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2003 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election

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The 2003 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, 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

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Before the election the Labour party held control of the council with 57 seats, while the Conservatives had 8 seats and the Liberal Democrats 6 seats.[3] A further seat was vacant in Great Bridge ward after the death of Labour councillor Jean Marson.[3] 24 seats were being contested in the election by a total of 83 candidates.[3] Labour was defending 20 of the 24 seats, with the mayor and 5 members of the cabinet among those contesting the election.[3] The Conservatives contested every seat, the Socialist Labour Party stood in 15 seats, Liberal Democrats 10, British National Party 5 and there were 2 candidates from the Freedom Party.[4]

The candidates from the British National Party and the Freedom Party caused controversy, with the UNISON trade union calling on its members to vote against them and boycott any councillors from those parties.[5] A local Labour Member of Parliament Tom Watson meanwhile said that property prices would fall if any candidates from the British National Party were elected.[6]

Election result

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The results saw the British National Party win 2 seats on the council for the first time.[7] The British National Party's John Salvage gained Princes End by 37 votes and David Watkins took Great Bridge by nearly 100 votes.[8] Meanwhile, Labour held control of the council despite dropping seats.[8] The Conservatives gained 1 seat, while the Liberal Democrats stayed on 6 seats.[8]

The first council meeting following the election on 20 May saw a protest by union members against the presence of a British National Party councillor.[9]

Sandwell Local Election Result 2003[10][11]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 17 1 4 -3 70.8 47.0 27,739 -4.6%
  Conservative 3 2 1 +1 12.5 28.6 16,897 +1.1%
  Liberal Democrats 2 1 1 0 8.3 10.6 6,261 -0.6%
  BNP 2 2 0 +2 8.3 5.9 3,483 +4.5%
  Socialist Labour 0 0 0 0 0 4.2 2,487 +1.1%
  Freedom Party 0 0 0 0 0 2.1 1,219 +0.4%
  2003 Community Party 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 732 +1.2%
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 150 +0.3%
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 69 +0.1%

