2019 Cheshire East Council election

Elections to Cheshire East Council took place on Thursday 2 May 2019 in all 52 wards, with each ward returning between one and three councillors to the council. The Conservative party lost overall control of the council, losing 17 seats; the Labour party gained 9 seats, independents gained 6 and the Liberal Democrats gained 2.[1]

2019 Cheshire East Council election

2 May 2019 (2019-05-02)
All 82 seats in Cheshire East Council 42 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con Lab Ind Leader Rachel Bailey Sam Corcoran Arthur Moran Party Conservative Labour Independent Leader's seat Audlem Sandbach Heath and East Nantwich North and West Seats before 51 16 13 Seats won 34 25 19 Seat change 17 9 6 Popular vote 35.52% 27.91% 19.79%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   LD Grn UKIP Party Liberal Democrats Green UKIP Seats before 2 0 0 Seats won 4 0 0 Seat change 2 0 0 Popular vote 11.02% 5.47% 0.29%
Council Leader before election Rachel Bailey Conservative Elected Council Leader Sam Corcoran Labour

The elections were held against a background of a number of controversies, with the council facing eight criminal investigations. Multiple Conservative Cabinet members lost their seats, with Ainsley Arnold (Planning) losing out to Independents in Macclesfield Tytherington and Paul Bates (Finance) falling to fifth place in Congleton East, whilst then-Leader of the Council Rachel Bailey came within 78 votes of losing her seat to the Liberal Democrats. The biggest shocks came in Broken Cross and Upton, with Labour's Rob Vernon and James Barber becoming the first ever Labour councillors for the area and unseating the Mayor-elect, Liz Durham, and Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, where Laura Crane achieved a huge swing to win the seat for Labour against Conservative councillor Gail Wait.

No party or grouping held a majority of the council seats, and so after a few weeks of negotiation, Labour and the Independents agreed to form a joint-Cabinet that would run the council for the following year, with a focus on changing the system of governance to abolish the Cabinet and replace it with the old committee system.

Results by Ward

Alderley Edge

Alderley Edge (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Alderley Edge First	Craig Julian Browne	1,219	76.86%
	Conservative	Paul Nicholas Brearley	255	16.08%
	Green	Keith Andrew Boxer	112	7.06%
Turnout				42.79%
	Alderley Edge First hold

Alsager

Alsager (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Rod Fletcher	1,457	13.50%
	Liberal Democrats	June Elizabeth Buckley	1,340	12.41%
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Williams	1,297	12.02%
	Labour	Jo Dale	1,082	10.02%
	Conservative	Sue Helliwell	1,026	9.51%
	Conservative	Martin William Deakin	920	8.52%
	Labour	Julia Hawkins	919	8.51%
	Labour	Michael James Unett	871	8.07%
	Conservative	Paul Hugh Redstone	799	7.40%
	Green	Hilary Jean Robinson	547	5.07%
	Animal Welfare Party	Jane Catherine Smith	536	4.97%
Turnout				40.69%
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Audlem

Audlem (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Rachel Anne Bailey	746	52.76%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard John Derricutt	668	47.24%
Turnout				36.03%
	Conservative hold

Bollington

Bollington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Bollington First	Amanda Stott	1,447	28.01%
	Bollington First	James William David Nicholas	1,310	25.36%
	Labour	John William Place	705	13.65%
	Labour	Mike Hutchison	635	12.29%
	Conservative	Elaine Mary Houghton	481	9.31%
	Liberal Democrats	Johanna Maitland	309	5.98%
	Conservative	Christopher Paul O'Leary	279	5.40%
Turnout				40.11%
	Bollington First hold
	Bollington First hold

Brereton Rural

Brereton Rural (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Valentine Wray	850	52.24%
	Independent	Mark Cameron Elves	474	29.13%
	Labour	Geraint Huw Price Jones	303	18.62%
Turnout				34.95%
	Conservative hold

