2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

Background

Before the election Labour held a 16-seat majority on the council, with 18 seats being contested in 2002. Among the councillors who were defending seats at the election was the Liberal Democrat group leader Brian Spencer.

In an attempt to increase turnout, primary school children in the 2 wards with the lowest turnout in previous elections, Blackbrook and West Sutton were given balloons with the date of election printed on them to remind their parents of the election date. Access to polling places had also been improved and there was greater publicity about the availability of postal voting,

Election result

Labour held control of the control with 33 councillors after losing 1 seat to the Conservatives. The Conservative gain came in Windle, where Nancy Ashcroft joined her husband as a councillor for the ward. This took the Conservatives to 5 seats on the council, while the Liberal Democrats remained on 15 seats. Overall turnout at the election was 26.4% and ranged between a low of 19.3% in West Sutton and a high of 36.93% in Rainford.

|seats % = 61.1 |votes % = 47.6 |plus/minus = +2.3% |seats % = 27.8 |votes % = 34.4 |plus/minus = +1.4% |seats % = 11.1 |votes % = 17.6 |plus/minus = -3.7% |seats % = 0 |votes % = 0.3 |plus/minus = -0.2% |seats % = 0 |votes % = 0.1 |plus/minus = +0.1%

Ward results

By-elections between 2002 and 2003

References

References

1. "St Helens". BBC News.
2. (3 May 2002). "Local Elections: Town keeps it in the family". [[Liverpool Echo]].
3. Bianchi, Stefania. (10 May 2002). "Triumph for Nancy!". Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications.
4. Woodhead, Jane. (10 April 2002). "Election candidates prepare to do battle". [[Liverpool Echo]].
5. Kelly, Andy. (11 April 2002). "Town halls may have new leaders in weeks". [[Liverpool Daily Post]].
6. Kelly, Andy. (2 May 2002). "Can e-voting shift balance of power?". [[Liverpool Daily Post]].
7. Beard, Elizabeth. (2 May 2002). "Floating voters!". Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications.
8. Woodhead, Jane. (2 May 2002). "Hi-tech voting to boost Mersey poll". [[Liverpool Echo]].
9. (3 May 2002). "Election results – Local Elections". The Times.
10. "Local Election Results 2002". Local Elections Archive Project.
11. Magill, Pete. (3 May 2002). "Newton Local Election Results 2002". Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications.
12. (20 September 2002). "Tories make shock gain from SNP". The Guardian.