# 2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
After the election, the composition of the council was
* Labour 23
* Liberal Democrats 19
* Conservative 6

## Background

Before the election the Labour Party needed to gain 1 seat to regain a majority on the council that they had lost at the last election in 2004. Labour had 24 seats before the election, while the Liberal Democrats had 18 and the Conservatives had 6. Labour was able to run the council however as the Conservative mayor had agreed not to use her casting vote.
Among the councillors who were defending seats at the election was the Labour group leader Marie Rimmer in West Park ward, while the seat in Blackbrook was vacant after the death of Labour councillor Albert Smith earlier in 2006. 16 seats were up for election and as well as candidates from the three political parties who held seats on the council, there were also four candidates from the Community Action Party and one each from the British National Party and the Socialist Labour Party.

## Election result

Labour remained the largest party on the council but lost one seat to the Liberal Democrats to leave the party with 23 councillors. The Liberal Democrat gain from Labour came in Town Centre ward and moved them to 19 seats on the council, however the Labour council leader Marie Rimmer held her seat in West Park with a 457-vote majority. Meanwhile, the Conservatives remained on 6 seats after holding the 2 seats they had been defending.
Following the election Liberal Democrat Brian Spencer became the new leader of the council after an agreement between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats taking 5 of the seats on the cabinet and the Conservative group leader Wally Ashcroft taking the other seat. This came after Labour rejected proposals for all three parties to share power on the council and meant Labour lost power on the council after 70 years.
St Helens local election result 2006 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 7 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 43.8 | 40.4 | 18,549 | +1.7% |
| Liberal Democrats | 7 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 43.8 | 39.6 | 18,219 | +2.3% |
| Conservative | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 | 17.3 | 7,942 | -1.5% |
| Community Action | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 895 | +1.9% |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | 308 | +0.1% |
| Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 64 | +0.1% |

## Ward results

Billinge and Seneley Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Susan Murphy | 1,504 | 47.8 | |
| | Conservative | David Davies | 970 | 30.8 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Charles Gadsden | 672 | 21.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 534 | 17.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,146 | 34.8 | −6.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Blackbrook :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Paul McQuade | 1,257 | 48.7 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ruth Smith | 712 | 27.6 | |
| | Community Action | William Guest | 327 | 12.7 | |
| | Conservative | Judith Collins | 221 | 8.6 | |
| | Socialist Labour | Ronald Waugh | 64 | 2.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 545 | 21.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,581 | 30.3 | −5.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Bold :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Matthew Dunn | 1,087 | 48.7 | |
| | Labour | Paul Pritchard | 1,001 | 44.9 | |
| | Conservative | Charmian Pyke | 142 | 6.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 86 | 3.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,230 | 30.9 | −3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Earlestown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Charles Banks | 1,153 | 48.6 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Smith | 953 | 40.2 | |
| | Conservative | Catherine Perks | 266 | 11.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 200 | 8.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,372 | 29.7 | −3.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Eccleston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Pearl | 2,666 | 67.3 | |
| | Conservative | Kathleen Barton | 690 | 17.4 | |
| | Labour | Martin Bond | 608 | 15.3 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,976 | 49.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,964 | 42.8 | −6.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Haydock :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eric Sheldon | 1,811 | 55.1 | |
| | Labour | Jeanette Banks | 1,284 | 39.1 | |
| | Conservative | Anthony Rigby | 189 | 5.8 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 527 | 16.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,284 | 36.5 | −1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Moss Bank :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Ferry | 1,648 | 52.3 | |
| | Labour | Brian Hart | 1,269 | 40.2 | |
| | Conservative | William Highcock | 237 | 7.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 379 | 12.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,154 | 36.1 | −6.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Newton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Taylor | 1,787 | 64.1 | |
| | Labour | Stuart Hughes | 756 | 27.1 | |
| | Conservative | Margaret Harvey | 244 | 8.8 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,031 | 37.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,787 | 34.6 | −6.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Parr :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Terence Shields | 1,384 | 66.0 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Janet Hennessy | 595 | 28.4 | |
| | Conservative | Madeleine Wilcock | 117 | 5.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 789 | 37.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,096 | 25.6 | −4.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Rainford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Parr | 1,740 | 59.9 | |
| | Labour | David Wood | 798 | 27.5 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sandra Ferry | 369 | 12.7 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 942 | 32.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,907 | 42.7 | −8.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Rainhill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Stephen Glover | 1,463 | 46.1 | |
| | Conservative | Henry Spriggs | 961 | 30.3 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christina Duncan | 749 | 23.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 502 | 15.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,173 | 34.7 | −7.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Sutton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Julie Jones | 1,721 | 61.4 | |
| | Labour | Marlene Newman | 873 | 31.2 | |
| | Conservative | Barbara Johnson | 207 | 7.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 848 | 30.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,801 | 25.6 | −12.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Thatto Heath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Richard McCauley | 1,308 | 55.9 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carol Pearl | 453 | 19.4 | |
| | Community Action | Michael Perry | 363 | 15.5 | |
| | Conservative | Barbara Woodcock | 217 | 9.3 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 855 | 36.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,341 | 26.7 | −7.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Town Centre :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Crowther | 1,052 | 41.0 | |
| | Labour | Margaret McLachlan | 1,005 | 39.2 | |
| | BNP | Michael Pearcey | 308 | 12.0 | |
| | Conservative | Jill Jones | 113 | 4.4 | |
| | Community Action | Leslie Teeling | 89 | 3.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 47 | 1.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,567 | 31.3 | −1.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
West Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Marie Rimmer | 1,900 | 51.8 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Broughton | 1,443 | 39.3 | |
| | Conservative | Charlotte Wood | 210 | 5.7 | |
| | Community Action | Tracy Lavelle | 116 | 3.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 457 | 12.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,669 | 41.6 | +2.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Windle :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Roughley | 1,418 | 48.9 | |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Almond | 986 | 34.0 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kenneth Knowles | 494 | 17.0 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 432 | 14.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,898 | 36.5 | −6.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

## By-elections between 2006 and 2007

Rainford by-election 23 November 2006 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Grice | 1,584 | 73.3 | +13.4 |
| | Labour | David Wood | 484 | 22.4 | −5.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kenneth Knowles | 93 | 4.3 | −8.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,100 | 50.9 | +18.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,161 | 31.5 | −11.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |