# 2004 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2004 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003 reducing the number of seats by 6. The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.

## Campaign

Before the election, South Tyneside was seen as one of Labour's safest councils in the north east of England – Labour having 49 of the 60 councillors; they were expected to remain in control of the council. The Boundary Committee for England had made changes in South Tyneside's wards since the 2003 election and these meant there would be 54 councillors elected from 18 wards, instead of the previous 60 councillors from 20 wards. The changes abolished All Saints and Rekendyke wards and new ward names included Biddick and All Saints, Hebburn North and Simonside and Rekendyke.
Labour was the only party which contested all 54 seats that were up for election, with the other candidates being made up of 23 Conservatives, 22 Liberal Democrats, 13 independents, 12 Progressives, 3 British National Party and 1 each from the Green Party and the National Front. The independent candidates included 4 former Labour councillors who had quit the party to stand as independents, Mervyn Owen, Tom Defty, Jim Caine and Allen Branley, as well as Allen Branley's wife Jane Branley.
The election was held with all postal voting, but delays relating to the printers meant that many voters received their ballot papers almost a week late.

## Election result

The results saw Labour defend a reduced majority on the council after winning 35 of the 54 seats. The independents and Progressives were jointly the largest opposition groups after the election after winning 6 seats each, with the Progressive leader, Jim Capstick, saying that the boundary changes had helped them to win all of the seats in Harton and West Park wards. The gains for the independents included the former Labour councillors, Tom Defty, who defeated the mayor and wife of the council leader, Linda Waggott, in Bede ward, and Allen Braley in Westoe ward, who was elected along with his wife Jane.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives had 3 councillors after the election, the most for decades, after winning all 3 seats in Cleadon and East Boldon ward at the expense of the Liberal Democrats. Among the Liberal Democrats who failed to be elected in Cleadon and East Boldon was the leader of the party on the council, Jim Selby, but the party did gain one seat in Biddick & All Saints ward.
South Tyneside Local Election Result 2004 :
| Party | Seats | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 35 | -14 | 64.8 | 45.5 | 49,457 | -3.5% |
| Independent | 6 | +4 | 11.1 | 11.2 | 12,220 | +2.2% |
| Progressive | 6 | +3 | 11.1 | 10.9 | 11,829 | +2.4% |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | -1 | 7.4 | 16.6 | 18,022 | -0.2% |
| Conservative | 3 | +2 | 5.6 | 14.5 | 15,783 | -1.4% |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 | 889 | +0.0% |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 315 | +0.3% |
| National Front | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 262 | +0.2% |

