2004 Halton Borough Council election

The 2004 Halton Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Halton Unitary Council in Cheshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2002.^[1] The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[2]

Campaign

All 56 seats were being contested after boundary changes had taken place, with 119 candidates competing for election.^[3] Labour contested all 56 seats, compared to 32 for the Conservatives, 19 Liberal Democrats, 3 Green Party, 2 British National Party, 1 Legalise Cannabis Alliance and 1 independent.^[3] There were also 4 candidates from the new Citizens Party of Halton, with 3 of them being former Labour councillors.^[3] The election in Halton, along with the rest of North West England, was held with all postal voting as part of an attempt to increase turnout.^[3]

Before the election Labour dominated the council with 47 of the 56 seats.^[4] As a result, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were aiming just to reduced Labour's majority to provide a better opposition, with the Conservatives standing in every ward.^[5]

A major issue in the election was the attempt by the council to secure funding for a second crossing over the River Mersey.^[4] The Labour party defended their record in control of the council, pointing to the regeneration of the town centres of Widnes and Runcorn and improvements in services.^[5]

Results

The results saw both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives make significant gains against Labour, but with Labour keeping a safe majority on the council.^[6] The Liberal Democrats made gains in Halton Brook, Norton North and Windmill Hill wards, while the Conservatives picked up seats in Birchfield and Farnworth wards.^[6] Windmill Hill required 2 recounts before the Liberal Democrat, Kelly Marlow, was declared the winner by a single vote over the Labour candidate.^[7] Labour councillors who failed to be re-elected included the deputy mayor, Dennis Middlemass, who lost in Mersey ward to the Liberal Democrats after 12 years on the council.^[8] Overall turnout in the election was 38%, almost double what was seen at the last election in 2002.^[6]

Labour's leader of the council, Tony McDermott, blamed national policies and mid term votes against the government for the losses, but was pleased at preserving a good majority which he said demonstrated "a welcome level of support".^[6]

Halton Local Election Result 2004^[2]^[9]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	35	-12	62.5	55.3	42,002	-3.8
Liberal Democrats	14	+7	25.0	19.3	14,632	-1.1
Conservative	7	+5	12.5	19.4	14,740	+1.9
Green	0	0	0.0	2.5	1,906	+2.5
Citizens Party of Halton	0	0	0.0	2.0	1,513	+2.0
BNP	0	0	0.0	0.7	529	+0.7
Independent	0	0	0.0	0.6	440	-1.0
Legalise Cannabis	0	0	0.0	0.2	158	+0.2

Ward results

Appleton (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Edward Jones	1,101
	Labour	Gerald Philbin	985
	Labour	Francis Nyland	897
	Conservative	John Littler	365
	Conservative	Desmond McDermott	323
	BNP	Andrew Taylor	297
	Legalise Cannabis	Emma O'Neill	158
Turnout			4,127

Beechwood (2)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Redhead	942
	Liberal Democrats	Ulfar Norddahl	865
	Labour	Martha Lloyd Jones	333
	Labour	Maurice Craig	243
	Conservative	Phillip Speed	194
	Conservative	Patricia Parkinson	182
Turnout			2,759

Birchfield (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	David Lewis	868
	Conservative	David Findon	851
	Conservative	Geoffrey Swift	751
	Labour	Austin Clarke	612
	Labour	Valerie Hill	569
	Labour	John Fahey	542
Turnout			4,193

Broadheath (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Anthony McDermott	1,176
	Labour	Robert Gilligan	889
	Labour	Keith Morley	761
	Conservative	Philip Harper	466
Turnout			3,292

Castlefields (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Patrick Tyrrell	1,045
	Labour	Arthur Cole	833
	Labour	Liam Temple	816
	Independent	Jimmy Tang	440
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Sly	369
	Conservative	Wendy Perraten	300
	BNP	Anthony Watts	232
Turnout			4,035

Daresbury (2)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	C Inch	545
	Conservative	J Bradshaw	517
	Liberal Democrats	K Newall	506
	Conservative	B Price	467
	Labour	J Johnston	322
	Labour	A Stockton	305
Turnout			2,662

Ditton (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Marie Wright	1,185
	Labour	Shaun Osborne	1,051
	Labour	Peter Lloyd Jones	884
	Conservative	Colin Rowan	681
Turnout			3,801

Farnworth (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Carl Cross	1,049
	Conservative	Ian Whittaker	905
	Conservative	Philip Drakeley	884
	Labour	Andrew MacManus	702
	Labour	Damian Curzon	671
	Labour	Margaret Fahey	630
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Hare	602
Turnout			5,443

Grange (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Swain	873
	Labour	Stephen Pearsall	822
	Labour	Mark Dennett	796
	Liberal Democrats	James Maguire	622
	Conservative	Mary Taylor	406
Turnout			3,519

