2002 Leeds City Council election

The Leeds City Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough Council in West Yorkshire, England. Prior to the election, there had been several by-elections held with no change to the council composition. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Map of the results for the 2002 Leeds council election.

Campaign

33 seats were contested in the election with Labour defending 23 seats, the Conservatives 5, Liberal Democrats 4 and 1 independent.^[2] Among the candidates who stood in the election was, Mark Collett, the leader of the youth wing of the British National Party, who stood in Harehills ward.^[2]

Among the issued raised in the election were disaffection with the national Labour government, a recent reversed decision by the council to close day car centres for the elderly, privatisation of services, investment levels in schools and council tax levels.^[3] Labour defended their record in control of the council, which they had run for the previous 22 years, in what was expected to be a hard-fought contest.^[4]

Election result

The results saw Labour maintain a majority on the council despite losing some seats to other parties.^[5] They lost 2 seats to the Conservatives in Aireborough and Otley and Wharfedale, 2 to the Liberal Democrats in Headingley and Rothwell, and one each to an Independent in Morley North and the Greens in Wortley.^[6] However Labour did gain one seat from the Liberal Democrats in Harehills and one in Hunslet from an Independent Socialist.^[6] As a result, they won 19 of the 33 seats contested meaning they had 57 of the 99 councillors on Leeds council.^[6] Overall turnout in the election was 30.64%.^[7]

Leeds Local Election Result 2002^[6][8]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	19	2	6	-4	57.6	41.4	68,049	+2.2%
	Conservative	7	2	0	+2	21.2	29.2	47,947	-3.1%
	Liberal Democrats	5	2	1	+1	15.2	22.3	36,749	-0.5%
	Green	1	1	0	+1	3.0	4.5	7,332	+0.5%
	Independent	1	1	0	+1	3.0	1.4	2,228	+0.9%
	Leeds Left Alliance	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	1,265	-0.1%
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	392	+0.2%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	209	+0.0%
	Socialist Alternative	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	201	+0.0%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	0.05	77	+0.05%

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:^[9]

Party		Previous council	New council
	Labour	61	57
	Liberal Democrat	19	20
	Conservative	16	18
	Green	2	3
	Independent	0	1
	Independent Socialist	1	0
Total		99	99
Working majority		23	15

Ward results

Aireborough^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Makhan Thakur	3,113	44.4	−2.7
	Labour	Tony Addison	2,646	37.7	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hutton	1,256	17.9	+2.0
Majority			467	6.7	−2.4
Turnout			7,015	37.9	+4.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-1.7

Armley^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison Lowe	2,031	56.0	+5.7
	Conservative	Steven Welsh	670	18.5	−6.4
	Green	Luke Russell	468	12.9	+5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Thompson	459	12.7	−3.9
Majority			1,361	37.5	+12.1
Turnout			3,628	23.8	+3.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.0

Barwick & Kippax^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Parker	3,908	55.8	+5.9
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	2,218	31.6	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Bagnall	607	8.7	−4.7
	Green	Elizabeth Holmes	198	2.8	+2.8
	Socialist Labour	Paul Dewhirst	77	1.1	+1.1
Majority			1,690	24.2	+9.0
Turnout			7,008	38.3	+7.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.5

Beeston^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angela Gabriel	1,763	51.2	+5.4
	Conservative	William Birch	1,047	30.4	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kathleen Fenton	431	12.5	−5.4
	Socialist Alliance	Michael Dear	102	3.0	+3.0
	Green	Janet Pritchard	102	3.0	+0.1
Majority			716	20.8	+8.5
Turnout			3,445	28.9	+4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.2

Bramley^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denise Atkinson	2,044	52.7	+13.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Burke	1,306	33.7	−12.7
	Conservative	Michael Best	368	9.5	−2.0
	Green	Colin Avison	160	4.1	+1.7
Majority			738	19.0	+12.2
Turnout			3,878	23.9	+2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.9

Burmantofts^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Garvani	1,608	46.8	−16.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ralph Pryke	1,513	44.0	+24.3
	Conservative	Patricia Hyde	211	6.1	−7.7
	Green	Simon Blanchard	107	3.1	+0.6
Majority			95	2.8	−40.5
Turnout			3,439	27.4	+6.8
	Labour hold		Swing	-20.2

Chapel Allerton^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Taggart	2,346	52.6	+5.1
	Leeds Left Alliance	Garth Frankland	957	21.4	−2.0
	Conservative	Jacqueline Zander	632	14.2	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Silver	527	11.8	−4.1
Majority			1,389	31.2	+7.1
Turnout			4,462	31.4	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.5