Broken Cross and Upton

Broken Cross and Upton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Rob Vernon	948	20.77%
	Labour	James William Barber	889	19.48%
	Conservative	Liz Durham	764	16.74%
	Conservative	Gareth Jones	653	14.31%
	Green	David John Mayers	406	8.90%
	Liberal Democrats	Max Muncaster	392	8.59%
	Independent	Martin Christopher Hardy	317	6.95%
	UKIP	Maddie Mitchell	195	4.27%
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Bunbury

Bunbury (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sarah Joanne Pochin	750	54.47%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Peregrine Ireland-Jones	627	45.53%
Turnout				37.51%
	Conservative hold

Chelford

Chelford (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Marc Nigel Asquith	646	51.75%
	Liberal Democrats	Heulwen Ann Barlow	330	26.48%
	Independent	Laurence Michael Hobday	270	21.67%
Turnout				36.21%
	Conservative hold

Congleton East

Congleton East (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Denis Murphy	1,041	10.15%
	Independent	Rob Moreton	1,040	10.14%
	Conservative	David Thomas Brown	1,028	10.02%
	Independent	Anthony Philip Bolding	989	9.64%
	Conservative	Paul David Bates	950	9.26%
	Conservative	Glen Samuel Williams	894	8.72%
	Women's Equality	Kay Wesley	826	8.05%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Julian Douglas	765	7.46%
	Liberal Democrats	James Nicholas Andrew Smith	740	7.22%
	Independent	Simon Peter Clodd-Broom	699	6.82%
	Labour	Peter John Ranson	649	6.33%
	Labour	Ethel Mary Ranson	635	6.19%
Turnout				34.78%
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Congleton West

Congleton West (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Susie Akers Smith	1,195	12.30%
	Conservative	George Patrick Hayes	1,059	10.90%
	Conservative	Sally Ann Holland	1,009	10.38%
	Conservative	Geoff Baggot	960	9.88%
	Liberal Democrats	Suzy Firkin	933	9.60%
	Labour	Heather Seddon	700	7.20%
	Labour	Alfie Seddon	685	7.05%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Michael Duffy	665	6.84%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Philip Hemsley	660	6.79%
	Independent	Adam Clive Scott	649	6.68%
	Independent	Sharon Smith	636	6.54%
	Labour	Irene Faseyi	567	5.83%
Turnout				32.52%
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Crewe Central

Crewe Central (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Anthony Jack Critchley	450	60.98%
	Conservative	Jonathan Ford Bebbington	139	18.83%
	Liberal Democrats	Gwyn Griffiths	94	12.74%
	Independent	Adam Ali Mustafa	55	7.45%
Turnout				17.52%
	Labour hold

Crewe East

Crewe East (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joy Bratherton	1,353	20.52%
	Labour	Suzanne Marie Brookfield	1,340	20.32%
	Labour	Hazel Faddes	1,239	18.79%
	Independent	James Albert Connor	610	9.25%
	Conservative	Peter Hargreaves	569	8.63%
	Conservative	Clive Dunning Elverstone	521	7.90%
	Conservative	Dominic John Bernard Wyartt	483	7.33%
	Green	Melanie Ruth English	478	7.25%
Turnout				23.69%
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Crewe North

Crewe North (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jill Rhodes	471	48.71%
	The For Britain Movement	Brian George Silvester	297	30.71
	Conservative	Ryan Joseph Moore	199	20.58%
Turnout				26.90%
	Labour hold

Crewe South

Crewe South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Dorothy Hilda Flude	1,138	33.80%
	Labour	Steven William Hogben	1,052	31.24%
	Conservative	Nicola Cooper	471	13.99%
	Conservative	Arnob Ahmed	466	13.84%
	Liberal Democrats	James Clifford Hughes	240	7.13%
Turnout				24.95%
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Crewe St. Barnabas

Crewe St. Barnabas (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sally Elizabeth Handley	426	74.48%
	Conservative	Cherene Chantel Kefira Bracegirdle-Smith	146	25.52%
Turnout				15.95%
	Labour hold

