![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Pendle_UK_local_election_2003_map.svg/300px-Pendle_UK_local_election_2003_map.svg.png)
The 2003 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was
- Liberal Democrat 23
- Labour 15
- Conservative 11[2]
Campaign
[edit]Before the election the council had 19 Labour, 19 Liberal Democrat and 11 Conservative councillors,[3] with Labour holding power as a minority administration.[4] 18 seats were being elected, with 2 seats contested in Boulsworth after the death of councillor Jo Belbin.[3] In total 63 candidates stood, with only one sitting councillor, Abdul Jabbar in Brierfield, not standing for re-election.[3] As well as candidates from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, there were also 3 candidates from the Socialist Alliance, 4 independents and 4 from the British National Party.[3][4] This was the first time the British National Party had put up candidates in Pendle.[3]
Issues in the election included the proposed redevelopment of Nelson town centre, plans for an A56 bypass and the proposed demolition of houses in Nelson West.[5] Other issues as usual were council tax levels, litter, street safety and crime, while the national issue of the Iraq War was expected to influence voters.[5]
Election result
[edit]The results saw the Liberal Democrats become the largest party on the council, but without a majority, after making four gains from Labour.[6] This took the Liberal Democrats to 23 seats, compared to 15 for Labour and 11 Conservatives,[6] after the Liberal Democrats nearly won as many votes as the Conservative and Labour parties combined.[7] The Labour leader of the council, Azhar Ali, was among the councillors to lose their seats in the election, which saw the party fail to win any seats.[6] Ali blamed the defeats both on a backlash against the Iraq War and on an alleged "dirty tricks campaign".[6] Meanwhile, the British National Party failed to win any seats, but did poll a significant number of votes.[8]
Following the election many of the Liberal Democrat councillors boycotted the swearing in of a new mayor in protest against the way he was elected instead of the previous years deputy mayor.[9][10] Liberal Democrat Alan Davies became the new leader of the council, but his party initially refused to take places on the executive committee.[11] This was because the council had voted for a 4–3–3 party split on the committee rather than the 5–3–2 split the Liberal Democrats had proposed.[11] Meanwhile, the Labour group chose Frank Clifford to become the new leader of their group.[12]
Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 12 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 66.7 | 44.5 | 10,798 | +5.9% | |
Conservative | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | 24.0 | 5,821 | -3.3% | |
Labour | 0 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 21.4 | 5,202 | -11.1% | |
BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.3 | 1,769 | +7.3% | |
Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 530 | +1.4% | |
Socialist Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 148 | +0.1% |
Ward results
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Linda Crossley | 565 | 31.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Michael Simpson | 535 | 29.4 | ||
BNP | Michael Brennan | 482 | 26.5 | ||
Labour | Anthony Hargreaves | 240 | 13.2 | ||
Majority | 30 | 1.6 | |||
Turnout | 1,822 | 46.5 | −1.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Shelagh Derwent | 552 | 84.4 | +2.6 | |
Labour | Helen Ingham | 62 | 9.5 | −0.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Carman Stanworth | 40 | 6.1 | −2.5 | |
Majority | 490 | 74.9 | +2.8 | ||
Turnout | 654 | 49.1 | −2.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | David Robertson | 784 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Laurence Turner | 625 | |||
Conservative | Michael Calvert | 493 | |||
Conservative | Geoffrey Riley | 370 | |||
Labour | Christine Dawson | 188 | |||
Labour | David Foat | 160 | |||
Turnout | 2,620 | 36.6 | −4.6 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Munir | 1,208 | 62.4 | ||
Labour | Mohammad Sakib | 727 | 37.6 | ||
Majority | 481 | 24.9 | |||
Turnout | 1,935 | 46.9 | −5.2 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Nawaz Ahmed | 819 | 50.8 | ||
Labour | Keith Hutson | 409 | 25.4 | ||
Conservative | Peter Jackson | 330 | 20.5 | ||
Socialist Alliance | Siobhan Daniel | 54 | 3.3 | ||
Majority | 410 | 25.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,612 | 44.9 | −11.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Kathleen Shore | 768 | 43.8 | ||
