2012 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2012 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election took on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in England, as part of the 2012 United Kingdom local elections.[1] 22 seats, representing one third of the total Council membership, were up for election in single-member wards. Ten - nearly half - of the members elected were newcomers to the Council; five of these defeated sitting Councillors seeking re-election, whilst in the other five wards, the incumbent retired. Two incumbents stood under different labels to those they were elected under in 2008; both were defeated in their wards.

Map of the results of the 2012 Sefton council election. Labour in red, Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue.

The election resulted in a landslide for the Labour Party, which won 48% of the popular vote and 15 of the seats up for election - more than double the seven it went into the election with. Labour won a clean sweep in the southern constituencies of Sefton Central and Bootle. This brought the total number of seats controlled by Labour on the Council up to 36 giving the party an overall majority of six. As a result, the Sefton Labour Group formed a majority administration for the first time since the Council's creation in 1973.[2] Although the party failed to make a breakthrough in the northern town of Southport, it did win more than 20% of the popular vote there, a feat it has not achieved at a general election since 1966. The party also out-polled Conservative Party in three of Southport's seven wards and out-polled a sitting Councillor (in Duke's Ward) for the first time in years.

The election representing a serious defeat for the other three parties defending seats. All incumbent Conservatives seeking re-election were defeated, including group leader Paula Parry who lost her Blundellsands ward to Labour on a swing of nearly 22%. Only one Conservative was elected; newcomer Ted Hartill successfully defended outgoing deputy leader Brenda Porter's seat of Ainsdale, though the Conservative margin of victory was cut from 45 in 2008 to just 15 points. They lost a third of the support they had attained in the 2011 borough election, falling into third place in terms of votes and being left with just eight seats on the Council. Their 17% share of the vote was well below the national party's 31%.

For the Liberal Democrats, the result was slightly better but still represented a crushing defeat for a party that only two years previously had been the largest on Sefton Council. They gained two seats in Southport from the Conservatives (including one Independent Conservative) and retained all the seats they were defending there but lost all five they were defending in the south of the borough to Labour, reducing their overall strength from 23 to 20. Their share of the vote was only 19% across all of Sefton however, scarcely more than the party's national average of 16% and leaving them nearly thirty points behind Labour. In roughly a third of the seats up for election the Lib Dems won less than 100 votes.

Additionally, the United Kingdom Independence Party lost its sole seat on the Council. Former Conservative Councillor and mayor Alf Doran, who had crossed the floor to join UKIP in 2011,[3] was defeated in his bid to be re-elected. He finished a close third, just 77 votes behind the Conservatives and 85 behind the victorious Labour Party. No other party was able to return members to the Council; only the local issues Southport Party came remotely close in Norwood, where its candidate finished a distant third behind Labour and the Lib Dems. The only independent, a former Conservative Councillor seeking re-election, was defeated.

Ward results

Asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent seeking re-election.

Ainsdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ted Hartill 1,446 38
Liberal Democrats Lynne Thompson 869 23
Labour Stephen Jowett 653 17
UKIP Jim Doyle 624 17
Green Barbara Dutton 180 5
Majority 577
Turnout 3,772 39
Conservative hold Swing 3% Con to Lib Dem
Birkdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Richard Hands* 1,225 39
UKIP Terry Durrance 707 22
Labour Ged Wright 688 22
Conservative Nigel Ball 555 17
Majority 518
Turnout 3,175 33
Liberal Democrats hold Swing 6.5% Con to Lib Dem
Blundellsands
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Veronica Bennett 2,117 53
Conservative Paula Parry* 1,448 36
UKIP Tony Ledgerton 179 5
Green Laurence Rankin 138 3
Liberal Democrats Kris Brown 87 2
Majority 669
Turnout 3,969 45
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
Cambridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Pat Keith* 1,459 42
Conservative Cath Regan 734 21
UKIP Gordon Ferguson 720 21
Labour Muriel Langley 566 16
Majority 725
Turnout 3,479 37
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing 11.5% Con to Lib Dem
Church
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Paul Cummins* 1,930 73
UKIP Joseph Hedgecock 265 10
Conservative Helen Barber 187 7
Green Julia Thorne 185 7
Liberal Democrats Sylvia Mainey 75 3
Majority 1,665
Turnout 2,642 30
Labour hold Swing
Derby
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Carol Gustafson* 1,809 81
UKIP John Rice 302 14
Conservative Alex McIvor 64 3
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Robertson 56 3
Majority 1,507
Turnout 2,231 25
Labour hold Swing
Dukes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Tony Dawson 996 30
Conservative Bob Ayres 827 25
Labour Peter Gaffney 473 14
UKIP John Lyon-Taylor 390 12
Southport Party Harry Forster 359 11
Independent David Pearson*[4] 288 9
Majority 169
Turnout 2,387
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent Swing 6.5% Con to Lib Dem
Ford
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Paulette Lappin 1,872 81
UKIP Philip Wordley 307 13
Conservative Veronica Murphy 84 4
Liberal Democrats Winifred Maher 54 2
Majority 1,565
Turnout 2,317 26
Labour hold Swing
Harington
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Nina Killen 1,146 31
Conservative Simon Jamieson 1,138 31
UKIP Alf Doran*[5] 1,061 29
Liberal Democrats Dru Haydon 321 9
Majority 8
Turnout 3,666 38
Labour gain from UKIP Swing
Kew
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Maureen Fearn* 1,028 37
Labour Janet Harrison 800 29
UKIP Michael Lewtas 578 21
Conservative Chris Cross 390 14
Majority 228
Turnout 2,796 30
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Linacre
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Doreen Kerrigan* 1,682 92
Liberal Democrats James Murray 74 4
Conservative Marika Jenkins 73 4
Majority 1,608
Turnout 1,829 23
Labour hold Swing
Litherland
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Patricia Hardy* 1,705 80
UKIP Sheila Grace 174 8
Conservative Jessamine Hounslea 159 7
Liberal Democrats Daniel Lewis 95 4
Majority 1,531
Turnout 2,133 26
Labour hold Swing
Manor
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Kelly 1,908 59
Conservative Sharon Hutchinson 749 23
UKIP Craig Hughes 362 11
Liberal Democrats Carol Tonkiss 235 7
Majority 1,159
Turnout 3,254 33
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Meols
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats John Dodd* 1,327 40
Conservative Sarah Jackson 600 18
Labour Maureen Stoker 560 17
Southport Party Margaret Brown 489 15
UKIP Patricia Shanks 372 11
Majority 727
Turnout 3,348 35
Liberal Democrats hold Swing 10% Con to Lib Dem
Molyneux
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Paula Murphy 1,888 59
Liberal Democrats Peter Gill 659 20
UKIP Peter Harper 405 13
Conservative Nigel Barber 201 6
Green Tony Christian 69 2
Majority 1,229
Turnout 3,222 33
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Netherton & Orrell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Robert Brennan* 1,804 74
UKIP Pat Gaskell 241 10
TUSC Peter Glover 227 9
Conservative Viv Becker 108 4
Liberal Democrats Carol Hill 59 2
Majority 1,503
Turnout 2,439 28
Labour hold Swing
Norwood
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ronnie Fearn* 1,215 39
Labour Lesley Delves 820 27
Southport Party Jacqueline Barlow 555 18
Conservative Graham Campbell 343 11
Green Neville Grundy 147 5
Majority 395
Turnout 3,080 31
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Park
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Stephen Kermode 2,027 53
Liberal Democrats Robbie Fenton* 1,145 30
UKIP Peter Gannon 304 8
Conservative Martyn Barber 295 8
Green Roy Greason 81 2
Majority 882
Turnout 3,852 40
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Ravenmeols
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Peter Maguire 2,163 54
Conservative Barry Griffiths 1,260 32
UKIP Nicola Ledgerton 380 10
Green Richard Willis 172 4
Majority 903
Turnout 3,975 43
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
St. Oswald
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Mahon* 2,035 91
Conservative Michael Dandy 112 5
Liberal Democrats James Ludley 79 4
Majority 1,923
Turnout 2,226 27
Labour hold Swing
Sudell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Lynn Gatherer 2,124 59
Liberal Democrats Clifford Mainey* 820 23
UKIP Gordon Kinread 286 8
Conservative Wendy Moore 285 8
Green Andrew Rossall 86 2
Majority 1,304
Turnout 3,601 36
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Victoria
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Roche 2,114 59
Liberal Democrats Jack Colbert 889 25
Conservative Paul Barber 329 9
UKIP Mike Kelly 267 7
Majority 1,225
Turnout 3,599 36
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
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References
  1. "Local elections 2012". BBC News. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  2. "Labour takes control of Sefton Council in the 2012 local elections". Southport Visiter. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  3. "Another Tory Jumps Ship to UKIP". UKIP Website. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  4. Originally elected as the Conservative Party candidate, Pearson was one of four Conservatives who resigned the party whip to sit as "Conservative Independent Members". Having last been elected in 2008, he was the incumbent defending his seat in 2012, but as he was elected as the official Conservative candidate, Duke's ward was a notional gain from the Conservative Party.
  5. Alf Doran was elected a Conservative Party candidate in 2008 but subsequently defected to UKIP. As in the case above, his seat was thus a notional Labour gain from the Conservatives rather than UKIP.
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