2007 West Lancashire District Council election

The 2007 West Lancashire District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of West Lancashire District Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Party		Seats	±
	Conservative	33	+1
	Labour	21	-1

^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives had a 10-seat majority over Labour, after gaining 3 seats in the 2006 election.^[3] 19 seats were being contested in the election with the Conservative leader of the council, Geoff Roberts, being one of those who were defending seats.^[3] The election was seen as mainly being fought just between the Conservative and Labour parties, with the Liberal Democrats only standing in 2 wards.^[4]

The Conservatives were expected to remain in control of the council and were targeting the wards of Scott and Wrightington where Labour only had small majorities.^[4]

Election result

The Conservatives held control of the council after making a net gain of 1 seat to have a majority of 12 over Labour.^[5] They gained the seats of Scott and Wrightington from Labour, but lost Bickerstaffe back to Labour.^[6] Overall turnout in the election was 31.5%, down from the 32.2% recorded in 2006.^[6]

West Lancashire Local Election Result 2007^[2]^[7]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	11	2	1	+1	57.9	52.8	11,655	-6.8%
Labour	8	1	2	-1	42.1	37.9	8,360	+3.5%
Green	0	0	0	0	0	3.6	786	-0.9%
Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	2.7	601	+2.7%
Independent	0	0	0	0	0	1.3	292	-0.2%
English Democrat	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	196	+0.9%
UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	195	+0.9%

Ward results

Ashurst

Ashurst^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Roberts	700	68.2	−0.1
	Conservative	David Rydings	326	31.8	+0.1
Majority			374	36.5	−0.1
Turnout			1,026	21.1	−2.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Aughton and Downholland

Aughton and Downholland^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Westley	1,168	72.1	−3.1
	Labour	Nicola Hennessy	453	27.9	+3.1
Majority			715	44.1	−6.3
Turnout			1,621	35.9	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aughton Park

Aughton Park^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Roberts	888	80.8	+0.9
	Labour	Pauline Roughley	211	19.2	−0.9
Majority			677	61.6	+1.8
Turnout			1,099	35.4	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bickerstaffe

Bickerstaffe^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Cotterill	502	53.5	+7.2
	Conservative	Robin Cropper	436	46.5	−7.2
Majority			66	7.0
Turnout			938	53.0	+7.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Birch Green

Birch Green^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donna West	424	81.4	+0.4
	Conservative	Malcolm Barron	97	18.6	−0.4
Majority			327	62.8	+0.8
Turnout			521	16.9	−10.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Derby

Derby^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Swiffen	792	57.2	−0.7
	Labour	Jonathan Sockett	367	26.5	+0.2
	Green	Anne Doyle	225	16.3	+0.5
Majority			425	30.7	−0.9
Turnout			1,384	31.1	−1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Digmoor

Digmoor^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Whitby	531	79.8	+6.9
	Conservative	Susan Cropper	134	20.2	+8.2
Majority			397	59.7	+1.9
Turnout			665	21.1	−9.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Knowsley

Knowsley^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Bailey	885	55.8	−6.8
	Labour	Alan Williams	506	31.9	+7.8
	Green	John Watt	196	12.4	−0.9
Majority			379	23.9	−14.6
Turnout			1,587	35.1	−1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Newburgh

Newburgh^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Pope	534	72.7	−6.5
	Labour	Jacqueline Citarella	125	17.0	−3.8
	English Democrat	Stephen Garrett	76	10.3	+10.3
Majority			409	55.6	−2.8
Turnout			735	44.5	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

North Meols

North Meols^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Austin Vickers	567	59.2	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rajni Somaiya	254	26.5	+26.5
	Labour	Christopher Mawdsley	137	14.3	+2.8
Majority			313	32.7	−1.6
Turnout			958	29.2	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Parbold

Parbold^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	May Blake	992	78.2	+3.7
	Labour	Clare Gillard	277	21.8	−3.7
Majority			715	56.3	+7.3
Turnout			1,269	40.8	−0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Scarisbrick

Scarisbrick^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Fowler	614	53.3	−16.2
	Independent	Margaret Edwards	292	25.3	+25.3
	Labour	Susan Jones	158	13.7	−3.3
	Green	Sylvia Walmsley	89	7.7	−5.8
Majority			322	27.9	−24.6
Turnout			1,153	36.5	−3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Scott

Scott^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Raymond Hammond	788	47.3	+0.1
	Labour	Katherine Anderson	572	34.3	−1.3
	Green	Maurice George	187	11.2	+0.4
	English Democrat	Kenneth Walters	120	7.2	1.7
Majority			216	13.0	+1.4
Turnout			1,667	36.6	−2.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Skelmersdale North

Skelmersdale North^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Nolan	669	77.3	+31.6
	Conservative	Graham Jones	197	22.7	+9.2
Majority			472	54.5	+49.5
Turnout			866	27.7	−9.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Skelmersdale South

Skelmersdale South^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Doreen Saxon	889	73.2	−2.8
	Conservative	Joanne Rushton	326	26.8	+2.8
Majority			563	46.3	−5.7
Turnout			1,215	24.0	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Tanhouse

Tanhouse^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Keegan	412	60.5	−3.9
	Conservative	Irene O'Donnell	180	26.4	+2.5
	Green	Martin Lowe	89	13.1	+1.4
Majority			232	34.1	−6.4
Turnout			681	19.6	−1.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Tarleton

Tarleton^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rosemary Evans	1,133	69.5	−16.5
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Lonsdale	347	21.3	+21.3
	Labour	Shan Annis	151	9.3	−4.7
Majority			786	48.2	−23.8
Turnout			1,631	36.7	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Up Holland

Up Holland^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anthony Rice	776	45.1	−5.9
	Conservative	Ruth Pollock	749	43.5	−5.5
	UKIP	Alan Freeman	195	11.3	+11.3
Majority			27	1.6	−0.4
Turnout			1,720	34.7	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Wrightington

Wrightington^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Tattersall	849	62.9	−3.7
	Labour	Pauline Bailey	500	37.1	+3.7
Majority			349	25.9	−7.3
Turnout			1,349	40.2	−12.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

References

^ "West Lancashire". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Election 2007 Results". The Times. 4 May 2007. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b "19 seats are up for grabs". Liverpool Echo. 26 April 2007. p. 27.
^ ^a ^b "The view from Lancashire". New Statesman. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
^ "Labour aims for 2008; Results, reports and reaction from your council ... Local Election 2007 Culture year claims on night of tension - and scuffles". Liverpool Echo. 4 May 2007. p. 2.
^ ^a ^b "Tories tighten West Lancs grip". Lancashire Evening Post. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "District Council Election Results 2006" (PDF). West Lancashire District Council. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Local elections 2007 - who won where". Lancashire Evening Post. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

[hold-1] "West Lancashire". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2010.

[election-2] "Election 2007 Results". The Times. 4 May 2007. p. 8.

[grabs-3] "19 seats are up for grabs". Liverpool Echo. 26 April 2007. p. 27.

[view-4] "The view from Lancashire". New Statesman. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

[scuffles-5] "Labour aims for 2008; Results, reports and reaction from your council ... Local Election 2007 Culture year claims on night of tension - and scuffles". Liverpool Echo. 4 May 2007. p. 2.

[tighten-6] "Tories tighten West Lancs grip". Lancashire Evening Post. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}

[results-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "District Council Election Results 2006" (PDF). West Lancashire District Council. Retrieved 16 April 2010.

[where-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Local elections 2007 - who won where". Lancashire Evening Post. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

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