# 1999 Pendle Borough Council election

The 1999 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Liberal Democrat 23
* Labour 20
* Conservative 7
* Independent 1

## Campaign

Before the election the Liberal Democrats ran the council with 30 councillors, compared to 17 Labour, 3 Conservatives and 1 independent. 17 seats were being contested in the election, with the Liberal Democrats defending 12 and Labour 5. 4 sitting councillors stood down at the election, 2 each from the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties.
The only candidate not from the 3 main parties was Peter Hartley, who stood as an independent green in Vivary Bridge ward, but during the campaign it was reported that he was actually living in Sheffield and standing as a candidate there as well.

## Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats lose their majority on the council after 4 years in control. The Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats to the Conservatives and a further 3 to the Labour party, meaning that the Liberal Democrats fell to 23 seats, Labour rose to 20, the Conservatives to 7 and there remained 1 independent. The Liberal Democrats said the other two parties had worked together to target Liberal Democrat held seats, but this was denied by the Conservative and Labour parties.
The Labour gains came in the wards of Craven, Vivary Bridge and Whitefield, while the Conservatives took the seats of Barrowford, Earby, Foulridge and Reedley. All 4 Conservatives gains were by women, meaning the Conservative group leader Roy Clarkson then had 6 female Conservative councillors in his council group. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats only narrowly held a further 2 seats after recounts, Edwina Sargeant holding Waterside by 9 votes and Ian Gilhespy retaining Horsfield by a single vote.
Following the election the parties were unable to agree on who should run the council. As a result, the council meeting after the election had no nominations for leader of the council. The Liberal Democrats voted down an attempt by Labour to take minority control and instead the councillors voted to rotate the chairmanship of the main committees over the next 12 months between the 3 parties.
Pendle local election result 1999 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 8 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 47.1 | 40.7 | 9,060 | +2.1% |
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 29.4 | 38.2 | 8,520 | -3.4% |
| Conservative | 4 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 23.5 | 21.0 | 4,672 | +1.2% |
| An Independent Green Candidate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 29 | +0.1% |

## Ward results

Barrowford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Linda Crossley | 595 | 38.6 | +9.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Carrins | 509 | 33.1 | −12.1 |
| | Labour | Anthony Hargreaves | 436 | 28.3 | +2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 86 | 5.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,540 | 32.4 | −1.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Boulsworth :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Robertson | 649 | 54.6 | −5.6 |
| | Conservative | Richard Wood | 286 | 24.1 | +7.1 |
| | Labour | David Foat | 254 | 21.4 | −1.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 363 | 30.5 | −6.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,189 | 28.1 | +0.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Bradley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frederick Hartley | 940 | 51.1 | +1.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Munir | 815 | 44.3 | +4.8 |
| | Conservative | Janet Riley | 85 | 4.6 | −6.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 125 | 6.8 | −3.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,840 | 51.1 | +9.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Brierfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sajjad Karim | 578 | 38.2 | +28.0 |
| | Labour | Anthony Martin | 562 | 37.1 | −17.6 |
| | Conservative | Zita Lord | 373 | 24.7 | −10.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16 | 1.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,513 | 46.7 | +11.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Clover Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Colin Waite | 681 | 69.0 | +10.9 |
| | Conservative | Frank Chadwick | 223 | 22.6 | +3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David French | 83 | 8.4 | −14.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 458 | 46.4 | +11.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 987 | 28.6 | −1.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Coates :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Margaret Bell | 674 | 53.8 | −3.4 |
| | Labour | John Edwards | 434 | 34.7 | +5.8 |
| | Conservative | Morris Horsfield | 144 | 11.5 | −2.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 240 | 18.2 | −10.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,252 | 32.5 | +1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Craven :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frank Neal | 549 | 45.8 | +17.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alison Whipp | 469 | 39.1 | −15.5 |
| | Conservative | Mark Langtree | 180 | 15.0 | −1.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 80 | 6.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,198 | 29.9 | +1.2 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Earby :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rosemary Carroll | 778 | 42.7 | +3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Timothy Haigh | 756 | 41.5 | −2.2 |
| | Labour | Jean Skinner | 289 | 15.9 | −0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 22 | 1.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,823 | 42.3 | +4.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Foulridge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Carol Belshaw | 247 | 51.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Moss | 166 | 34.8 |
| | Labour | Martin Wilson | 64 | 13.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 81 | 17.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 477 | 42.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | |
Horsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Gilhespy | 449 | 43.0 | −10.3 |
| | Labour | David Johns | 448 | 42.9 | −3.8 |
| | Conservative | Smith Benson | 147 | 14.1 | +14.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1 | 0.1 | −6.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,044 | 30.9 | −2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Marsden :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Azhar Ali | 614 | 61.9 | −10.1 |
| | Conservative | Michael Landriau | 279 | 28.1 | +0.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | William Masih | 99 | 10.0 | +10.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 335 | 33.8 | −10.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 992 | 27.8 | +6.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Reedley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tonia Barton | 655 | 50.5 | −6.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Allan Buck | 459 | 35.4 | +15.8 |
| | Labour | Mohammed Razaq | 183 | 14.1 | −9.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 196 | 15.1 | −18.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,297 | 35.8 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Southfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sheena Dunn | 587 | 56.4 | −18.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Le-Page | 236 | 22.7 | +22.7 |
| | Conservative | Peter Wildman | 218 | 20.9 | −4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 351 | 33.7 | −15.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,041 | 32.2 | +3.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Vivary Bridge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Julie Hunting | 721 | 50.1 | +5.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Beck | 555 | 38.6 | −8.7 |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Riley | 133 | 9.2 | +1.6 |
| | An Independent Green Candidate | Peter Hartley | 29 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 166 | 11.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,438 | 34.3 | +4.8 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |
Walverden :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Judith Robinson | 707 | 51.3 | +18.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lawrence Collett | 534 | 38.7 | −13.4 |
| | Conservative | Ann Tattersall | 138 | 10.0 | −4.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 173 | 12.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,379 | 46.7 | +1.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Waterside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Edwina Sargeant | 579 | 47.0 | +3.4 |
| | Labour | Ian Tweedie | 570 | 46.3 | −3.1 |
| | Conservative | Adrian Mitchell | 82 | 6.7 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9 | 0.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,231 | 38.4 | +3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Whitefield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Mohammed Ansar | 1,021 | 50.0 | +6.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ghulam Rasool | 910 | 44.6 | −7.1 |
| | Conservative | Frank Hook | 109 | 5.3 | +0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 111 | 5.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,040 | 66.0 | +6.0 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | | |