1996 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 1996 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 1996 to elect members of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council in England.[2] This election was held on the same day as other local elections.

1996 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election

2 May 1996
22 of 66 seats (One Third) to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council 34 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	35.0% (3.2%)[1]
Lab Leader Dave Jackson John Hale Phil Gilchrist Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Bromborough Hoylake Eastham Last election 15 seats, 53.5% 4 seats, 25.8% 3 seats, 20.1% Seats before 36 22 8 Seats won 13 6 3 Seats after 41 16 9 Seat change 5 6 1 Popular vote 41,521 25,611 17,066 Percentage 48.9% 30.2% 20.1% Swing 4.6% 4.4%
Map of results of 1996 election
Leader of the Council before election Dave Jackson Labour Leader of the Council after election Dave Jackson Labour

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Party		Seats	±
	Labour	41	5
	Conservative	16	6
	Liberal Democrats	9	1

[3]

Election results

Overall election result

Overall result compared with 1995.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election results, 1996
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	22	13	5	0	5	59.1	48.9	41,521	4.6
	Conservative	20	6	0	6	6	27.3	30.2	25,611	4.4
	Liberal Democrats	22	3	1	0	1	13.6	20.1	17,066
	Green	6	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	555	0.1
	Independent	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	161	N/A

[1][2]

Ward results

Bebington

Bebington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Williams	2,171	47.7	4.9
	Conservative	Brian Cummings	1,940	42.6	2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Turner	363	8.0	0.7
	Green	Ann Jones	77	1.7	New
Majority			231	5.1	7.4
Registered electors			10,555
Turnout				43.1	4.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	3.7

[2][4]

Bidston

Bidston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Williams	1,713	88.4	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Tomlinson	224	11.6	6.8
Majority			1,489	76.9	8.9
Registered electors			8,211
Turnout				23.6	7.8
	Labour hold		Swing	4.5

[2]

Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Gower	2,228	88.0	0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Redfern	303	12.0	5.9
Majority			1,925	76.1	6.1
Registered electors			10,211
Turnout				24.8	5.9
	Labour hold		Swing	3.1

[2]

Bromborough

Bromborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Jackson	2,401	65.1	8.1
	Conservative	K. Roberts	658	17.9	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	M. Bolton	384	10.4	0.2
	Independent	J. Rohan	161	4.4	New
	Green	J. Jones	82	2.2	New
Majority			1,743	47.3	9.7
Registered electors			10,752
Turnout				34.3	2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	4.9

[2]

Clatterbridge

Clatterbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Moore	2,478	45.1	7.2
	Labour	L. Flanagan	2,066	37.6	5.2
	Liberal Democrats	W. Walsh	947	17.2	2.1
Majority			412	7.5	N/A
Registered electors			13,713
Turnout				40.0	1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.2

[2]

Claughton

Claughton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Davies	2,007	51.7	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Kelly	1,237	31.8	5.3
	Conservative	P. Greening-Jackson	560	14.4	2.9
	Green	George Bowler	80	2.1	0.5
Majority			770	19.8	7.1
Registered electors			10,359
Turnout				37.5	4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	3.6

[2][5][6]

Eastham

Eastham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Phillip Gilchrist	2,805	65.1	6.3
	Labour	A. McGuiness	1,059	24.6	5.2
	Conservative	S. Hutchence	444	10.3	1.1
Majority			1,746	40.5	11.4
Registered electors			11,170
Turnout				38.6	3.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.8

[2][7]

Egerton

Egerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andew Dow	2,290	75.3	1.5
	Conservative	H. Jackson-Payne	407	13.4	1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Lloyd	238	7.8	0.9
	Green	Joyce Hogg	107	3.5	1.3
Majority			1,883	61.9	2.6
Registered electors			10,554
Turnout				28.8	5.9
	Labour hold		Swing	1.3

[2]

Heswall

Heswall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Price	2,820	60.3	4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Norton	1,040	22.2	2.5
	Labour	C. Murphy	820	17.5	6.8
Majority			1,780	38.0	6.2
Registered electors			13,119
Turnout				35.7	2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.2

[2]

Hoylake

Hoylake

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hilary Jones	2,433	55.5	2.1
	Labour	Alan Milne	1,218	27.8	3.5
	Liberal Democrats	A. Richards	733	16.7	1.4
Majority			1,215	27.7	5.6
Registered electors			12,232
Turnout				35.8	2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.8

[2]

Leasowe

Leasowe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronald Abbey	2,169	77.1	4.8
	Conservative	Ian Lewis	418	14.8	4.7
	Liberal Democrats	C. Robertson	228	8.1	0.1
Majority			1,751	62.2	9.6
Registered electors			9,345
Turnout				30.1	3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	4.8

[2][8][9]

Liscard

Liscard

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denis Knowles	2,421	64.6	7.3
	Conservative	M. Ebbs	883	23.6	New
	Liberal Democrats	M. Todd	444	11.8	16.3
Majority			1,538	41.0	2.7
Registered electors			11,087
Turnout				33.8	2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.4

[2][10]

Moreton

Moreton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ann McLachlan	2,148	60.5	2.1
	Conservative	Vic Borg	1,177	33.1	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Susanne Uriel	228	6.4	0.5
Majority			971	27.3	3.6
Registered electors			9,583
Turnout				37.1	7.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.9

[2][11]

New Brighton

New Brighton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	V. McGee	2,132	59.3	3.1
	Conservative	H. Tooke	1,038	28.9	4.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Codling	424	11.8	0.9
Majority			1,094	30.4	7.1
Registered electors			11,289
Turnout				31.8	4.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	3.6

[2]

Oxton

Oxton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alec Dunn	2,221	56.3	3.0
	Labour	Pauline Cocker	1,123	28.5	2.3
	Conservative	Cyrus Ferguson	524	13.3	0.8
	Green	Garnette Bowler	75	1.9	0.2
Majority			1,098	27.8	5.3
Registered electors			11,261
Turnout				35.0	4.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.7

[2]

Prenton

Prenton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Bridson	2,300	47.8	1.6
	Labour	R. Pullen	1,595	33.2	2.6
	Conservative	J. Thomas	912	19.0	1.0
Majority			705	14.7	4.3
Registered electors			11,399
Turnout				42.2	1.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	2.1

[2][12]

Royden

Royden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Robinson	2,280	50.1	4.7
	Labour	R. Pennington	1,307	28.7	3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Reisdorf	966	21.2	1.2
Majority			973	21.4	8.2
Registered electors			10,963
Turnout				41.5	3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.2

[2][13]

Seacombe

Seacombe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Clee	2,564	82.7	0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Moira Gallagher	297	9.6	3.9
	Conservative	Patricia Jones	240	7.7	0.5
Majority			2,267	73.1	2.2
Registered electors			10,963
Turnout				28.3	5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	1.1

[2]

Thurstaston

Thurstaston (ward)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sid Dunn	2,454	51.1	4.9
	Labour	A. Beer	1,849	38.5	1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Wall	495	10.3	3.9
Majority			605	12.6	6.1
Registered electors			12,228
Turnout				39.1	3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.0

[2]

Tranmere

Tranmere

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Moira McLaughlin	1,824	79.9	3.8
	Conservative	C. Bowditch	174	7.6	1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Blaylock	151	6.6	0.5
	Green	Catherine Page	134	5.9	2.0
Majority			1,650	72.3	5.2
Registered electors			9,509
Turnout				24.0	6.3
	Labour hold		Swing	2.6

[2][14]

Upton

Upton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Bell	2,579	58.3	6.3
	Conservative	L. Turnbull	1,350	30.5	6.4
	Liberal Democrats	N. Sherwen	492	11.1	0.2
Majority			1,229	27.8	12.8
Registered electors			12,466
Turnout				35.5	2.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	6.4

[2]

Wallasey

Wallasey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kate Wood	2,421	50.4	10.6
	Labour	Geoffrey Caton	1,837	38.2	6.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Uriel	546	11.4	4.2
Majority			584	12.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,690
Turnout				41.1	2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.5

[2][15]

Changes between 1996 and 1998

Wallasey by-election 1997

By-election, 13 March 1997: Wallasey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley Rennie	1,781	47.3	3.1
	Labour	Elizabeth McArdle	1,490	39.5	1.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Uriel	443	11.8	0.4
	Green	George Bowler	54	1.4	New
Majority			291	7.7	4.5
Turnout				32.2	8.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.2

[16][17][18]

Other changes

Date	Ward	Name	Previous affiliation		New affiliation		Circumstance
?	Prenton	Ed Cunniffe		Liberal Democrats		Ind. Liberal Democrat	Resigned.[19]

Notes

• italics denote the sitting councillor • bold denotes the winning candidate

References

1. "Local Election Summaries 1996". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
2. "Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Election Results 1973-2012 (Pg. 13 and 14)" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
3. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
4. "Councillor Jerry Williams". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
5. "Councillor George Davies". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
6. "Councillor Stuart Kelly". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
7. "Councillor Phil Gilchrist". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
8. "Councillor Ron Abbey". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
9. "Councillor Ian Lewis". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
10. "Councillor Denis Knowles". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
11. "Councillor Ann McLachlan". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
12. "Councillor Ann Bridson". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
13. "Councillor Peter Reisdorf". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
14. "Councillor Moira McLaughlin". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
15. "Councillor Mrs Kate Wood". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
16. "Kate calls Labour foul on soccer". Wirral Globe. 26 March 1997. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
17. "Councillor Lesley Rennie". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
18. "Councillor Anne McArdle". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
19. "Lib Dem councillor switches sides". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

Mellows-Facer, Adam (10 May 2006). "Local election 2006". parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
"BBC NEWS VOTE 2003 WIRRAL". BBC News. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 29 December 2018.