South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2002

The 2002 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 50
• Liberal Democrat 6
• Others 4^[2]

Campaign

20 seats were contested in the election with 6 Progressives and 3 independents standing in addition to 20 Labour, 17 Liberal Democrat and 12 Conservative candidates.^[3][4] Meanwhile 3 sitting Labour councillors stood down at the election, Cathy Brown, Alex Tudberry and Ed Malcolm.^[4]

The election saw all postal voting in an attempt to increase voter turnout, along with a trial of an electronic counting system.^[3] Postal voting was successful in increasing turnout with over half of voters taking part, at 55% turnout had increased significantly on the 27% seen in the previous election in 2000.^[5]

Election result

The results saw Labour maintain their majority on the council after not losing any seats in the election.^[6] Labour held all 3 seats that had been seen as key wards, Beacon and Bent, Westoe and Whiteleas, while the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Jim Selby, was re-elected in Cleadon and East Boldon.^[7]

South Tyneside Local Election Result 2002[8]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	17	0	0	0	85.0	52.5	32,038
	Liberal Democrat	2	0	0	0	10.0	22.2	13,523
	South Tyneside Progressives	1	0	0	0	5.0	7.8	4,784
	Conservative	0	0	0	0	0	12.4	7,582
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	5.0	3,078

Ward results

All Saints[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Temple	1,676	64.9
	South Tyneside Progressives	Robert Burdon	716	27.7
	Liberal Democrat	Nader Afshari-Naderi	192	7.4
Majority			960	37.2
Turnout			2,584
	Labour hold		Swing

Beacon and Bents[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Audrey Mcmillan	1,578	55.1
	South Tyneside Progressives	Gordon Finch	1,284	44.9
Majority			294	10.2
Turnout			2,862
	Labour hold		Swing

Bede[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Agnes Stewart	1,942	78.0
	Liberal Democrat	Constance Softley	549	22.0
Majority			1,393	56.0
Turnout			2,491
	Labour hold		Swing

Biddick Hall[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Kidd	1,673	63.5
	Liberal Democrat	Doreen Mason	702	26.7
	Conservative	James Cain	258	9.8
Majority			971	36.8
Turnout			2,633
	Labour hold		Swing

Boldon Colliery[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison Strike	2,468	67.5
	Liberal Democrat	Frederick Taylor	765	20.9
	Conservative	Gerald Brebner	422	11.5
Majority			1,703	46.6
Turnout			3,655
	Labour hold		Swing

Cleadon and East Boldon[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	James Selby	2,024	47.5
	Conservative	Donald Wood	1,339	31.4
	Labour	Scott Duffy	900	21.1
Majority			685	16.1
Turnout			4,263
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Cleadon Park[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alexander Donaldson	1,351	45.7
	Independent	George Elsom	1,025	34.7
	Liberal Democrat	David Selby	581	19.6
Majority			326	11.0
Turnout			2,957
	Labour hold		Swing

Fellgate and Hedworth[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Moira Smith	2,241	67.2
	Liberal Democrat	Charles Rutherford	708	21.2
	Conservative	Philip Parkinson	387	11.6
Majority			1,533	46.0
Turnout			3,336
	Labour hold		Swing

Harton[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Haws	1,578	51.5
	Liberal Democrat	Dorothy Grainger	790	25.8
	Conservative	Edward Russell	695	22.7
Majority			788	25.7
Turnout			3,063
	Labour hold		Swing

Hebburn Quay[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Joseph Abbott	1,792	58.2
	Labour	Brian McLoughlin	1,288	41.8
Majority			504	16.4
Turnout			3,080
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Hebburn South[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry McAtominey	1,348	46.6
	Independent	John McCabe	891	30.8
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Bennett	475	16.4
	Conservative	John Coe	180	6.2
Majority			873	15.8
Turnout			2,894
	Labour hold		Swing

Horsley Hill[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wallace Hobson	1,788	50.7
	Conservative	Nicola Aynsley	1,296	36.8
	Liberal Democrat	Christine Hartley	442	12.5
Majority			492	13.9
Turnout			3,526
	Labour hold		Swing

Monkton[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Kerr	1,854	57.0
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Holmes	1,041	32.0
	Conservative	Mary Golightly	358	11.0
Majority			813	25.0
Turnout			3,253
	Labour hold		Swing

Primrose[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barrie Scorer	1,890	60.0
	Liberal Democrat	Rosalind Slater	871	27.6
	Conservative	Walter Armstrong	390	12.4
Majority			1,019	32.4
Turnout			3,151
	Labour hold		Swing

Refendyke[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Frost	1,480	56.4
	Liberal Democrat	Jennifer Burke	595	22.7
	South Tyneside Progressives	Sabrae Brown	547	20.9
Majority			885	33.7
Turnout			2,622
	Labour hold		Swing

Tyne Dock and Simonside[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Walsh	1,294	59.7
	Liberal Democrat	Gary Ahmed	579	26.7
	Conservative	Patricia Pigott	295	13.6
Majority			715	33.0
Turnout			2,168
	Labour hold		Swing

West Park[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South Tyneside Progressives	Enid Hetherington	1,807	61.1
	Labour	John Anglin	1,151	38.9
Majority			656	22.2
Turnout			2,958

Westoe[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joan Jackson	1,384	42.1
	Conservative	George Wilkinson	1,155	35.2
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Carlin-Page	746	22.7
Majority			229	6.9
Turnout			3,285
	Labour hold		Swing

Whitburn and Marsden[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tracey Dixon	1,512	50.6
	Conservative	Miles Atkinson	807	27.0
	Liberal Democrat	Ronald Callaghan	671	22.4
Majority			705	23.6
Turnout			2,990
	Labour hold		Swing

Whiteleas[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mavis Brady	1,642	50.8
	Independent	John Haram	1,162	35.9
	South Tyneside Progressives	Lawrence Nolan	430	13.3
Majority			480	14.9
Turnout			3,234
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "South Tyneside". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
2. "Election results; Local Elections". The Times. 2002-05-03. p. 6.
3. Unwin, Bruce (2002-04-08). "Line-up lists closed for council seats campaigners". The Northern Echo. p. 6.
4. "All seats are up for grabs". Shields Gazette. 2002-04-08. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
5. Morris, Nigel (2002-05-03). "Electronic polling vulnerable to abuse, says expert". The Independent. p. 6.
6. McSmith, Andy; Britten, Nick (2002-05-03). "Brown's Budget saves seats for Labour in its heartland". The Daily Telegraph. p. 5.
7. "Turnout joy at polls". Shields Gazette. 2002-05-03. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
8. "South Tyneside". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 2010-02-19.