Crewe West

Crewe West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Brian Roberts	1,013	32.26%
	Labour	Marilyn Houston	940	29.94%
	Independent	Roy Cartlidge	434	13.82%
	Conservative	Patrick James Timms	409	13.03%
	Conservative	Martin Clynes	344	10.96%
Turnout				22.97%
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Dane Valley

Dane Valley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Les Gilbert	1,583	27.79%
	Conservative	Andrew Michael James Kolker	1,539	27.01%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard James Wilson	936	16.43%
	Liberal Democrats	Michelle Boath	748	13.13%
	Green	Robert Michael St. John Green	402	7.06%
	Labour	Willow Dale	259	4.55%
	Labour	Pete Dale	230	4.04%
Turnout				37.58%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Disley

Disley (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Brendan Patrick Murphy	762	49.16%
	Labour	Alison Smith	399	25.74%
	Conservative	Harold Davenport	389	25.10%
Turnout				39.32%
	Independent gain from Conservative

Gawsworth

Gawsworth (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lesley Smetham	883	72.85%
	Labour	Fiona Wilson	329	27.15%
Turnout				37.77%
	Conservative hold

Handforth

Handforth (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Julie Anne Smith	1,297	30.31%
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association (Independent)	Barry Edward Burkhill	1,086	25.38%
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association (Independent)	Susan Ann Elizabeth Bidwell	918	21.45%
	Conservative	David Lonsdale	595	13.91%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Fortune	383	8.95%
Turnout				33.67%
	Independent gain from Handforth Ratepayers' Association
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association hold

Haslington

Haslington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Steven John Edgar	1,061	25.81%
	Conservative	Mary Elizabeth Addison	1,058	25.74%
	Labour	Pete Gubbins	716	17.42%
	Green	Louise Amber Jewkes	696	16.93%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Taylor	293	7.13%
	Green	Te Ata Browne	287	6.98%
Turnout				35.03%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

High Legh

High Legh (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Kate Parkinson	710	53.71%
	Green	Nigel Robert Hennerley	612	46.29%
Turnout				36.62%
	Conservative hold

Knutsford

Knutsford (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stewart Gardiner	1,310	15.37%
	Independent	Quentin Abel	1,290	15.13%
	Conservative	Tony Dean	1,243	14.58%
	Conservative	Peter David Coan	1,174	13.77%
	Green	Charlie William Abbott Booth	917	10.76%
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Avery Wetherell	912	10.70%
	Labour	Joe Goddard	848	9.95%
	Independent	Helen Ghislaine Rogers	830	9.74%
Turnout				32.57%
	Conservative hold
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Leighton

Leighton (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Byron Evans	608	44.74%
	Conservative	Sean Owen Alexander Houlston	425	31.27%
	Labour	Alison Joy Spiceer	326	23.99%
Turnout				31.48%
	Independent gain from Conservative

Macclesfield Central

Macclesfield Central (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Liz Braithwaite	1,027	22.84%
	Labour	Ashley Philip Kenneth Farrall	829	18.44%
	Green	John Anthony Knight	783	17.42%
	Green	Charlie Morgan Keller	594	13.21%
	Conservative	Beverley Anne Dooley	505	11.23%
	Conservative	David Philip Dooley	437	9.72%
	Independent	Nigel Manton	216	4.80%
	For Britain	Tony Myrie	105	2.34%
Turnout				33.22%
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Macclesfield East

Macclesfield East (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Mick Warren	984	69.00%
	Labour	Jan Elizabeth Baddeley	205	14.38%
	Green	Lindy Brett	137	9.61%
	Conservative	John Le Moignan	100	7.01%
Turnout				39.90%
	Independent hold

Macclesfield Hurdsfield

Macclesfield Hurdsfield (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Stephen Frank Carter	558	58.80%
	Conservative	Alastair Crawford Kennedy	206	21.71%
	Green	James Andrew Booth	185	19.49%
Turnout				27.93%
	Labour hold

