Map of the results of the 2003 Pendle Borough Council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2003.

The 2003 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

Campaign

Before the election the council had 19 Labour, 19 Liberal Democrat and 11 Conservative councillors,[3] with Labour holding power as a minority administration.[4] 18 seats were being elected, with 2 seats contested in Boulsworth after the death of councillor Jo Belbin.[3] In total 63 candidates stood, with only one sitting councillor, Abdul Jabbar in Brierfield, not standing for re-election.[3] As well as candidates from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, there were also 3 candidates from the Socialist Alliance, 4 independents and 4 from the British National Party.[3][4] This was the first time the British National Party had put up candidates in Pendle.[3]

Issues in the election included the proposed redevelopment of Nelson town centre, plans for an A56 bypass and the proposed demolition of houses in Nelson West.[5] Other issues as usual were council tax levels, litter, street safety and crime, while the national issue of the Iraq War was expected to influence voters.[5]

Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats become the largest party on the council, but without a majority, after making four gains from Labour.[6] This took the Liberal Democrats to 23 seats, compared to 15 for Labour and 11 Conservatives,[6] after the Liberal Democrats nearly won as many votes as the Conservative and Labour parties combined.[7] The Labour leader of the council, Azhar Ali, was among the councillors to lose their seats in the election, which saw the party fail to win any seats.[6] Ali blamed the defeats both on a backlash against the Iraq War and on an alleged "dirty tricks campaign".[6] Meanwhile, the British National Party failed to win any seats, but did poll a significant number of votes.[8]

Following the election many of the Liberal Democrat councillors boycotted the swearing in of a new mayor in protest against the way he was elected instead of the previous years deputy mayor.[9][10] Liberal Democrat Alan Davies became the new leader of the council, but his party initially refused to take places on the executive committee.[11] This was because the council had voted for a 4–3–3 party split on the committee rather than the 5–3–2 split the Liberal Democrats had proposed.[11] Meanwhile, the Labour group chose Frank Clifford to become the new leader of their group.[12]

Pendle local election result 2003[13][14]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 12 4 0 +4 66.7 44.5 10,798 +5.9%
  Conservative 6 0 0 0 33.3 24.0 5,821 -3.3%
  Labour 0 0 4 -4 0 21.4 5,202 -11.1%
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0 7.3 1,769 +7.3%
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0 2.2 530 +1.4%
  Socialist Alliance 0 0 0 0 0 0.6 148 +0.1%