BNP | Trevor Dawson | 452 | 25.8 | ||
Labour | Mohammed Ansar | 445 | 25.4 | ||
Conservative | Michael Landriau | 87 | 5.0 | ||
Majority | 316 | 18.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,752 | 47.7 | +4.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Allan Buck | 989 | 55.4 | ||
BNP | Geoffrey Whitehead | 394 | 22.1 | ||
Labour | William Skinner | 176 | 9.9 | ||
Independent | Jennifer Purcell | 114 | 6.4 | ||
Conservative | Valerie Langtree | 112 | 6.3 | ||
Majority | 595 | 33.3 | |||
Turnout | 1,785 | 44.8 | +5.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Marlene Hill-Crane | 880 | 53.7 | ||
Labour | Frank Neal | 548 | 33.4 | ||
Conservative | Barbara Watson-Davison | 212 | 12.9 | ||
Majority | 332 | 20.2 | |||
Turnout | 1,640 | 40.8 | −2.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Morris Horsfield | 822 | 49.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Timothy Haigh | 659 | 39.2 | ||
Labour | Ruth Wilkinson | 198 | 11.8 | ||
Majority | 163 | 9.7 | |||
Turnout | 1,679 | 38.6 | −6.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Carol Belshaw | 294 | 62.0 | +7.3 | |
Labour | Jillian Smith | 114 | 24.1 | −5.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | David Stopforth | 66 | 13.9 | −2.2 | |
Majority | 180 | 38.0 | +12.5 | ||
Turnout | 474 | 35.6 | −11.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Nutter | 366 | 51.5 | −25.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Valerie Skinner | 279 | 39.2 | +39.2 | |
Labour | Sheila Wicks | 66 | 9.3 | −14.0 | |
Majority | 87 | 12.2 | −41.3 | ||
Turnout | 711 | 50.9 | −2.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Ann Kerrigan | 490 | 41.8 | ||
Independent | Peter Nowland | 297 | 25.4 | ||
Labour | Paul Broughton | 213 | 18.2 | ||
Conservative | Alexandra Thompson | 135 | 11.5 | ||
Socialist Alliance | Kevin Bean | 36 | 3.1 | ||
Majority | 193 | 16.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,171 | 30.7 | −5.6 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John David | 555 | 80.1 | −4.5 | |
Conservative | Clive Bevan | 138 | 19.9 | +4.5 | |
Majority | 417 | 60.2 | −9.1 | ||
Turnout | 693 | 56.5 | −6.2 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Tonia Barton | 913 | 53.5 | ||
Labour | Robert Allen | 544 | 31.9 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Shakeel Mirza | 251 | 14.7 | ||
Majority | 369 | 21.6 | |||
Turnout | 1,708 | 44.2 | −12.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Sonia Robinson | 833 | 56.8 | ||
Labour | Azhar Ali | 377 | 25.7 | ||
Conservative | Peter Wildman | 138 | 9.4 | ||
Independent | David Geddes | 96 | 6.5 | ||
Independent | Azar Ali | 23 | 1.6 | ||
Majority | 456 | 31.1 | |||
Turnout | 1,467 | 39.8 | +2.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Sharon Robinson | 502 | 34.2 | ||
BNP | Brian Parker | 441 | 30.1 | ||
Labour | Frank Allanson | 375 | 25.6 | ||
Conservative | James Farnell | 148 | 10.1 | ||
Majority | 61 | 4.2 | |||
Turnout | 1,466 | 37.0 | +1.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Ian Robinson | 515 | 48.1 | ||
Labour | Ian Tweedie | 360 | 33.6 | ||
Conservative | Maureen Regan | 137 | 12.8 | ||
Socialist Alliance | Richard MacSween | 58 | 5.4 | ||
Majority | 155 | 14.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,070 | 30.1 | −6.6 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
References
[edit]- ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent. 3 May 2003. pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b c d e "Election 2003 . . .BNP puts up 4 candidates". Burnley Express. 4 April 2003.
- ^ a b "Who will win battle for Pendle?". Burnley Express. 25 April 2003.
- ^ a b "Year of controversy adds to intrigue". Lancashire Telegraph. 24 April 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d "'Dirty tricks' loses Labour control". Lancashire Telegraph. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Local elections - A night of tension, jubilation and disappointment". Burnley Express. 9 May 2003.
- ^ "BNP breakthrough prompts backlash". Lancashire Telegraph. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Mayor protest Libs 'won't take seats'". Lancashire Telegraph. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Snub doesn't spoil big day". Lancashire Telegraph. 16 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Lib Dem to be leader". Lancashire Telegraph. 29 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Council's stalwart Frank takes reins". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Election results". Pendle Borough Council. p. 47. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "English councils". The Times. 3 May 2003.