2006 Halton Borough Council election

The 2006 Halton Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Halton Unitary Council in Cheshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

18 seats were contested in the election with only Beechwood, Daresbury and Windmill Hill wards not having elections.[3] Labour were defending 12 of the seats, including the seat of the current mayor Peter Lloyd-Jones, and needed to keep 7 to retain control of the council.[3] In total there were 56 candidates, 18 each from Labour and the Conservatives, 11 Liberal Democrats, 4 Green Party, 2 Citizens Party of Halton, 2 independents and 1 from the British National Party.[4]

Labour defended their record in control of the council saying that they had the third lowest council tax rate in North West England and were regenerating the area.[5]

Results

The results saw Labour retain control of the council after holding 11 of the 12 seats they had been defending and gaining one from the Liberal Democrats.[6] However the Labour mayor, Peter Lloyd-Jones, lost his seat to the Conservatives in Ditton ward by 29 votes.[7] Lloyd-Jones considered making a legal challenge to the results as exactly 29 ballots had been spoiled and he said there were "irregularities at the opening of the Hale Bank polling station".[6][7][8] Overall turnout in the election was 26.02%.[9]

Halton Local Election Result 2006[2][9]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 12 1 1 0 66.7 46.1 9,914 -9.2
  Conservative 3 1 0 +1 16.7 26.8 5,753 +7.4
  Liberal Democrats 3 0 1 -1 16.7 20.7 4,448 +1.4
  Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 3.6 778 +1.1
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.3 278 +0.7
  Citizens Party of Halton 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.8 173 -1.2
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.7 160 0.0

Ward results

Appleton[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Susan Edge 688 67.5
Conservative Duncan Harper 331 32.5
Majority 357 35.0
Turnout 1,019 21.8
Labour hold Swing
Birchfield[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Geoffrey Swift 721 55.3
Labour John Fahey 422 32.4
BNP Andrew Taylor 160 12.3
Majority 299 22.9
Turnout 1,303 29.3
Conservative hold Swing
Broadheath[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Morley 758 64.9
Conservative Richard Murray 410 35.1
Majority 348 29.8
Turnout 1,168 24.3
Labour hold Swing
Castlefields[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ellen Cargill 448 38.5
Liberal Democrats Peter Blackmore 332 28.5
Independent Jimmy Tang 156 13.4
Independent George Grimes 122 10.5
Conservative Terence McDermott 105 9.0
Majority 116 10.0
Turnout 1,163 25.3
Labour hold Swing
Ditton[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colin Rowan 722 51.0
Labour Peter Jones 693 49.0
Majority 29 2.0
Turnout 1,415 27.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Farnworth[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Phillip Drakeley 919 54.7
Labour Margaret Fahey 458 27.3
Liberal Democrats Anne Curzon 187 11.1
Green Teresa Miller 116 6.9
Majority 461 27.4
Turnout 1,680 32.7
Conservative hold Swing
Grange[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mark Dennett 563 48.9
Liberal Democrats Shahram Mesdaghi 335 29.1
Conservative William Dowdle 254 22.0
Majority 228 19.8
Turnout 1,152 23.3
Labour hold Swing
Hale[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Wharton 587 78.2 +4.5
Conservative Suzannah Swift 164 21.8 −4.5
Majority 423 56.4 +9.0
Turnout 751 48.1
Labour hold Swing
Halton Brook[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Stockton 538 50.1
Liberal Democrats Dianne Higginson 401 37.3
Conservative Patricia Parkinson 135 12.6
Majority 137 12.8
Turnout 1,074 22.6
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Halton Lea[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Lowe 524 53.2
Liberal Democrats Janet Clein 293 29.7
Conservative Phillip Harper 97 9.8
Citizens Party of Halton Damian Matthews 71 7.2
Majority 231 23.5
Turnout 985 21.1
Labour hold Swing
Halton View[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas McInerney 714 42.1
Green Derek Mellor 428 25.3
Liberal Democrats Damian Curzon 297 17.5
Conservative Denis Thomas 256 15.1
Majority 286 16.8
Turnout 1,695 32.1
Labour hold Swing
Heath[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Christopher Rowe 901 55.0
Conservative Marjorie Bradshaw 483 29.5
Labour Christopher Loftus 255 15.6
Majority 418 25.5
Turnout 1,639 35.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Hough Green[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Phillip Harris 760 64.3
Conservative Peter Browne 422 35.7
Majority 338 28.6
Turnout 1,182 22.4
Labour hold Swing
Kingsway[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Francis Fraser 636 65.7
Conservative Frank Lloyd 208 21.5
Green Dashmesh Shergill 124 12.8
Majority 428 44.2
Turnout 968 20.0
Labour hold Swing
Mersey[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Trevor Higginson 590 46.6
Labour Nortman Plumpton 486 38.4
Conservative Maureen Forsyth 190 15.0
Majority 104 8.2
Turnout 1,266 26.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Norton North[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Phillip Worrall 706 51.6
Labour Joan Lowe 390 28.5
Conservative Mary Taylor 163 11.9
Green Michael Davies 110 8.0
Majority 316 23.1
Turnout 1,369 28.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Norton South[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Martha Jones 535 57.0
Liberal Democrats Jaynes Worrall 208 22.2
Citizens Party of Halton Joseph Glover 102 10.9
Conservative Phillip Balmer 94 10.0
Majority 327 34.8
Turnout 939 19.5
Labour hold Swing
Riverside[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Pamela Wallace 459 62.4
Liberal Democrats Paul Meara 198 26.9
Conservative Margaret Hill 79 10.7
Majority 261 35.5
Turnout 736 21.2
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "Local elections: Halton". BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Graeme (5 May 2006). "Conservatives Cameron's crusade puts Tories back on victory trail". The Daily Telegraph. London. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b Coligan, Nick (4 April 2006). "Labour battle to smash hold of Lib Dems on city". Liverpool Echo. p. 11.
  4. ^ "Who'll be getting your vote on election day?". This Is Cheshire. 5 April 2006. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  5. ^ Traynor, Luke; Coligan, Nick (3 May 2006). "There's all to play for as votes hang in the balance; In the final part of our series on how communities could be affected by the 4 May local electionsm we look at St Helens, Halton and Warrington". Liverpool Echo. p. 31.
  6. ^ a b "Labour go on attack". Liverpool Echo. 5 May 2006. p. 2.
  7. ^ a b "Mayor's vote riddle; Halton". Liverpool Daily Post. 5 May 2006. p. 3.
  8. ^ "Labour lose control of Warrington". BBC News. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Local Election Results 2006". Halton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Local elections 2006: the results". This Is Cheshire. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2010.