Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2002

Elections to Gateshead Council in Tyne and Wear, England were held on 2 May 2002. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council.^[1]

The election took place with all postal voting in an attempt to increase voter turnout.^[2] This followed a successful trial in two wards in the previous election in 2000.^[3] As a result of the trial turnout rose from 30% to 57.4%, which was higher than Gateshead saw in the 2001 general election.^[4]

Only one seat changed hands in the election, with the Liberal Democrats making one gain from Labour.^[5]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 46
• Liberal Democrat 19
• Liberal 1^[6]

Election result

Gateshead Local Election Result 2002[6]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	16	0	1	-1	72.7	56.9	49,121
	Liberal Democrat	6	1	0	+1	27.3	28.7	24,792
	Conservative	0	0	0	0	0	8.7	7,535
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0	3.1	2,697
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	865
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	755
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.6	552
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	79

Ward results

Bede[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Eagle	1,872	76.3
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Bex	398	16.2
	Conservative	Ruth Fearby	182	7.4
Majority			1,474	60.1
Turnout			2,452

Bensham[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Catherine Donovan	1,885	70.8
	Liberal Democrat	Susan Armstrong	262	9.8
	Conservative	Ada Callanan	252	9.5
	BNP	Kevin Scott	185	6.9
	Socialist Alliance	David Morton	79	3.0
Majority			1,623	61.0
Turnout			2,663

Birtley[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Weatherley	1,965	53.2
	Liberal	Mark Davidson	1,508	40.8
	Conservative	Barbara Nye	221	6.0
Majority			457	12.4
Turnout			3,694

Blaydon[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Brain	2,243	64.5
	Liberal Democrat	June McFarling	962	27.7
	Conservative	Mark Watson	272	7.8
Majority			1,281	36.8
Turnout			3,477

Chopwell and Rowlands Gill[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Bulmer	2,645	57.7
	Liberal Democrat	Eileen Blythe	1,285	28.0
	Conservative	David Moor	336	7.3
	Green	Pamela Woolner	317	6.9
Majority			1,360	29.7
Turnout			4,583

Chowdene[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Spring	2,821	69.1
	Conservative	Raymond Swadling	670	16.4
	Liberal Democrat	Glenys Goodwill	590	14.5
Majority			2,151	52.7
Turnout			4,081

Crawcrook and Greenside[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Derek Anderson	2,369	52.2
	Labour	Jack Graham	1,933	42.6
	Conservative	Leonard Davidson	238	5.2
Majority			436	9.6
Turnout			4,540

Deckham[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	June Joyce	1,969	68.1
	Liberal Democrat	George Conder	480	16.6
	Conservative	Karen Sludden	443	15.3
Majority			1,489	51.5
Turnout			2,892

Dunston[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Bollands	2,932	68.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mary Heslop	458	10.7
	Green	Isabel Blanchflower	438	10.3
	Conservative	John Callanan	437	10.2
Majority			2,474	58.0
Turnout			4,265

Felling[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Dick	2,349	77.7
	Conservative	Trevor Murray	344	11.4
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Ball	331	10.9
Majority			2,005	66.3
Turnout			3,024

High Fell[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Batty	2,313	69.3
	Independent	William Maddison	552	16.5
	Liberal Democrat	Elizabeth Bird	279	8.4
	Conservative	June Murray	193	5.8
Majority			1,761	52.8
Turnout			3,337

Lamesley[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nicholas O'Neil	2,105	58.9
	Liberal	Catherine Rainbow	1,189	33.3
	Conservative	Charles Sludden	281	7.9
Majority			916	25.6
Turnout			3,575

Leam[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patricia Ronan	2,956	73.9
	Liberal Democrat	Norman Spours	683	17.1
	Conservative	Maureen Moor	359	9.0
Majority			2,273	56.8
Turnout			3,998

Low Fell[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Charles Jevon	2,734	57.8
	Labour	Peter Wilson	1,410	29.8
	Conservative	Paul Sterling	586	12.4
Majority			1,324	28.0
Turnout			4,730

Pelaw and Heworth[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Doreen Boyes	1,986	48.8
	Labour	Roberts Goldsworthy	1,910	47.0
	Conservative	Elaine McMaster	171	4.2
Majority			76	1.8
Turnout			4,067

Ryton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Christine McHatton	2,945	61.6
	Labour	Dane Roberts	1,590	33.2
	Conservative	Antoinette Sterling	247	5.2
Majority			1,355	28.4
Turnout			4,782

Saltwell[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Henry	2,076	65.3
	Liberal Democrat	Herbert Anderson	400	12.6
	Conservative	Mark Hardy	355	11.2
	BNP	George Bainbridge	349	11.0
Majority			1,676	52.7
Turnout			3,180

Teams[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Rice	2,580	67.3
	Liberal Democrat	James Blythe	522	13.6
	Conservative	Margaret Bell	403	10.5
	BNP	Michael Dafter	331	8.6
Majority			2,058	53.7
Turnout			3,836

Whickham North[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Maughan	2,472	48.8
	Labour	Frank Earl	2,201	43.4
	Conservative	Elaine Robertson	393	7.8
Majority			271	5.4
Turnout			5,066

Whickham South[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Marilyn Ord	3,164	58.5
	Labour	Gary Haley	1,667	30.8
	Conservative	Peter Ross	576	10.7
Majority			1,494	27.7
Turnout			5,407

Winlaton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Lynn	2,282	53.8
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Stokel	1,782	42.0
	Conservative	Ann Bohill	178	4.2
Majority			500	11.8
Turnout			4,242

Wrekendyke[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Green	3,417	75.8
	Liberal Democrat	John Diston	690	15.3
	Conservative	John McNeil	398	8.8
Majority			2,727	60.5
Turnout			4,505

References

1. "Gateshead". BBC Online. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
2. Unwin, Bruce (2002-04-08). "Line-up lists closed for council seats campaigners". The Northern Echo. p. 6.
3. "Voters can go to the polls early". The Northern Echo. 2002-04-24. p. 6.
4. "Monkey threatens election sensation". The Northern Echo. 2002-05-03. p. 1.
5. Tapping, Colin (2002-05-04). "Labour suffers disappointment in triplicate at mayoral elections". The Northern Echo. p. 9.
6. "Election results; Local Elections". The Times. 2002-05-03. p. 6.
7. "Gateshead". AndrewTeale. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2009-05-09.