1991 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1991, with one third scheduled for re-election. Like the last election, this seen a wider variety of party candidates than most previous, but only marginally improved upon the nadir of the year before in terms of candidates, with four wards uncontested (the record low until beaten last year), Conservatives fighting just above one half of the seats and the Liberal Democrats just under - although the Lib Dems near doubled last year's total, both were historically disappointing. Minor party participation consisted of three Independent Labour candidates - including a former Beech Hill Labour councillor - two Liberals, a return of an Independent in Hindley Green and one remaining Green - their lowest fielded when participating - in Atherton.

Map of the results of the 1991 Wigan council election.

Results on the night largely turned out to be the converse of the 1988 election with Labour suffering a significant fall in their vote share, mostly to the advantage of the Lib Dems, as they decisively won back second place. There were three gains in total, with two Lib Dem gains from Labour and one vice versa. The Lib Dems achieved a notable gain in the unblemished Labour ward of Bedford-Astley, as well as a second gain in the once consistently-Labour Beech Hill. Labour managed to return Winstanley to sole Labour representation again, but their total of 18 seats was the lowest accomplished in just under a decade for them. Elsewhere the Conservative's successfully defended Swinley this time around, and the Independent Labour comfortably held Hindley. Turnout fell to a fairly average figure of 34.5%.[1]

Election result
Wigan Local Election Result 1991
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 18 1 2 -1 75.0 58.0 39,434 -11.2%
  Liberal Democrats 4 2 1 +1 16.7 19.9 13,578 +8.7%
  Conservative 1 0 0 0 4.2 15.1 10,251 +1.9%
  Independent Labour 1 0 0 0 4.2 3.4 2,311 +3.4%
  Liberal 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.8 1,215 +0.2%
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.2 820 +0.3%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.6 424 -2.7%

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

Party Previous council New council
Labour 64 63
Liberal Democrats 5 6
Conservatives 2 2
Independent Labour 1 1
Liberal 0 0
Independent 0 0
Green 0 0
Total 72 72
Working majority  56   54 