## Ward results

Beacon & Bents (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | John Wood | 908 | |
| | Labour | Audrey McMillan | 898 | |
| | Labour | John Anglin | 863 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Susan Troupe | 569 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jennifer Burke | 561 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Selby | 542 | |
| | Independent | Robert Growcott | 541 | |
| | Conservative | George Smith | 447 | |
| | Conservative | Edward Russell | 438 | |
| | Conservative | Christopher Taylor | 394 | |
| | BNP | James Hills | 371 | |
| | Green | Bryan Atkinson | 315 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,847 | 41.7 |
Bede (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Thomas Hanson | 1,118 | |
| | Labour | Agnes Stewart | 1,089 | |
| | Independent | Thomas Defty | 1,054 | |
| | Labour | Linda Waggott | 929 | |
| | Conservative | Mary Golightly | 367 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,557 | 38.9 |
Biddick & All Saints (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joseph Kidd | 986 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | William Troupe | 845 | |
| | Labour | Stephen Forster | 804 | |
| | Labour | Olive Punchion | 738 | |
| | National Front | Charles Schmidt | 262 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,635 | 32.6 |
Boldon Colliery (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joanne Bell | 1,404 | |
| | Labour | William Lynch | 1,368 | |
| | Labour | Alison Strike | 1,316 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Frederick Taylor | 860 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Terence Branthwaite | 806 | |
| | Conservative | Gerald Brebner | 662 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,416 | 40.9 |
Cleadon & East Boldon (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Philip Parkinson | 1,649 | |
| | Conservative | Donald Wood | 1,569 | |
| | Conservative | David Potts | 1,500 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christopher Johnson | 1,456 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | James Selby | 1,177 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Henry Grainger | 1,176 | |
| | Labour | Mary Purvis | 495 | |
| | Labour | David Wood | 423 | |
| | Labour | Terence Fairley | 414 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,859 | 51.6 |
Cleadon Park (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Alexander Donaldson | 802 | |
| | Independent | George Elsom | 761 | |
| | Labour | James Foreman | 751 | |
| | Labour | Anne Walsh | 732 | |
| | Progressive | Arthur Morton | 718 | |
| | Progressive | John Williams | 527 | |
| | Progressive | Gunther Keller | 497 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,788 | 37.2 |
Fellgate & Hedworth (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Paul Waggott | 1,116 | |
| | Labour | Moira Smith | 1,071 | |
| | Labour | Edith Battye | 1,011 | |
| | Conservative | Sandra Jackson | 647 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,845 | 35.8 |
Harton (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive | James Capstick | 1,585 | |
| | Progressive | Gordon Finch | 1,540 | |
| | Progressive | Lawrence Nolan | 1,535 | |
| | Labour | Robert Dix | 1,111 | |
| | Labour | Wilhelmina Moad | 994 | |
| | Labour | Wallace Hobson | 863 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,628 | 44.4 |
Hebburn North (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joseph Abbott | 1,266 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | John McKie | 1,230 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joseph Atkinson | 1,131 | |
| | Labour | John Hodgson | 916 | |
| | Labour | John Drynan | 669 | |
| | Labour | Gladys Hobson | 609 | |
| | Conservative | Stewart Jackson | 159 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,980 | 38.9 |
Hebburn South (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | John McCabe | 1,678 | |
| | Labour | Henry McAtominey | 1,113 | |
| | Labour | Nancy Maxwell | 1,047 | |
| | Labour | John Watson | 824 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Constance Ridgway | 776 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jeffrey Harling | 618 | |
| | Conservative | John Coe | 313 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,369 | 48.1 |
Horsley Hill (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Arthur Meeks | 1,056 | |
| | Labour | Iain Malcolm | 1,033 | |
| | Labour | Eileen Leask | 908 | |
| | Conservative | Patricia Pigott | 862 | |
| | Conservative | Martin Anderson | 812 | |
| | Conservative | Cheryl Anderson | 767 | |
| | Independent | Mervyn Owen | 634 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Yvonne Carlin-Page | 465 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carol Selby | 412 | |
| | BNP | Christine Richardson | 287 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,236 | 47.2 |
Monkton (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joan Lewis | 984 | |
| | Labour | Alan Kerr | 960 | |
| | Labour | James Sewell | 929 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rosalind Slater | 756 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sheila Bennett | 666 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Muriel Coe | 624 | |
| | Conservative | John Cameron | 425 | |
| | Independent | Derek Wagstaffe | 351 | |
| | Independent | John Bissett | 203 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,898 | 39.5 |
Primrose (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | James Perry | 1,065 | |
| | Labour | Barrie Scorer | 1,036 | |
| | Labour | Emma Lewell-Buck | 972 | |
| | Conservative | Walter Armstrong | 634 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,707 | 34.0 |
Simonside & Rekendyke (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Edward Malcolm | 1,004 | |
| | Labour | Michael Clare | 915 | |
| | Labour | Joan Meeks | 896 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jean Turner | 609 | |
| | Progressive | Robert Burdon | 556 | |
| | Progressive | David Maxwell | 540 | |
| | Progressive | Raymond Evans | 495 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,015 | 34.6 |
West Park (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive | Enid Hetherington | 1,315 | |
| | Progressive | Marjorie Robinson | 1,279 | |
| | Progressive | Kenneth Hickman | 1,242 | |
| | Labour | Scott Duffy | 800 | |
| | Labour | Kenneth Stephenson | 702 | |
| | Labour | Jane Carter | 698 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,036 | 40.1 |
Westoe (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Allen Branley | 1,561 | |
| | Independent | Jane Branley | 1,488 | |
| | Labour | Ronald Reynolds | 807 | |
| | Conservative | George Wilkinson | 787 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Derek Brown | 751 | |
| | Conservative | Quintin Smith | 651 | |
| | Conservative | Karl Arthur | 612 | |
| | Labour | Henry Williams | 544 | |
| | Labour | Thomas Pigott | 536 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,737 | 47.8 |
Whitburn & Marsden (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tracey Dixon | 1,019 | |
| | Labour | Shirley Stratford | 949 | |
| | Labour | Peter Boyack | 897 | |
| | Independent | James Caine | 726 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Carlin-Page | 726 | |
| | Conservative | Jeffrey Milburn | 683 | |
| | Conservative | John Fettis | 642 | |
| | Conservative | Ralph Robson | 623 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,265 | 45.5 |
Whiteleas (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | John Haram | 1,296 | |
| | Labour | Ernest Gibson | 1,178 | |
| | Labour | William Brady | 1,126 | |
| | Labour | Mavis Brady | 1,061 | |
| | Independent | Joanne Burns | 978 | |
| | Independent | Stephen Pattison | 949 | |
| | BNP | David Richardson | 231 | |
| | Conservative | Barbara Surtees | 140 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,959 | 44.5 |