Macclesfield South

Macclesfield South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Laura Jeuda	1,133	34.24%
	Labour	Brian Mark Puddicombe	1,049	31.70%
	Conservative	Philip Bolton	599	18.10%
	Conservative	John Christopher Waterhouse	528	15.96%
Turnout				29.06%
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Macclesfield Tytherington

Macclesfield Tytherington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Edwardes	1,288	23.17%
	Independent	Lloyd Roberts	1,130	20.33%
	Conservative	Ainsley William Arnold	830	14.93%
	Conservative	Nick Taylor	742	13.35%
	Labour	Rebecca Ann Vernon	429	7.72%
	Green	Walter John Houston	394	7.09%
	Liberal Democrats	Ahmad Kamal Ibrahim Arafa	382	6.87%
	Labour	Victoria Amy Vernon	364	6.55%
Turnout				40.57%
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Conservative

Macclesfield West and Ivy

Macclesfield West and Ivy (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Nicholas Peter Mannion	1,070	32.21%
	Labour	Alift Iris Eugenie Harewood	950	28.60%
	Conservative	Adam Francis Schofield	608	18.30%
	Conservative	Abhishika Srivastav	387	11.65%
	UKIP	Joseph Nicholas Foster	307	9.24%
Turnout				30.32%
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Middlewich

Middlewich (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mike Hunter	1,735	18.76%
	Labour	Jonathan Parry	1,730	18.71%
	Labour	Carol Bulman	1,687	18.24%
	Conservative	Alison Roylance-White	755	8.16%
	Conservative	Paul John Edwards	747	8.08%
	Middlewich First	Bernice Walmsley	704	7.61%
	Middlewich First	Simon Nicholas McGrory	674	7.29%
	Conservative	Bill McCracken	633	6.84%
	Middlewich First	William Walmsley	583	6.30%
Turnout				29.94%
	Labour gain from Middlewich First
	Labour gain from Middlewich First
	Labour gain from Middlewich First

Mobberley

This ward's single seat was uncontested.

Mobberley (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Charlotte Frances Leach	0	0.00%
Turnout				0.00%
	Conservative hold

Nantwich North and West

Nantwich North and West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Arthur Moran	1,345	26.89%
	Independent	Penny Butterill	1,188	23.75%
	Conservative	Vicky Higham	718	14.35%
	Conservative	John Patrick Statham	700	13.99%
	Labour	Joy O'Hara-Douglas	531	10.62%
	Labour	Jake Lomax	520	10.40%
Turnout				36.97%
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Nantwich South and Stapeley

Nantwich South and Stapeley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andrew Edwin Martin	1,224	24.63%
	Conservative	Peter Graham Groves	1,106	22.25%
	Labour	Richard Alexander Banks	613	12.33%
	Labour	Sinead Vera Lois Wheeler	565	11.37%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Ford	520	10.46%
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Cameron Theobald	516	10.38%
	Independent	Stuart Robert Bostock	426	8.57%
Turnout				36.37%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Odd Rode

Odd Rode (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Liz Wardlaw	934	26.43%
	Conservative	Patrick Hugh Redstone	804	22.75%
	Labour	Sam O'Bree	656	18.56%
	Labour	James Longshaw	644	18.22%
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Tyson	496	14.04%
Turnout				30.44%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Poynton East and Pott Shrigley

Poynton East and Pott Shrigley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Jos Saunders	1,417	30.58%
	Conservative	Nicky Wylie	1,395	30.11%
	Green	Renaud Claire	606	13.08%
	Labour	Clayre Reid	693	14.96%
	Labour	Robert William Sabin	522	11.27%
Turnout				36.97%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Poynton West and Adlington

Poynton West and Adlington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Michael Beanland	1,277	26.86%
	Conservative	Mike Sewart	1,241	26.10%
	Green	Kathleen Marjorie Booth	602	12.66%
	Labour	Sarah Jill Marshall	583	12.26%
	Green	Andrew Gordon Hill	563	11.84%
	Labour	Ronald Geoffrey Thompson	489	10.28%
Turnout				36.54%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Prestbury

