashire". Liverpool Echo. p. 18.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "West Lancashire". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 14 April 2010.

[gain-1] "West Lancashire". BBC News Online. Retrieved 18 December 2009.

[local-2] "Election results; Local Election". The Times. 4 May 2002. p. 16.

[candidates-3] Woodhead, Jane (10 April 2002). "Election candidates prepare to do battle". Liverpool Echo. p. 17.

[reins-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Local Elections: Tories at the reins ; W Lancs . . . Tory gain". Liverpool Echo. 3 May 2002. p. 9.

[issues-5] Wildman, Jennifer (24 April 2002). "So incensed I'm going to vote! ; In the third part of our local election series, Jennifer Wildman examines the main issues affecting Sefton and West Lancashire". Liverpool Echo. p. 18.

[results-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "West Lancashire". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 14 April 2010.

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