# 2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2002 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Labour 33
* Liberal Democrats 15
* Conservative 5
* Socialist Labour 1

## 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, which led to 5,086 requests for postal votes compared to 1,100 at the last election in 2000.

## 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.
St Helens local election result 2002 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 11 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 61.1 | 47.6 | 17,126 | +2.3% |
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.8 | 34.4 | 12,365 | +1.4% |
| Conservative | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 11.1 | 17.6 | 6,338 | -3.7% |
| Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 99 | -0.2% |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 32 | +0.1% |

## Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bessie Griffin | 1,530 | 59.8 | +6.4 |
| | Conservative | Elizabeth Black | 589 | 23.0 | −10.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christine Langley | 439 | 17.2 | +3.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 941 | 36.8 | +16.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,558 | 24.9 | +5.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Blackbrook :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Linda Maloney | 928 | 63.4 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Matthew Dunn | 393 | 26.9 | +4.8 |
| | Conservative | Judith Collins | 142 | 9.7 | −4.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 535 | 36.6 | −5.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,463 | 21.0 | +6.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Broad Oak :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ken Pinder | 928 | 55.7 | +4.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alec Mills | 654 | 39.2 | −5.3 |
| | Conservative | Joan Foster | 85 | 5.1 | +1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 274 | 16.4 | +9.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,667 | 25.2 | +3.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Eccleston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Teresa Sims | 2,064 | 71.3 | +6.4 |
| | Labour | Stephen Glover | 415 | 14.3 | −0.7 |
| | Conservative | William Highcock | 415 | 14.3 | −5.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,649 | 57.0 | +12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,894 | 34.0 | +5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Grange Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Terence Hanley | 851 | 51.9 | +1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Evans | 446 | 27.2 | +4.8 |
| | Conservative | John Willis | 245 | 14.9 | −8.8 |
| | Socialist Labour | Michael Perry | 99 | 6.0 | +2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 405 | 24.7 | −2.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,641 | 21.9 | +5.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Haydock :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Swift | 1,387 | 63.2 | −0.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eric Sheldon | 507 | 23.1 | +2.9 |
| | Conservative | Keith Winstanley | 299 | 13.6 | −2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 880 | 40.1 | −3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,193 | 24.3 | +6.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Marshalls Cross :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Beirne | 1,047 | 69.6 | +1.3 |
| | Labour | Michael Glover | 418 | 27.8 | −0.6 |
| | Conservative | Jill Jones | 39 | 2.6 | −0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 629 | 41.8 | +1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,504 | 25.3 | +2.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Moss Bank :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carole Kavanagh | 1,495 | 56.4 | +2.5 |
| | Labour | Barbara Jakubiak | 1,005 | 37.9 | −0.1 |
| | Conservative | John Cunliffe | 152 | 5.7 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 490 | 18.5 | +2.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,652 | 32.5 | +3.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Newton East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Taylor | 1,325 | 59.4 | −6.1 |
| | Labour | Charles Banks | 747 | 33.5 | +5.7 |
| | Conservative | Margaret Harvey | 160 | 7.2 | +0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 578 | 25.9 | −11.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,232 | 29.4 | +1.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Newton West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Keith Deakin | 1,202 | 61.8 | +11.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Crowther | 512 | 26.3 | −15.3 |
| | Conservative | Catherine Perks | 232 | 11.9 | +3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 690 | 35.5 | +27.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,946 | 23.5 | +1.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Parr and Hardshaw :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Mark Arnold | 897 | 72.1 | +1.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Noreen Knowles | 238 | 19.1 | +0.1 |
| | Conservative | Madeleine Wilcock | 77 | 6.2 | −4.0 |
| | Independent | David Round | 32 | 2.6 | +2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 659 | 53.0 | +1.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,244 | 21.1 | +4.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Queens Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Richard McCauley | 897 | 54.8 | +0.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lesley Ronan | 596 | 36.4 | +4.4 |
| | Conservative | Charmain Pyke | 143 | 8.7 | −4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 301 | 18.4 | −4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,636 | 23.4 | +5.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Rainford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tony Brown | 1,544 | 60.4 | −8.5 |
| | Labour | David Wood | 797 | 31.2 | +5.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Topping | 215 | 8.4 | +3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 747 | 29.2 | −13.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,556 | 36.9 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Rainhill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Lee Myers | 1,517 | 59.1 | +0.5 |
| | Conservative | Jonathan Mackie | 629 | 24.5 | −5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kenneth Knowles | 419 | 16.3 | +4.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 888 | 34.6 | +5.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,565 | 26.7 | +6.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Sutton and Bold :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Spencer | 1,202 | 58.8 | +5.7 |
| | Labour | Derek Maylor | 744 | 36.4 | −6.0 |
| | Conservative | Stephen Holt | 97 | 4.7 | +0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 458 | 22.4 | +11.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,043 | 27.4 | +1.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Thatto Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Patricia Robinson | 1,061 | 68.8 | +3.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carol Pearl | 318 | 20.6 | +4.9 |
| | Conservative | Barbara Woodcock | 164 | 10.6 | −3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 743 | 48.2 | −1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,543 | 21.5 | +2.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
West Sutton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frank Robinson | 784 | 64.5 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Darren Makin | 291 | 24.0 | |
| | Conservative | Henry Spriggs | 140 | 11.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 493 | 40.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,215 | 19.3 | +3.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Windle :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nancy Ashcroft | 1,186 | 49.3 | |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Almond | 1,018 | 42.3 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gary Pulfer | 204 | 8.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 168 | 7.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,408 | 34.9 | +6.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |

## By-elections between 2002 and 2003

Marshalls Cross by-election 19 September 2002 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | | 813 | 72.3 | +2.7 |
| | Labour | | 275 | 24.5 | −3.3 |
| | Conservative | | 36 | 3.2 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 538 | 47.9 | +6.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,124 | 18.9 | −6.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |