The 1999 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

Before the election the Liberal Democrats ran the council with 30 councillors, compared to 17 Labour, 3 Conservatives and 1 independent.[3] 17 seats were being contested in the election, with the Liberal Democrats defending 12 and Labour 5.[3] 4 sitting councillors stood down at the election, 2 each from the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties.[3]

The only candidate not from the 3 main parties was Peter Hartley, who stood as an independent green in Vivary Bridge ward,[3] but during the campaign it was reported that he was actually living in Sheffield and standing as a candidate there as well.[4]

Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats lose their majority on the council after 4 years in control.[5][6] The Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats to the Conservatives and a further 3 to the Labour party,[6] meaning that the Liberal Democrats fell to 23 seats, Labour rose to 20, the Conservatives to 7 and there remained 1 independent.[7] The Liberal Democrats said the other two parties had worked together to target Liberal Democrat held seats, but this was denied by the Conservative and Labour parties.[8]

The Labour gains came in the wards of Craven, Vivary Bridge and Whitefield, while the Conservatives took the seats of Barrowford, Earby, Foulridge and Reedley.[7] All 4 Conservatives gains were by women, meaning the Conservative group leader Roy Clarkson then had 6 female Conservative councillors in his council group.[7] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats only narrowly held a further 2 seats after recounts, Edwina Sargeant holding Waterside by 9 votes and Ian Gilhespy retaining Horsfield by a single vote.[7]

Following the election the parties were unable to agree on who should run the council.[9] As a result, the council meeting after the election had no nominations for leader of the council.[9] The Liberal Democrats voted down an attempt by Labour to take minority control and instead the councillors voted to rotate the chairmanship of the main committees over the next 12 months between the 3 parties.[9]

Pendle local election result 1999[10][11]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 8 3 0 +3 47.1 40.7 9,060 +2.1%
  Liberal Democrats 5 0 7 -7 29.4 38.2 8,520 -3.4%
  Conservative 4 4 0 +4 23.5 21.0 4,672 +1.2%
  An Independent Green Candidate 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 29 +0.1%

Ward results

Barrowford[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Linda Crossley 595 38.6 +9.6
Liberal Democrats Paul Carrins 509 33.1 -12.1
Labour Anthony Hargreaves 436 28.3 +2.6
Majority 86 5.6
Turnout 1,540 32.4 -1.1
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Boulsworth[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Robertson 649 54.6 -5.6
Conservative Richard Wood 286 24.1 +7.1
Labour David Foat 254 21.4 -1.5
Majority 363 30.5 -6.8
Turnout 1,189 28.1 +0.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bradley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Hartley 940 51.1 +1.7
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Munir 815 44.3 +4.8
Conservative Janet Riley 85 4.6 -6.5
Majority 125 6.8 -3.1
Turnout 1,840 51.1 +9.8
Labour hold Swing
Brierfield[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sajjad Karim 578 38.2 +28.0
Labour Anthony Martin 562 37.1 -17.6
Conservative Zita Lord 373 24.7 -10.3
Majority 16 1.1
Turnout 1,513 46.7 +11.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Clover Hill[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Waite 681 69.0 +10.9
Conservative Frank Chadwick 223 22.6 +3.8
Liberal Democrats David French 83 8.4 -14.7
Majority 458 46.4 +11.4
Turnout 987 28.6 -1.5
Labour hold Swing
Coates[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Margaret Bell 674 53.8 -3.4
Labour John Edwards 434 34.7 +5.8
Conservative Morris Horsfield 144 11.5 -2.4
Majority 240 18.2 -10.0
Turnout 1,252 32.5 +1.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Craven[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Neal 549 45.8 +17.0
Liberal Democrats Alison Whipp 469 39.1 -15.5
Conservative Mark Langtree 180 15.0 -1.5
Majority 80 6.7
Turnout 1,198 29.9 +1.2
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Earby[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rosemary Carroll 778 42.7 +3.2
Liberal Democrats Timothy Haigh 756 41.5 -2.2
Labour Jean Skinner 289 15.9 -0.9
Majority 22 1.2
Turnout 1,823 42.3 +4.5
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Foulridge[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Carol Belshaw 247 51.8
Liberal Democrats Peter Moss 166 34.8
Labour Martin Wilson 64 13.4
Majority 81 17.0
Turnout 477 42.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Horsfield[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Ian Gilhespy 449 43.0 -10.3
Labour David Johns 448 42.9 -3.8
Conservative Smith Benson 147 14.1 +14.1
Majority 1 0.1 -6.5
Turnout 1,044 30.9 -2.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Marsden[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Azhar Ali 614 61.9 -10.1
Conservative Michael Landriau 279 28.1 +0.1
Liberal Democrats William Masih 99 10.0 +10.0
Majority 335 33.8 -10.1
Turnout 992 27.8 +6.4
Labour hold Swing
Reedley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tonia Barton 655 50.5 -6.6
Liberal Democrats Allan Buck 459 35.4 +15.8
Labour Mohammed Razaq 183 14.1 -9.2
Majority 196 15.1 -18.7
Turnout 1,297 35.8 +2.1
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Southfield[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sheena Dunn 587 56.4 -18.0
Liberal Democrats Michael Le-Page 236 22.7 +22.7
Conservative Peter Wildman 218 20.9 -4.7
Majority 351 33.7 -15.2
Turnout 1,041 32.2 +3.7
Labour hold Swing
Vivary Bridge[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Hunting 721 50.1 +5.1
Liberal Democrats John Beck 555 38.6 -8.7
Conservative Geoffrey Riley 133 9.2 +1.6
An Independent Green Candidate Peter Hartley 29 2.0 +2.0
Majority 166 11.5
Turnout 1,438 34.3 +4.8
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Walverden[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Judith Robinson 707 51.3 +18.2
Liberal Democrats Lawrence Collett 534 38.7 -13.4
Conservative Ann Tattersall 138 10.0 -4.9
Majority 173 12.5
Turnout 1,379 46.7 +1.9
Labour hold Swing
Waterside[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Edwina Sargeant 579 47.0 +3.4
Labour Ian Tweedie 570 46.3 -3.1
Conservative Adrian Mitchell 82 6.7 -0.3
Majority 9 0.7
Turnout 1,231 38.4 +3.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Whitefield[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mohammed Ansar 1,021 50.0 +6.7
Liberal Democrats Ghulam Rasool 910 44.6 -7.1
Conservative Frank Hook 109 5.3 +0.3
Majority 111 5.4
Turnout 2,040 66.0 +6.0
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

References

  1. ^ "Pendle". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  2. ^ "How Britain voted: Council Election Results". The Independent. 8 May 1999. p. 12.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pendle Council election candidates". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 April 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Green Pete the Poet up the poll twice". Lancashire Telegraph. 16 April 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  5. ^ "Local elections: Overall Liberal control lost in Pendle on night of upsets". Lancashire Telegraph. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Polls only a slight tonic for the Blues". Lancashire Telegraph. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d "Elections: Girl power as Roy's angels oust liberals". Lancashire Telegraph. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  8. ^ "Pre-election pact claim is denied". Lancashire Telegraph. 12 May 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  9. ^ a b c "Pendle: A council without a leader". Lancashire Telegraph. 21 May 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Election results". Pendle Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  11. ^ "How the nations voted". The Times. 8 May 1999. p. 48.
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