Prestbury (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Paul Findlow	1,162	88.57%
	Labour	Ted Wall	150	11.43%
Turnout				37.13%
	Conservative hold

Sandbach Elworth

Sandbach Elworth (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Kathryn Anne Flavell	808	56.70%
	Conservative	Gill Merry	617	43.30%
Turnout				33.46%
	Labour gain from Conservative

Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock

Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Laura Elisabeth Crane	665	53.54%
	Conservative	Gail Wait	577	46.46%
Turnout				29.65%
	Labour gain from Conservative

Sandbach Heath and East

Sandbach Heath and East (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sam Corcoran	754	60.71%
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Marie Hubbard	118	9.50%
	Conservative	Mike Muldoon	370	29.79%
Turnout				34.81%
	Labour hold

Sandbach Town

Sandbach Town (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mike Benson	914	59.86%
	Labour	Paula Eaton	613	40.14%
Turnout				37.44%
	Conservative hold

Shavington

Shavington (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Frank Marren	586	48.79%
	Labour	Linda Jane Buchanan	508	42.30%
	Liberal Democrats	John Martin Phillips	107	8.91%
Turnout				32.10%
	Conservative hold

Sutton

Sutton (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andrew Harry Gregory	687	47.12%
	Green	Karen Jane Downard	310	21.26%
	Labour	John Reece Evans	297	20.37%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Laurence Broadhead	164	11.25%
Turnout				41.30%
	Conservative hold

Willaston and Rope

Willaston and Rope (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Allen Gage	707	43.89%
	Labour	Ben Wye	536	33.27%
	Green	Richard John Bennett	248	15.39%
	Liberal Democrats	David Joseph Parkes	120	7.45%
Turnout				41.14%
	Conservative hold

Wilmslow Dean Row

Wilmslow Dean Row (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents of Wilmslow	Toni Fox	930	69.45%
	Conservative	Frank McCarthy	409	30.55%
Turnout				36.13%
	Residents of Wilmslow hold

Wilmslow East

Wilmslow East (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents of Wilmslow	David Jefferay	1,076	73.30%
	Conservative	Barry Estill	392	26.70%
Turnout				45.50%
	Residents of Wilmslow gain from Conservative

Wilmslow Lacey Green

Wilmslow Lacey Green (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Don Stockton	544	42.83%
	Labour	Ribia Nisa	408	32.13%
	Liberal Democrats	Damian Peter Carr	318	25.04%
Turnout				36.10%
	Conservative hold

Wilmslow West and Chorley

Wilmslow West and Chorley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents of Wilmslow	Mark Goldsmith	1,758	30..09%
	Residents of Wilmslow	Iain Macfarlane	1,470	25.16%
	Conservative	Gary Philip Barton	819	14.02%
	Conservative	Ellie Brooks	819	14.02%
	Liberal Democrats	Birgitta Hoffmann	532	9.10%
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Jeremy Romain	445	7.62%
	Residents of Wilmslow gain from Conservative
	Residents of Wilmslow gain from Conservative
Turnout				39.03%

Wistaston

Wistaston (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Margaret Joan Simon	1,196	24.17%
	Conservative	Jacquie Weatherill	1,168	23.61%
	Labour	Vicky Smith	1,118	22.59%
	Labour	John Scott	975	19.70%
	Green	Kim Heyes	491	9.92%
Turnout				36.33%
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Wrenbury

Wrenbury (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stan Davies	926	62.86%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul James Weaver	328	22.27%
	Independent	David John Bell	219	14.87%
Turnout				34.34%
	Conservative hold

Wybunbury

Wybunbury (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Janet Christine Clowes	1,267	82.11%
	Labour	Joseph Andrew Cosby	276	17.89%
Turnout				36.02%
	Conservative hold

Notes

• Italics denote a sitting councillor for the same ward.

1. ^ Elected as a Conservative councillor for the same ward in 2015.

References

1. "Cheshire East Council: 2019 Cheshire East Borough Election Results". Cheshire East Council. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.