Ward results

Barrowford[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Linda Crossley 565 31.0
Liberal Democrats Michael Simpson 535 29.4
BNP Michael Brennan 482 26.5
Labour Anthony Hargreaves 240 13.2
Majority 30 1.6
Turnout 1,822 46.5 -1.2
Conservative hold Swing
Blacko and Higherford[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Shelagh Derwent 552 84.4 +2.6
Labour Helen Ingham 62 9.5 -0.1
Liberal Democrats Carman Stanworth 40 6.1 -2.5
Majority 490 74.9 +2.8
Turnout 654 49.1 -2.9
Conservative hold Swing
Boulsworth (2)[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Robertson 784
Liberal Democrats Laurence Turner 625
Conservative Michael Calvert 493
Conservative Geoffrey Riley 370
Labour Christine Dawson 188
Labour David Foat 160
Turnout 2,620 36.6 -4.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bradley[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Munir 1,208 62.4
Labour Mohammad Sakib 727 37.6
Majority 481 24.9
Turnout 1,935 46.9 -5.2
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Brierfield[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Nawaz Ahmed 819 50.8
Labour Keith Hutson 409 25.4
Conservative Peter Jackson 330 20.5
Socialist Alliance Siobhan Daniel 54 3.3
Majority 410 25.4
Turnout 1,612 44.9 -11.3
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Clover Hill[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Kathleen Shore 768 43.8
BNP Trevor Dawson 452 25.8
Labour Mohammed Ansar 445 25.4
Conservative Michael Landriau 87 5.0
Majority 316 18.0
Turnout 1,752 47.7 +4.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Coates[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Allan Buck 989 55.4
BNP Geoffrey Whitehead 394 22.1
Labour William Skinner 176 9.9
Independent Jennifer Purcell 114 6.4
Conservative Valerie Langtree 112 6.3
Majority 595 33.3
Turnout 1,785 44.8 +5.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Craven[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Marlene Hill-Crane 880 53.7
Labour Frank Neal 548 33.4
Conservative Barbara Watson-Davison 212 12.9
Majority 332 20.2
Turnout 1,640 40.8 -2.4
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Earby[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Morris Horsfield 822 49.0
Liberal Democrats Timothy Haigh 659 39.2
Labour Ruth Wilkinson 198 11.8
Majority 163 9.7
Turnout 1,679 38.6 -6.8
Conservative hold Swing
Foulridge[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Carol Belshaw 294 62.0 +7.3
Labour Jillian Smith 114 24.1 -5.1
Liberal Democrats David Stopforth 66 13.9 -2.2
Majority 180 38.0 +12.5
Turnout 474 35.6 -11.9
Conservative hold Swing
Higham and Pendleside[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Nutter 366 51.5 -25.2
Liberal Democrats Valerie Skinner 279 39.2 +39.2
Labour Sheila Wicks 66 9.3 -14.0
Majority 87 12.2 -41.3
Turnout 711 50.9 -2.8
Conservative hold Swing
Horsfield[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Ann Kerrigan 490 41.8
Independent Peter Nowland 297 25.4
Labour Paul Broughton 213 18.2
Conservative Alexandra Thompson 135 11.5
Socialist Alliance Kevin Bean 36 3.1
Majority 193 16.5
Turnout 1,171 30.7 -5.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Old Laund Booth[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John David 555 80.1 -4.5
Conservative Clive Bevan 138 19.9 +4.5
Majority 417 60.2 -9.1
Turnout 693 56.5 -6.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Reedley[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tonia Barton 913 53.5
Labour Robert Allen 544 31.9
Liberal Democrats Shakeel Mirza 251 14.7
Majority 369 21.6
Turnout 1,708 44.2 -12.0
Conservative hold Swing
Southfield[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sonia Robinson 833 56.8
Labour Azhar Ali 377 25.7
Conservative Peter Wildman 138 9.4
Independent David Geddes 96 6.5
Independent Azar Ali 23 1.6
Majority 456 31.1
Turnout 1,467 39.8 +2.3
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Vivary Bridge[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sharon Robinson 502 34.2
BNP Brian Parker 441 30.1
Labour Frank Allanson 375 25.6
Conservative James Farnell 148 10.1
Majority 61 4.2
Turnout 1,466 37.0 +1.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Waterside[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Ian Robinson 515 48.1
Labour Ian Tweedie 360 33.6
Conservative Maureen Regan 137 12.8
Socialist Alliance Richard MacSween 58 5.4
Majority 155 14.5
Turnout 1,070 30.1 -6.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  2. ^ "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent. 3 May 2003. pp. 18–19.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Election 2003 . . .BNP puts up 4 candidates". Burnley Express. 4 April 2003.
  4. ^ a b "Who will win battle for Pendle?". Burnley Express. 25 April 2003.
  5. ^ a b "Year of controversy adds to intrigue". Lancashire Telegraph. 24 April 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d "'Dirty tricks' loses Labour control". Lancashire Telegraph. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  7. ^ "Local elections - A night of tension, jubilation and disappointment". Burnley Express. 9 May 2003.
  8. ^ "BNP breakthrough prompts backlash". Lancashire Telegraph. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Mayor protest Libs 'won't take seats'". Lancashire Telegraph. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Snub doesn't spoil big day". Lancashire Telegraph. 16 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Lib Dem to be leader". Lancashire Telegraph. 29 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  12. ^ "Council's stalwart Frank takes reins". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 May 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Election results". Pendle Borough Council. p. 47. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  14. ^ "English councils". The Times. 3 May 2003.
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