2002 Wyre Forest District Council election
The 2002 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.[1]
![](../I/Wyre_Forest_UK_local_election_2002_map.png.webp)
After the election, the composition of the council was:
- Health Concern 21
- Conservative 6
- Labour 5
- Liberal 5
- Liberal Democrats 2
- Independent 2
- Vacant 1[2]
Campaign
Before the election the council was run by a coalition of Health Concern, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Liberal councillors.[3] 14 seats were initially expected to be contested with the Conservatives unopposed in Chaddesley ward.[3] However, in mid April the defending Liberal Democrat councillor for Sutton Park, Steve Roberts, died meaning that the election in that ward was postponed until a by-election could be held.[4] With Labour defending 6 of the seats which were being contested there was an expectation that the Health Concern group could gain a majority on the council.[3][5] Since the last election in 2000, Richard Taylor from Health Concern had gained the parliamentary constituency from Labour in the 2001 general election.[6]
The issue of the downgrading of the local Kidderminster hospital, which had dominated the last two council election, continued to remain a significant theme of the campaign.[5][7] Another issue which was raised in the campaign was concern over plans to establish a new incinerator in Kidderminster,[7] which was opposed by all the parties contesting the election.[5]
Election result
The results saw the Health Concern party gain control of the council after making a net gain of five seats.[6][8] This meant that Health Concern had 21 seats,[9] 15 more than any other party.[6] They thus had control of the council on the chairman's casting vote.[10]
The gains for Health Concern were mainly at the expense of Labour who lost five seats, with the Liberal Democrats also losing a seat.[6] However both the Conservative and Liberal parties gained one seat each.[6] Overall turnout at the election was 32%.[10]
Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | 7 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 53.8 | 29.6 | 5,837 | ||
Conservative | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 23.1 | 25.1 | 4,947 | ||
Liberal | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 15.4 | 13.0 | 2,569 | ||
Labour | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 7.7 | 24.8 | 4,892 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 6.3 | 1,233 | ||
Independent | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1.1 | 221 | ||
Ward results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Keith Robertson | 781 | 34.2 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Peter Dyke | 712 | 31.2 | ||
Conservative | Keith Fletcher | 560 | 24.6 | ||
Labour | Mari Jones | 154 | 6.8 | ||
Liberal | Kevin Hill | 74 | 3.2 | ||
Majority | 69 | 3.0 | |||
Turnout | 2,281 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Albert Adams | 694 | 46.6 | ||
Conservative | Michael Partridge | 575 | 38.6 | ||
Independent | Jim Millington | 221 | 14.8 | ||
Majority | 119 | 8.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,490 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Stephen Clee | 836 | 54.7 | ||
Labour | Paul Gittins | 692 | 45.3 | ||
Majority | 144 | 9.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,528 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Marion Spragg | 591 | 46.6 | ||
Labour | John Stevens | 306 | 24.1 | ||
Liberal | Rob Wheway | 189 | 14.9 | ||
Conservative | John Friend | 120 | 9.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Michael Gay | 62 | 4.9 | ||
Majority | 285 | 22.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,268 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Stephen Williams | unopposed | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Kimberley Poller | 819 | 48.1 | ||
Labour | Nigel Knowles | 549 | 32.2 | ||
Conservative | Kevin Ruddy | 299 | 17.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Nigel Goodman | 37 | 2.2 | ||
Majority | 270 | 15.9 | |||
Turnout | 1,704 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Paul Harrison | 960 | 57.2 | ||
Health Concern | Mike Shellie | 364 | 21.7 | ||
Labour | John Gretton | 224 | 13.3 | ||
Conservative | Geoff Bulmer | 131 | 7.8 | ||
Majority | 596 | 35.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,679 | ||||
Liberal gain from Health Concern | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Howard Eeles | 1,036 | 53.1 | ||
Labour | Lynn Hyde | 656 | 33.6 | ||
Conservative | Neil Anderson | 220 | 11.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Mike Price | 40 | 2.0 | ||
Majority | 380 | 19.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,952 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Jill Fairbrother-Millis | 920 | 53.2 | ||
Conservative | Gary Talbot | 463 | 26.8 | ||
Labour | Graham Whitefoot | 346 | 20.0 | ||
Majority | 457 | 26.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,729 | ||||
Health Concern hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Maureen Aston | 665 | 44.5 | ||
Conservative | David Little | 473 | 31.7 | ||
Labour | Mick Grinnall | 356 | 23.8 | ||
Majority | 192 | 12.8 | |||
Turnout | 1,494 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Mike Oborski | 1,346 | 74.2 | ||
Labour | Adrian Sewell | 240 | 13.2 | ||
Conservative | Margaret Gregory | 229 | 12.6 | ||
Majority | 1,106 | 61.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,815 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nathan Desmond | 543 | 43.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Clare Cassidy | 382 | 30.5 | ||
Labour | William Bradley | 328 | 26.2 | ||
Majority | 161 | 12.8 | |||
Turnout | 1,253 | ||||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health Concern | Tony Greenfield | 661 | 43.9 | ||
Conservative | Louise Edginton | 498 | 33.1 | ||
Labour | Barry McFarland | 347 | 23.0 | ||
Majority | 163 | 10.8 | |||
Turnout | 1,506 | ||||
Health Concern gain from Independent | Swing | ||||
By-elections between 2002 and 2003
A by-election was held in Sutton Park on 13 June 2002 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Roberts.[24] The seat was gained for the Conservatives by Marcus Hart with a majority of 77 votes over Health Concern candidate Jennifer Harrison.[24] This meant Health Concern no longer had a majority on the council, but continued to run the council with the casting vote of the council chairman, as they had 21 of the 42 seats on the council.[24]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Marcus Hart | 583 | 38.1 | +29.7 | |
Health Concern | Jennifer Harrison | 506 | 33.1 | -20.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Clare Cassidy | 253 | 16.5 | -12.4 | |
Labour | William Bradley | 187 | 12.2 | +3.5 | |
Majority | 77 | 5.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,529 | 31.8 | |||
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
References
- "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Election results; Local Elections". The Times. 3 May 2002. p. 6.
- "Labour control on a knife-edge ; Mail focus on the May 2 local council elections". Birmingham Mail. 12 April 2002. p. 8.
- "Sudden death of former mayor and top Liberal". Birmingham Mail. 15 April 2002. p. 5.
- "Health Concern look for control". Birmingham Mail. 1 May 2002. p. 2.
- Lister, Sam (3 May 2002). "Council falls to party fighting on health issues". The Times. p. 7.
- Brady, Emma (30 March 2002). "Local Elections 2002: Councillor's death could make it a low-key campaign". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
- "Poll success for health campaigners". BBC News Online. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
- McSmith, Andy (3 May 2002). "Hospital party takes control". The Daily Telegraph. p. 4.
- Smith, Sue (3 May 2002). "Local Election Results 2002: Protest's healthy majority". Birmingham Mail. p. 17.
- "Wyre Forest". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Aggborough and Spennells". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Areley Kings". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Bewdley". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Broadwaters". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Chaddesley Corbett". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Franche". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Greenhill". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Habberley and Blakebrook". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Mitton". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Offmore". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Oldington and Foley Park". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Wribbenhall and Arley". Malvern Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- "Changing vote claim". Worcestershire, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and Shropshire Counties Publications. NewsBank. 20 June 2002.