Ward results
Abram[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour B. Hampson 2,373 83.7 N/A
Conservative J. Horsewell 461 16.3 N/A
Majority 1,912 67.5 N/A
Turnout 2,834 29.2 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Ashton-Golborne[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour J. Hilton 2,191 73.0 -6.0
Conservative A. Calder 809 27.0 +6.0
Majority 1,382 46.1 -11.9
Turnout 3,000 30.5 -6.1
Labour hold Swing -6.0
Aspull-Standish[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats G. Davies 2,376 50.7 +20.6
Labour T. Mugan 1,782 38.1 -15.2
Conservative J. Carrington 524 11.2 -5.3
Majority 594 16.7 -10.4
Turnout 4,682 43.0 -3.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +17.9
Atherton[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour J. Summer 2,027 75.3 -5.0
Green S. Bickerton 424 15.7 -3.9
Independent Labour D. Graeme 242 9.0 +9.0
Majority 1,603 59.5 -1.1
Turnout 2,693 29.1 -6.2
Labour hold Swing -0.5
Bedford-Astley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats J. Lea 1,812 51.4 +51.4
Labour H. Hayes 1,713 48.6 -21.8
Majority 99 2.8 -38.1
Turnout 3,525 35.5 +1.6
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing +36.6
Beech Hill[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats V. Milton 1,992 54.1 +5.2
Labour S. Shaw 1,188 32.3 -18.9
Independent Labour J. Parkinson 320 8.7 +8.7
Conservative A. Porter 182 4.9 +4.9
Majority 804 21.8 +19.5
Turnout 3,682 41.9 -4.6
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing +12.0
Bryn[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour J. Foster 2,540 80.6 -0.1
Conservative B. Smith 610 19.4 +0.1
Majority 1,930 61.3 -0.2
Turnout 3,150 32.3 -2.6
Labour hold Swing -0.1
Hindley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Labour E. Edwardson 1,749 62.4 +62.4
Labour T. Bailey 1,053 37.6 -37.1
Majority 696 24.8 -34.1
Turnout 2,802 29.0 -7.9
Independent Labour hold Swing +49.7
Hindley Green[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour R. McAllister 2,027 71.2 -1.0
Independent J. Vickers 820 28.8 +11.3
Majority 1,207 42.4 -12.3
Turnout 2,847 24.7 -7.9
Labour hold Swing -6.1
Hindsford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour S. Little Unopposed N/A N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Hope Carr[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour L. Birtles 1,561 40.9 -8.0
Liberal Democrats J. Croft 1,491 39.1 -12.0
Conservative J. Midgley 764 20.0 +20.0
Majority 70 1.8 -0.4
Turnout 3,816 38.1 +0.3
Labour hold Swing +2.0
Ince[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour D. Molyneaux 2,217 84.1 N/A
Liberal Democrats J. Shaw 420 15.9 N/A
Majority 1,797 68.1 N/A
Turnout 2,637 33.5 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Langtree[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats S. Jeffers 2,003 39.0 +21.9
Labour M. Gallagher 1,811 35.2 -14.1
Liberal K. White 819 15.9 -5.9
Conservative J. Davies 507 9.8 -1.8
Majority 192 3.7 -23.8
Turnout 5,140 45.4 -1.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +18.0
Leigh Central[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour B. Thomas 1,722 59.6 N/A
Liberal Democrats R. Whalley 1,166 40.4 N/A
Majority 556 19.2 N/A
Turnout 2,888 32.1 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Leigh East[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour S. Kennedy Unopposed N/A N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Lightshaw[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour B. Strett 3,063 66.1 -9.8
Conservative S. Hide 1,570 33.9 +9.8
Majority 1,493 32.2 -19.6
Turnout 4,633 43.2 -0.7
Labour hold Swing -9.8
Newtown[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour M. Milligan 2,090 75.6 -13.9
Liberal Democrats L. Brooks 673 24.3 +24.3
Majority 1,417 51.3 -27.9
Turnout 2,763 30.0 -9.2
Labour hold Swing -19.1
Norley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour S. Parker Unopposed N/A N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Orrell[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour R. Capstick 1,959 52.3 -15.7
Conservative H. Melling 1,354 36.2 +4.2
Liberal Democrats J. Lancaster 429 11.4 +11.4
Majority 605 16.2 -19.9
Turnout 3,742 36.5 -2.5
Labour hold Swing -9.9
Swinley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative J. Wolstenholme 1,974 51.7 +3.9
Labour A. Bullen 1,842 48.3 -3.9
Majority 132 3.4 -0.8
Turnout 3,816 43.0 -6.1
Conservative hold Swing +3.9
Tyldesley East[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour R. Hopkinson Unopposed N/A N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Whelley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour M. Pendleton 2,116 69.8 -9.1
Liberal K. Smith 396 13.0 +13.0
Conservative F. Sidebotham 361 11.9 +0.9
Liberal Democrats H. Wagner 160 5.3 +5.3
Majority 1,720 56.7 -11.2
Turnout 3,033 34.4 -3.7
Labour hold Swing -11.0
Winstanley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour G. Roberts 1,956 53.3 -10.0
Liberal Democrats V. Gasteen 1,056 28.7 +7.9
Conservative I. Cunliffe 660 18.0 +2.1
Majority 900 24.5 -18.0
Turnout 3,672 31.3 -6.2
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing -8.9
Worsley Mesnes[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour J. Baldwin 2,203 82.2 -10.1
Conservative R. Clayton 475 17.7 +10.1
Majority 1,728 64.5 -20.2
Turnout 2,678 27.3 -5.8
Labour hold Swing -10.1

References
  1. "Wigan Council results from 1973 to 2008" (PDF). wigan.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.