City & Holbeck^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Davey	1,856	61.6	+5.4
	Conservative	Richard Laycock	640	21.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sitara Khan	317	10.5	−5.2
	Socialist Alternative	David Jones	201	6.7	+2.1
Majority			1,216	40.4	+2.6
Turnout			3,014	20.0	+2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.3

Cookridge^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Carter	3,293	53.8	+4.7
	Labour	Ian McCargo	1,397	22.8	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Bates	1,205	19.7	−8.9
	Green	Peter Scarth	225	3.7	+1.5
Majority			1,896	31.0	+10.5
Turnout			6,120	37.0	+0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

Garforth & Swillington^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Marshall	3,244	51.6	+0.9
	Conservative	Robert Semple	1,941	30.9	+0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Dowling	1,105	17.6	−0.9
Majority			1,303	20.7	+0.9
Turnout			6,290	33.8	+4.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.4

Halton^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lee Benson	2,640	43.4	+3.6
	Conservative	David Schofield	2,500	41.1	−6.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Hollingsworth	730	12.0	−0.7
	Green	Robert Murphy	208	3.4	+3.4
Majority			140	2.3	−5.4
Turnout			6,078	33.9	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

Harehills^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Harrington	2,858	51.8	+9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Javaid Akhtar	2,184	39.6	−10.2
	BNP	Mark Collett	209	3.8	+3.8
	Conservative	Karl Steenson	168	3.0	−1.4
	Green	Christopher Hudson	99	1.8	−0.3
Majority			674	12.2	+5.2
Turnout			5,518	40.5	+9.0
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+9.6

Headingley^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Hamilton	1,885	48.7	+6.8
	Labour	Doreen Illingworth	1,154	29.8	−7.7
	Green	Lesley Jeffries	390	10.1	−0.5
	Conservative	Daniel Riley	289	7.5	−2.5
	Socialist Alliance	Katherine Owen	156	4.0	+4.0
Majority			731	18.9	+14.5
Turnout			3,874	18.8	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+7.2

Horsforth^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Townsley	2,764	44.2	+4.4
	Conservative	Richard Hardcastle	2,145	34.3	−2.3
	Labour	Ted Hanley	1,110	17.8	−2.7
	Green	Andrea Binns	230	3.7	+0.6
Majority			619	9.9	+6.7
Turnout			6,249	36.0	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.3

Hunslet^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judith Blake	1,535	68.2	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	James Graham	304	13.5	−9.9
	Conservative	Anthony Larvin	279	12.4	+12.4
	Green	Francis Gray	86	3.8	−2.3
	Socialist Alliance	James Jackson	47	2.1	+2.1
Majority			1,231	54.7	+7.6
Turnout			2,251	20.6	+2.7
	Labour gain from Independent Socialist		Swing	+3.8

Kirkstall^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bernard Atha	2,142	57.6	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Natasha De Vere	587	15.8	+1.9
	Conservative	Ian Richmond	508	13.7	−3.8
	Green	Martin Reed	480	12.9	+5.1
Majority			1,555	41.8	−1.5
Turnout			3,717	25.0	+3.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.5

Middleton^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Langham	2,052	63.6	+4.4
	Conservative	Robert Allen	567	17.6	−8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sadie Fisher	422	13.1	+1.4
	Green	Patricia Capstick	183	5.7	+2.9
Majority			1,485	46.0	+13.0
Turnout			3,224	21.7	+3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.5

Moortown^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Lancaster	3,132	55.2	+5.4
	Labour	Barry Young	1,500	26.5	+1.6
	Conservative	Christopher Ingoldby	907	16.0	−5.6
	Leeds Left Alliance	Michael Davies	130	2.3	+1.0
Majority			1,632	28.7	+3.8
Turnout			5,669	35.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+1.9

Morley North^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Robert Finnigan	2,228	37.8	+37.8
	Labour	Graham Platt	1,762	29.9	−14.0
	Conservative	Keely Jamieson	1,351	22.9	−17.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Golton	405	6.9	−3.9
	Green	Irene Dracup	150	2.5	−2.0
Majority			466	7.9	+4.8
Turnout			5,896	30.5	+4.5
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing	+25.9

Morley South^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sherry Bradley	2,631	53.2	+2.0
	Conservative	David Boynton	1,433	29.0	−2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rochelle Harris	880	17.8	+4.5
Majority			1,198	24.2	+4.7
Turnout			4,944	22.4	+2.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

North^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronnie Feldman	2,996	45.7	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Chapman	2,312	35.3	−8.0
	Labour	Debra Coupar	1,193	18.2	+3.7
	Leeds Left Alliance	Brian Jackson	51	0.8	+0.3
Majority			684	10.4	+7.1
Turnout			6,552	38.8	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

