2004 Worcester City Council election

The 2004 Worcester City Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Worcester City Council in Worcestershire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003 reducing the number of seats by one.^[1] The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the council was composed of 18 Conservatives, 10 Labour, 4 independents, 2 Liberal Democrats, 1 independent Conservative and 1 vacant seat.^[3] Boundary changes saw the number of seats reduced from 36 to 35 for the 2004 election,^[4] meaning that the whole council would be up for election for the first time since 1976.^[5] This also meant that the number of wards was increased from 12 to 15, with new wards including Cathedral and Rainbow Hill.^[6]

All parties were hoping to make gains with the Conservatives defending their record in control of the council, which they said included having a balanced budget and keeping the council tax rise down to 2.5%.^[6] Other issues raised in the election included recycling, improving public transport, dealing with traffic congestion and keeping the streets clean.^[6]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives achieve a majority on the council after winning 18 of the 35 seats.^[4] Labour remained on 10 seats while the Liberal Democrats gained 1 to hold 3 seats.^[4]

Worcester Local Election Result 2004^[7]^[8]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	18	-1	51.4	45.6	24,729	+4.3%
Labour	10	0	28.6	28.8	15,576	-7.1%
Independent	4	-1	11.4	8.6	4,653	-0.9%
Liberal Democrats	3	+1	8.6	15.4	8,346	+4.6%
BNP	0	0	0	1.6	871	+0.4%

Ward results

Arboretum (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Peachey	694
	Labour	Richard Bird	693
	Conservative	Jonathon Cunningham	656
	Conservative	Haris Saleem	524
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Orr	471
Turnout			3,038	41

Battenhall (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Robert Rowden	906
	Conservative	David Tibbutt	833
	Liberal Democrats	Louis Stephen	456
	Labour	Andrew Watson	411
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Griffiths	399
	Labour	Christopher Winwood	344
Turnout			3,349	44

Bedwardine (3)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Derek Prodger	1,313
	Conservative	David Clark	1,112
	Conservative	Barry Mackenzie-Williams	935
	Liberal Democrats	Vaughan Hencher	690
	Labour	Gary Kibblewhite	689
	BNP	Mark Heaton	410
Turnout			5,149	40

Cathedral (3)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Francis Lankester	1,302
	Conservative	Allah Ditta	1,168
	Conservative	Mohammed Riaz	1,071
	Labour	Ali Asghar	780
	Labour	Simon Cronin	777
	Labour	Patricia Agar	771
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Macbriar	658
Turnout			6,527	41

Claines (3)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Askin	1,709
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Smith	1,581
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Kear	1,399
	Conservative	William Elsy	1,228
	Conservative	Nicola Lynas	1,165
	Conservative	Robert Campbell	1,138
	Labour	Clive Andrews	535
Turnout			8,755	51

Gorse Hill (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Roger Berry	709
	Labour	Geoffrey Williams	601
	BNP	Martin Roberts	461
	Conservative	Gordon Hazelton	321
Turnout			2,092	34

Nunnery (3)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Layland	1,233
	Independent	Keith Burton	951
	Independent	Stanley Knowles	747
	Labour	Nicholas Balsdon	701
	Labour	Christopher Taylor	604
	Conservative	James Maguire	482
Turnout			4,718	37

Rainbow Hill (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Adrian Gregson	641
	Labour	Paul Denham	570
	Conservative	Nicholas Turner	344
	Conservative	Sajeeda Begum	275
Turnout			1,830	26

St. Clement (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Simon Geraghty	940
	Conservative	Ian Imray	734
	Labour	Allyson Craigan	503
	Independent	Brian Chadd	435
	Independent	Paul Coveney	373
Turnout			2,985	39

St. John (3)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Margaret Layland	914
	Labour	David Candler	822
	Labour	Samuel Arnold	795
	Labour	Matthew Lamb	764
	Conservative	Alastair Little	584
	Conservative	Stephen Hall	538
Turnout			4,417	33

St. Peter's (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roger Knight	1,047
	Conservative	Frank Tarbuck	790
	Labour	Reginald Price	423
Turnout			2,260	35

St. Stephen (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stephen Inamn	832
	Conservative	Gareth Jones	816
	Liberal Democrats	Hilary Craig	349
	Liberal Democrats	Celia Foulger	323
	Labour	George Squires	311
Turnout			2,631	37

Warndon (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Pamela Clayton	670
	Labour	Josephine Hodges	586
	Conservative	Colin Bruton	307
	Conservative	Martin Hudson	281
Turnout			1,844	26

Warndon Parish North (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Martin Clarke	667
	Conservative	Stephen Hudgson	592
	Labour	John Buckley	518
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Hartley	311
	Labour	Colin Layland	292
Turnout			2,380	34

Warndon Parish South (2)^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lucy Hodgson	933
	Conservative	Rodney Staines	895
	Labour	Richard Udall	372
Turnout			2,200	34

References

^ "Worcester council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
^ "Elections 2004: Local authorities in England and Wales (with eight authorities still to declare)". The Independent. 12 June 2004. p. 9.
^ Elkes, Neil (14 May 2004). "Spitting in the face of God ; Fury as BNP fight 50 Midlands election seats". Birmingham Mail. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b ^c Blakemore, Sophie (12 June 2004). "Council Elections: Worcester: Boundary changes help seal a majority". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
^ "Blair holds breath as city goes to the polls". Malvern Gazette. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c "Let battle commence". Malvern Gazette. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Worcester council elections: 10th June 2004". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
^ "Elections 2004: Results at a glance". The Guardian. 12 June 2004. p. 10.

[hold-1] "Worcester council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 January 2010.

[declare-2] "Elections 2004: Local authorities in England and Wales (with eight authorities still to declare)". The Independent. 12 June 2004. p. 9.

[spitting-3] Elkes, Neil (14 May 2004). "Spitting in the face of God ; Fury as BNP fight 50 Midlands election seats". Birmingham Mail. p. 1.

[boundary-4] Blakemore, Sophie (12 June 2004). "Council Elections: Worcester: Boundary changes help seal a majority". Birmingham Post. p. 4.

[breath-5] "Blair holds breath as city goes to the polls". Malvern Gazette. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[battle-6] "Let battle commence". Malvern Gazette. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[results-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Worcester council elections: 10th June 2004". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2010.

[glance-8] "Elections 2004: Results at a glance". The Guardian. 12 June 2004. p. 10.

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v t e Council elections in Worcestershire
Worcestershire CC	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Bromsgrove	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Malvern Hills	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1997 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Redditch	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Worcester	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Wychavon	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Wyre Forest	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2023
Hereford & Worcester CC	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (2003 ←) 2004 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2005)
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