# 2002 Crawley Borough Council election

The 2002 Crawley Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Crawley Borough Council in West Sussex, 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 23
* Conservative 7
* Liberal Democrats 2

## Background

Before the election Labour controlled the council with 24 seats, compared to 5 for the Conservatives and 2 Liberal Democrats, with a further seat being vacant. 10 wards were contested, with 2 seats being elected in Pound Hill North.
Issues at the election included the growth of Crawley, parking, litter, street lights and a possible second runway at Gatwick Airport, with issues to do with the national Labour government also being raised.

## Election result

Labour remained in control of the council with 23 councillors after holding 7 of the 11 seats contested, despite losing 1 seat to the Conservatives. The Conservative gain came in Furnace Green, where Brenda Blackwell defeated the former Labour mayor Ray Calcott by 1,269 votes to 895. This took to the Conservatives to 7 seats, as they also held the 2 seats contested in Pound Hill North, while the Liberal Democrats remained on 2 seats after holding Northgate.
The election had a trial of all postal voting in the 4 wards of Bewbush, Broadfield, Ifield and Southgate in an attempt to increase turnout. Overall turnout across Crawley was 30.09%, a rise from 23.2% at the 2000 election, and in the wards that trialed all postal voting, turnout increased by an average of 15.7%.
Crawley local election result 2002 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes |
| Labour | 7 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 63.6 | 48.2 | 9,386 |
| Conservative | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 27.3 | 31.2 | 6,079 |
| Liberal Democrats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 17.4 | 3,395 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 285 |
| Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 | 154 |
| Justice Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 64 |
| Monster Raving Loony | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 48 |
| Socialist Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 46 |

## Ward results

Bewbush :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Doug Murdoch | 1,008 | 60.7 | |
| | Conservative | Corinne Bowen | 335 | 20.2 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kevin Osborne | 207 | 12.5 | |
| | Justice Party | Arshad Kahn | 64 | 3.9 | |
| | Socialist Alliance | Muriel Hirsh | 46 | 2.8 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 673 | 40.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,660 | 27.8 | +10.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Broadfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Brian Quinn | 1,477 | 58.4 | |
| | Conservative | David Bowen | 688 | 27.2 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Victoria Jones | 275 | 10.9 | |
| | Socialist Labour | Martyn Badger | 89 | 3.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 789 | 31.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,529 | 29.5 | +15.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Furnace Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Brenda Brockwell | 1,269 | 47.4 |
| | Labour | Ray Calcott | 895 | 33.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Roger McMurray | 516 | 19.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 374 | 14.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,680 | 25.2 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | |
Ifield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ben Clay | 1,294 | 49.5 | |
| | Conservative | Christina Belben | 548 | 21.0 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Barry Hamilton | 485 | 18.6 | |
| | Independent | Richard Symonds | 285 | 10.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 746 | 28.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,612 | 40.3 | +17.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Langley Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Brenda Smith | 918 | 71.2 |
| | Conservative | Keith Brockwell | 212 | 16.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Edward Reay | 159 | 12.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 706 | 54.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,289 | 23.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Northgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | Linda Seekings | 705 | 63.2 |
| | Labour | Nicholas Webber | 307 | 27.5 |
| | Conservative | John Rolf | 104 | 9.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 398 | 35.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,116 | 31.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | |
Pound Hill North (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Henry Smith | 866 | |
| | Conservative | Sally Blake | 844 | |
| | Labour | David Green | 462 | |
| | Labour | John Stephens | 451 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nigel Aldridge | 198 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Barry | 154 | |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Christopher Hanlon | 48 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,023 | 30.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Southgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Mary Mayne | 1,225 | 50.6 | |
| | Conservative | Lee Burke | 784 | 32.4 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Howard Llewelyn | 413 | 17.1 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 441 | 18.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,422 | 39.7 | +18.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Tilgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Colin Lloyd | 720 | 59.2 |
| | Conservative | Duncan Crow | 246 | 20.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Darren Wise | 185 | 15.2 |
| | Socialist Labour | Derek Issacs | 65 | 5.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 474 | 39.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,216 | 27.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
West Green :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Bert Crane | 629 | 69.1 |
| | Conservative | Lisa Noel | 183 | 20.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lyndon Hamill | 98 | 10.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 446 | 49.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 910 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |