Map of the results of the 2002 Pendle Borough Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow, Labour in red and Conservatives in blue.

The 2002 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000 reducing the number of seats by 2.[1] The council stayed under no overall control.[2]

Background

After the 2000 election Labour was the largest party with 23 of the 51 seats, compared to 19 for the Liberal Democrats and 9 Conservatives.[3] In the early part of 2002 however the gap between Labour and the Liberal Democrats narrowed after Labour councillor Kathleen Shore defected to the Liberal Democrats.[3]

The whole council was being elected in 2002 for the first time since 1976 after boundary changes.[4] These changes meant 49 seats were contested from 20 wards, with new wards of Blacko and Higherford, Higham and Pendleside and Old Laund Booth being created.[3]

Campaign

In total 144 candidates stood in the election[3] with the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties standing in most wards, along with 2 candidates from the Socialist Alliance and some independents.[4] Several councillors stood down at the election, including Conservative group leader Roy Clarkson, Liberal Democrat former mayors Ian Gilhespy and Gill Gilhespy and Labour's Tim Ormrod, while Liberal Democrat Lord Tony Greaves stood for the party in Walverden ward.[4]

Issues in the election included the handling of proposals for closing residential homes, the proposed demolition of houses in Nelson, the condition of private housing in the area, the selection of the area as part of the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder Programme and policing.[3]

The election saw a trial of optional postal voting in an attempt to increase turnout, but there were allegations that the process was being abused.[5] The Liberal Democrats claimed that about 900 postal votes in four marginal wards were being sent to common addresses, instead of the voters own address.[6] Having the postal vote sent to another address was not illegal, but the Liberal Democrats feared fraud and that people had signed postal ballots without understanding what they were doing.[6] The police made an investigation after one agent for the Liberal Democrats requested it,[6] with the allegations also being looked into by the Electoral Commission.[7]

Election result

The results saw the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties both finish on 19 seats, while the Conservatives won 11.[8] With the number of seats having been reduced by 2, Labour lost 3 seats, the Liberal Democrats lost 1 seat and the Conservatives gained 2 seats.[8] The closest result came in Walverden ward, where it took 8 recounts before the final result was declared, with Labour winning the second seat in the ward by 2 votes over the Liberal Democrats.[8]

Following the election Labour group leader Azhar Ali remained leader of the council, after winning a 19 to 18 vote over Liberal Democrat group leader Alan Davies at the full council meeting.[9]

Pendle local election result 2002[10][11]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 19 -1 38.8 38.6 27,067 +6.1%
  Labour 19 -3 38.8 32.5 22,761 -3.9%
  Conservative 11 +2 22.4 27.7 19,411 -2.5%
  Independent 0 0 0 0.8 536 -0.1%
  Socialist Alliance 0 0 0 0.5 316 +0.5%

Ward results

Barrowford (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Allan Vickerman 840
Conservative Anthony Beckett 761
Conservative Linda Crossley 742
Liberal Democrats Michael Simpson 667
Liberal Democrats Kay Coates 658
Conservative Jonathan Eyre 615
Labour Susan Nike 359
Labour Anthony Hargreaves 275
Labour Robert Oliver 262
Turnout 5,179 47.7
Blacko and Higherford[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Shelagh Derwent 569 81.8
Labour Helen Ingham 67 9.6
Liberal Democrats Christel Abbiss 60 8.6
Majority 502 72.1
Turnout 696 52.0
Boulsworth (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Josephine Belbin 901
Liberal Democrats Alan Davies 831
Liberal Democrats David Robertson 828
Conservative Michael Calvert 392
Conservative James Farnell 305
Conservative Harold Ryder 299
Labour Deborah Gray 241
Labour Robert Parsons 241
Labour Martin Wilson 205
Turnout 4,243 41.2
Bradley (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mohammed Iqbal 1,052
Labour Frederick Hartley 1,047
Labour Mohammad Nasim 995
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Munir 885
Liberal Democrats Sonia Robinson 861
Liberal Democrats David Stopforth 800
Conservative Eric King 155
Conservative Frank Chadwick 153
Conservative Edward Myers 132
Turnout 6,080 52.1
Brierfield (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Clifford 845
Labour Pauline Allen 840
Labour Abdul Jabbar 838
Conservative Peter Jackson 818
Conservative Hussnain Ashraf 804
Conservative Francis Wren 796
Liberal Democrats William Lawrence 227
Liberal Democrats Khalid Mehmood 147
Liberal Democrats Iain Carlos 145
Turnout 5,460 56.2
Clover Hill (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Waite 675
Labour Neil Akrigg 640
Liberal Democrats Kathleen Shore 596
Labour Mohammed Ansar 577
Liberal Democrats David Foster 545
Liberal Democrats Nadeem Malik 444
Conservative Audrey Emmott 330
Conservative Marian Taylor 300
Conservative Ann Jackson 286
Turnout 4,393 43.4
Coates (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Margaret Bell 1,082
Liberal Democrats Marjorie Adams 1,020
Liberal Democrats Allan Buck 989
Labour Paul Hanson 383
Conservative David Poole 185
Conservative Joyce Myers 179
Turnout 3,838 39.8
Craven (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Whipp 1,056
Liberal Democrats Mary Norcross 973
Liberal Democrats Marlene Hill-Crane 879
Labour Frank Neal 622
Conservative Keith Harrison 254
Conservative Barbara Davison 239
Conservative Beverley Harrison 235
Turnout 4,258 43.2
Earby (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Tennant 939
Conservative Rosemary Carroll 861
Conservative Morris Horsfield 861
Liberal Democrats Doris Haigh 795
Liberal Democrats Timothy Haigh 748
Liberal Democrats Claire Day 689
Labour William Skinner 278
Labour Ruth Wilkinson 236
Turnout 5,407 45.4
Foulridge[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Carol Belshaw 352 54.7
Labour Jillian Smith 188 29.2
Liberal Democrats Michelle Birtwell 104 16.1
Majority 164 25.5
Turnout 644 47.5
Higham and Pendleside[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Nutter 567 76.7
Labour Sheila Wicks 172 23.3
Majority 395 53.5
Turnout 739 53.7
Horsfield (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sharon Davies 618
Liberal Democrats Dorothy Lord 593
Liberal Democrats Ann Kerrigan 566
Labour Paul Broughton 423
Labour David Johns 406
Labour Keith Hutson 356
Independent Peter Nowland 301
Conservative Janet Riley 207
Conservative Alexandra Thompson 192
Conservative Donald Myers 162
Turnout 3,824 36.3
Marsden (2)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dorothy Ormrod 473
Labour Gary Rowland 455
Independent Leonard Atkinson 235
Conservative Michael Landriau 232
Conservative Victoria Landriau 201
Liberal Democrats David French 100
Liberal Democrats Doris Stanworth 80
Turnout 1,776 38.2
Old Laund Booth[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John David 639 84.6
Conservative Clive Bevan 116 15.4
Majority 523 69.3
Turnout 755 62.7
Reedley (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Pauline McCormick 1,255
Conservative Willie Clegg 1,155
Conservative Tonia Barton 1,071
Labour Robert Allen 681
Labour Mohammed Hanif 599
Labour Anthony Martin 559
Liberal Democrats Victoria Greaves 258
Liberal Democrats Frances Myers 215
Liberal Democrats Alison Whipp 198
Turnout 5,991 56.2
Southfield (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sheena Dunn 787
Labour Mohammad Latif 681
Labour Azhar Ali 673
Conservative Peter Wildman 350
Conservative Jack Marshall 344
Liberal Democrats Martin Thornton 310
Liberal Democrats Rukhsar Ahmed 193
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Ashraf 159
Conservative Javed Nasim 158
Turnout 3,655 37.5
Vivary Bridge (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Clegg 617
Labour David Whalley 608
Labour Frank Allanson 510
Labour David Foat 502
Liberal Democrats Robert Jackson 479
Conservative Smith Benson 290
Conservative Ian Porter 281
Conservative Geoffrey Riley 249
Socialist Alliance Kevin Bean 149
Turnout 3,685 35.6
Walverden (2)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Adam 566
Labour Judith Robinson 546
Liberal Democrats Qadeer Ahmed 544
Liberal Democrats Anthony Greaves 478
Conservative Barbara King 186
Conservative Ann Tattersall 165
Turnout 2,485 52.0
Waterside (3)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Edwina Sargeant 626
Labour Anne Doult 499
Liberal Democrats Ian Robinson 492
Labour Ian Tweedie 442
Liberal Democrats Adrian Statham 437
Labour Ann Moulton 431
Conservative Eric Jackson 168
Socialist Alliance Richard MacSween 167
Conservative Richard Wood 165
Conservative Adrian Mitchell 151
Turnout 3,578 36.7
Whitefield (2)[8][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mahboob Ahmed 900
Labour Asjad Mahmood 846
Liberal Democrats Abdul Malik 795
Labour Mohammad Arshad 680
Conservative Michelle Ainsworth 105
Conservative Ijaz Ahmed 79
Turnout 3,405 70.1

References

  1. ↑ "Pendle". BBC News Online. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Full results". Financial Times. 4 May 2002. p. 7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pendle (Labour controlled, all seats available)". Lancashire Telegraph. 2 May 2002. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "How they will line up on May 2". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 April 2002. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  5. ↑ Hencke, David; Ward, Lucy (22 April 2002). "Countdown to May 2: Fraud alert in postal vote experiment: Efforts to counter apathy involve a risk, parties maintain". The Guardian. p. 10.
  6. 1 2 3 "Postal voting pushes up turnout in local trials". Financial Times. 1 May 2002. p. 4.
  7. ↑ Waugh, Paul (25 May 2002). "Politics: Police investigate postal vote complaints". The Independent. p. 8.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "Parties tie for council leadership". Lancashire Telegraph. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Leader holds on to post by single vote". Lancashire Telegraph. 18 May 2002. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Election results". Pendle Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  11. ↑ "Election results; Local Election". The Times. 4 May 2002. p. 16.
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