Hale^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Michael Wharton	605	73.7
	Conservative	Suzannah Swift	216	26.3
Majority			389	47.4
Turnout			821

Halton Brook (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Stefan Nelson	944
	Labour	John Massey	850
	Liberal Democrats	Kathleen Hodgkinson	690
	Labour	Stanley Hill	650
	Conservative	Roger Tuson	366
Turnout			3,500

Halton Lea (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	David Thompson	800
	Labour	Kathleen Loftus	752
	Labour	Alan Lowe	713
	Citizens Party of Halton	Michael Gelling	368
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Clein	351
	Citizens Party of Halton	Damian Matthews	329
	Conservative	Elizabeth Ford	258
Turnout			3,571

Halton View (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Robert Polhill	1,149
	Labour	Stanley Parker	961
	Labour	Thomas McInerney	903
	Green	Derek Mellor	566
	Green	Ann Martland	562
	Green	Glenys Taylor	509
	Conservative	Denis Thomas	475
Turnout			5,125

Heath (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Hodgkinson	1,134
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Ratcliffe	1,124
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Rowe	1,117
	Conservative	Marjorie Bradshaw	605
	Labour	Joan Lowe	371
	Conservative	Peter Murray	340
	Conservative	Philip Balmer	332
	Labour	Carol Redican	326
	Labour	Karen Linforth	253
Turnout			5,602

Hough Green (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Paul Nolan	1,069
	Labour	Kevan Wainwright	950
	Labour	Philip Harris	948
	Conservative	Maureen Forsyth	514
	Conservative	Brian Hensley	456
Turnout			3,937

Kingsway (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Margaret Horabin	996
	Labour	Ann Gerrard	934
	Labour	Francis Fraser	861
	Conservative	Frank Lloyd	470
	Conservative	Terence McDermott	429
Turnout			3,690

Mersey (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Blackmore	950
	Liberal Democrats	Ernest Ratcliffe	847
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Higginson	814
	Labour	Reginald Eastup	604
	Labour	Glyn Redican	581
	Labour	Dennis Middlemas	526
	Conservative	Colin Keam	309
Turnout			4,631

Norton North (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Sly	989
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Inch	980
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Fowler	928
	Labour	Ellen Cargill	759
	Labour	Mary Massey	685
	Labour	John Stockton	646
	Green	Michael Davies	269
	Conservative	David Wright	263
Turnout			5,519

Norton South (3)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ronald Hignett	873
	Labour	David Cargill	856
	Labour	Irene Ashley	810
	Citizens Party of Halton	Ian Evans	411
	Citizens Party of Halton	Joseph Glover	405
	Conservative	William Dowdle	229
Turnout			3,584

Riverside (2)^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	David Leadbetter	705
	Labour	Edwin Gleave	623
	Conservative	Margaret Hill	211
Turnout			1,539

Windmill Hill^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Kelly Marlow	257	45.0
	Labour	Peter Harding	256	44.8
	Conservative	Sylvia Dowdle	58	10.2
Majority			1	0.2
Turnout			571

References

^ "Halton council". BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Ballot box". The Times. 12 June 2004. p. 26.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Ballot boxes banished in favour of postal voting". This Is Cheshire. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b "Elections 2004: Halton". Liverpool Daily Post. 13 May 2004. p. 15.
^ ^a ^b Weston, Alan (27 May 2004). "Halton places a strong emphasis on regeneration ; Second river crossing a key issue". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Vote 2004: Halton". Liverpool Echo. 11 June 2004. p. 11.
^ "Early morning election drama". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
^ "Elections 2004: The verdict ; These ex-Labour councillors are among 460 who lost their seats in Thursday's elections. Why do they think it happened?". The Independent. 12 June 2004. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v "June Election 2004 Results". Halton Borough Council. Retrieved 27 February 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Declaration of result of poll". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[hold-1] "Halton council". BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[ballot-2] "Ballot box". The Times. 12 June 2004. p. 26.

[banished-3] "Ballot boxes banished in favour of postal voting". This Is Cheshire. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[halton-4] "Elections 2004: Halton". Liverpool Daily Post. 13 May 2004. p. 15.

[emphasis-5] Weston, Alan (27 May 2004). "Halton places a strong emphasis on regeneration ; Second river crossing a key issue". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 15.

[vote-6] "Vote 2004: Halton". Liverpool Echo. 11 June 2004. p. 11.

[drama-7] "Early morning election drama". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[verdict-8] "Elections 2004: The verdict ; These ex-Labour councillors are among 460 who lost their seats in Thursday's elections. Why do they think it happened?". The Independent. 12 June 2004. p. 1.

[results-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v "June Election 2004 Results". Halton Borough Council. Retrieved 27 February 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[poll-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Declaration of result of poll". This Is Cheshire. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

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