Otley & Wharfedale^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Francis	3,420	44.2	+6.7
	Labour	John Eveleigh	2,268	29.3	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	James Hoskins	1,793	23.2	−4.0
	Green	Paul Marchant	262	3.4	+1.5
Majority			1,152	14.9	+4.6
Turnout			7,743	40.8	+2.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+0.6

Pudsey North^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Robinson	3,505	52.1	−14.0
	Labour	Michael King	2,167	32.2	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Wilson	832	12.4	+1.8
	Green	Susan Turnbull	220	3.3	+3.3
Majority			1,338	19.9	−22.9
Turnout			6,724	37.7	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.4

Pudsey South^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Lewis	2,699	48.1	+4.2
	Conservative	Helen Widdas	2,027	36.2	−4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Glover	648	11.6	−0.9
	Green	Yvonne Clarke	233	4.2	+1.2
Majority			672	11.9	+8.6
Turnout			5,607	33.3	+6.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

Richmond Hill^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eamonn McGee	1,839	71.1	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Norman	406	15.7	+0.7
	Conservative	Michael Wheeler	255	9.9	−2.5
	Socialist Alliance	Steven Skinner	87	3.4	+3.4
Majority			1,433	55.4	+3.1
Turnout			2,587	26.9	+7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Rothwell^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Willey	2,658	48.2	+3.3
	Labour	Alec Hudson	2,253	40.8	+1.8
	Conservative	John Cowling	606	11.0	−5.1
Majority			405	7.4	+1.5
Turnout			5,517	34.1	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+0.7

Roundhay^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Harrand	2,675	41.0	−3.3
	Labour	Irene O'Grady	2,586	39.7	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Skinner	900	13.8	+2.7
	Green	Colin Johnston	233	3.6	+1.0
	Leeds Left Alliance	Malcolm Christie	127	1.9	+0.4
Majority			89	1.3	−2.5
Turnout			6,521	39.3	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.2

Seacroft^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Davey	2,197	80.2	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Davies	502	18.3	+10.0
	Conservative	Donald Townsley	42	1.5	−11.2
Majority			1,695	61.9	+0.9
Turnout			2,741	23.5	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.7

University^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Hall	1,447	56.9	−2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Arif Hussain	514	20.2	+2.7
	Conservative	Robert Winfield	345	13.6	+2.0
	Green	Bluebell Eikonoklastes	235	9.2	+0.4
Majority			933	36.7	−5.4
Turnout			2,541	16.6	+2.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.7

Weetwood^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Golton	2,515	44.7	+4.0
	Labour	Alex Sobel	1,780	31.7	−4.6
	Conservative	Graham Castle	985	17.5	−1.3
	Green	David Webb	343	6.1	+1.9
Majority			735	13.0	+8.6
Turnout			5,623	34.4	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+4.3

Wetherby^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Procter	4,940	66.0	−2.7
	Labour	James Lewis	1,581	21.1	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Edmund Conybeare	960	12.8	+0.6
Majority			3,359	44.9	−4.7
Turnout			7,481	36.6	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.3

Whinmoor^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pauleen Grahame	2,211	54.5	+4.4
	Conservative	Valerie Kendall	1,370	33.8	−3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Welby	473	11.7	−0.5
Majority			841	20.7	+8.3
Turnout			4,054	32.3	+6.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.1

Wortley^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ann Blackburn	2,720	54.0	−1.5
	Labour	Malcolm Bedford	1,601	31.8	+3.8
	Conservative	Glenn Broadbent	501	9.9	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Ewens	217	4.3	+0.1
Majority			1,119	22.2	−5.3
Turnout			5,039	29.7	+1.6
	Green gain from Labour		Swing	-2.6

References

1. "Leeds". BBC News Online. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
2. "Parties name election candidates". Yorkshire Evening Post. 8 April 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
3. "Opponents line-up for battle at polls". Yorkshire Evening Post. 17 April 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
4. "Parties set for a tight election battle in city". Yorkshire Evening Post. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
5. Walker, David (3 May 2002). "Local Elections: Postal voting increases turnout by 28%: Ballots: Participation higher in BNP areas candidates". The Guardian. p. 9. ISSN 0261-3077.
6. "Labour's grip loosened .. but stays strong". Yorkshire Evening Post. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
7. "Leeds City Council elections - May 2nd 2002" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
8. "Leeds Election Results". Yorkshire Evening Post. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
9. "Local Elections: Results". The Guardian. 3 May 2002. p. 9. ISSN 0261-3077.