Ward results

[edit]
Abbey[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Piper 1,544 56.1 +1.8
Conservative Ewart Johnson 638 23.2 −3.2
Liberal Democrats Roger Prior 490 17.8 +3.3
Socialist Labour Jasvinder Singh 81 2.9 −1.9
Majority 906 32.9 +5.0
Turnout 2,753 31.7
Labour hold Swing
Blackheath[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Price 1,200 51.9 −2.2
Conservative Mary Docker 1,056 45.7 +9.5
Socialist Labour Rajinder Singh 54 2.3 +2.3
Majority 144 6.2 −11.8
Turnout 2,310 25.7
Labour hold Swing
Bristnall[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Young 1,292 56.0 +2.0
Conservative John McHard 896 38.8 −0.8
Socialist Labour Sukhjinder Clair 119 5.2 −1.2
Majority 396 17.2 +2.8
Turnout 2,307 24.9
Labour hold Swing
Charlemont[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Ward 1,153 40.3 +1.6
Liberal Democrats Anthony Underhill 922 32.2 −3.3
Labour Victoria Handy 740 25.9 +0.2
Socialist Labour Nirmala Devi 47 1.6 +1.6
Majority 231 8.1 +4.9
Turnout 2,862 32.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Cradley Heath and Old Hill[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Southall 1,316 61.2 −0.9
Conservative Susan Bennett 835 38.8 +0.9
Majority 481 22.4 −1.7
Turnout 2,151 23.1
Labour hold Swing
Friar Park[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lewis 935 59.9 −2.8
Conservative Gaynor Skeldon 444 28.4 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Yvonne Reed 183 11.7 +2.0
Majority 491 31.4 −3.6
Turnout 1,562 19.2
Labour hold Swing
Great Barr[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mary Wilson 1,188 40.9 −3.5
Conservative Robert White 942 32.4 +5.4
Labour Sharron Devonport 774 26.7 −1.8
Majority 246 8.5 −7.4
Turnout 2,904 29.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Great Bridge[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BNP David Watkins 772 31.5 +31.5
2003 Community Party Fred Perry 732 29.9 −5.1
Labour Bob Patel 674 27.5 −19.9
Conservative Diane Meacham 273 11.1 −6.4
Majority 40 1.6
Turnout 2,451 25.9
BNP gain from Labour Swing
Greets Green and Lyng[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Badham 1,024 54.5 −4.0
Conservative Rosemarie Campbell 537 28.6 +5.0
Liberal Democrats Philip Roberts 317 16.9 −1.0
Majority 487 25.9 −9.0
Turnout 1,878 24.9
Labour hold Swing
Hateley Heath[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Blyth 930 44.0 −4.2
Liberal Democrats Rachel Cheeseman 865 41.0 +2.1
Conservative Mark Elliott 270 12.8 −0.1
Socialist Labour Chuhar Singh 47 2.2 +2.2
Majority 65 3.1 −6.2
Turnout 2,112 23.1
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Langley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Martin Prestidge 1,395 48.4 −6.9
Conservative Roland Hill 750 26.0 −5.6
BNP Alan Hipkiss 643 22.3 +22.3
Socialist Labour Bahadur Shankar 93 3.2 −0.1
Majority 645 22.4 −1.3
Turnout 2,881 30.3
Labour hold Swing
Newton[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Joyce Underhill 1,341 44.6 −0.6
Labour Simon Hackett 1,232 40.9 +3.0
Conservative Valerie Ward 386 12.8 −2.4
Socialist Labour Baldeesh Singh 50 1.7 +0.0
Majority 109 3.6 −3.6
Turnout 3,009 33.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Oldbury[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mahboob Hussain 1,619 55.1 +3.2
Conservative David Hadley 756 25.7 +3.9
Liberal Democrats Christopher Reed 291 9.9 −2.7
Socialist Labour Atma Matharu 270 9.2 −4.6
Majority 863 29.4 −0.6
Turnout 2,936 35.8
Labour hold Swing
Old Warley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Terri Grainger 1,453 54.2 +10.6
Labour Brian Caddick 1,228 45.8 +4.4
Majority 225 8.4 +6.2
Turnout 2,681 31.9
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Princes End[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BNP John Salvage 754 37.0 +12.7
Labour Elaine Giles 717 35.1 −5.5
Conservative Margaret Dixon 365 17.9 −6.8
Freedom Party Alison Aitken-Jones 135 6.6 +6.6
UKIP Kevin Walker 69 3.4 +2.4
Majority 37 1.9
Turnout 2,040 21.9
BNP gain from Labour Swing
Rowley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Iris Boucher 1,398 60.3 −5.4
Conservative Joanne Hadley 859 37.1 +2.8
Socialist Labour Amarjit Takhar 61 2.6 +2.6
Majority 539 23.3 −8.0
Turnout 2,318 24.5
Labour hold Swing
St. Pauls[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bawa Dhallu 1,467 52.6 −16.2
Socialist Labour Hari Randhawa 860 30.8 +12.1
Conservative Manjit Lall 461 16.5 +4.0
Majority 607 21.8 −28.3
Turnout 2,788 33.5
Labour hold Swing
Smethwick[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Davies 1,258 60.9 −16.2
Conservative John Patterson 563 27.3 +4.4
Socialist Labour Boota Singh 243 11.8 +11.8
Majority 695 33.7 −20.5
Turnout 2,064 24.4
Labour hold Swing
Soho and Victoria[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Darren Cooper 995 73.1 +0.3
Conservative Salahadin Adrwish 203 14.9 +3.7
Socialist Labour Malcolm Connigale 163 12.0 −4.1
Majority 792 58.2 +1.5
Turnout 1,361 27.7
Labour hold Swing
Tipton Green[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Syeda Khatun 1,724 42.0 −3.7
Freedom Party Stephen Edwards 1,084 26.4 +2.3
Conservative Ian Davies 633 15.4 +5.0
BNP Terence Taylor 526 12.8 +5.3
Socialist Labour Surinder Sandhu 134 3.3 −0.2
Majority 640 15.6 −6.0
Turnout 4,101 34.1
Labour hold Swing
Tividale[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maria Crompton 1,079 41.4 −9.0
BNP Carl Butler 788 30.2 +30.2
Conservative Steven Hockley 459 17.6 −10.7
Liberal Democrats Diane Gorton 281 10.8 +0.5
Majority 291 11.2 −10.9
Turnout 2,607 27.2
Labour hold Swing
Wednesbury North[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Elaine Costigan 1,429 62.6 −6.0
Labour Peter Allen 702 30.8 −0.6
Green John Macefield 150 6.6 +6.6
Majority 727 31.9 −5.3
Turnout 2,281 24.8
Conservative hold Swing
Wednesbury South[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Turton 1,158 51.9 −6.8
Conservative Jean Nugent 943 42.2 +0.9
Socialist Labour Karam Singh 131 5.9 +5.9
Majority 215 9.6 −7.9
Turnout 2,232 24.7
Labour hold Swing
West Bromwich Central[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mohinder Tagger 1,338 54.7 −14.2
Conservative Norman Lawley 593 24.2 +7.7
Liberal Democrats Sandra Berisford 383 15.6 +4.9
Socialist Labour Barinder Sandhu 134 5.5 +1.7
Majority 745 30.4 −22.0
Turnout 2,448 30.3
Labour hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  2. ^ "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent. 3 May 2003. pp. 18–19.
  3. ^ a b c d "Black country council nominations: Labour ready to keep power; Sandwell: But the Tories and Lib-Dems seeking gains". Birmingham Mail. 8 April 2003. p. 13.
  4. ^ Johnson, Steve (2 May 2003). "Election 2003: All eyes on fate of BNP candidates; Sandwell". Birmingham Post. p. 3.
  5. ^ Johnson, Steve (24 April 2003). "Staff to boycott extreme parties; Union's election pledge". Birmingham Mail. p. 14.
  6. ^ "BNP in homes boom 'threat'". Birmingham Mail. 28 April 2003. p. 1.
  7. ^ Norfolk, Andrew; Sherman, Jill (2 May 2003). "BNP surges in Burnley but stalls in Sunderland". The Times. p. 15.
  8. ^ a b c "Elections 2003: Far right cheer two seats win; Sandwell". Birmingham Mail. 2 May 2003. p. 11.
  9. ^ Johnson, Steve (21 May 2003). "BNP councillor faces union fury; Protest at first meeting". Birmingham Mail. p. 5.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "Election Results - May 2003". Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 27 February 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Election results". Financial Times. 2 May 2003. p. 4.
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