2024 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2024 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom on the same day.^[1] No seats changed party at the election, and so Labour retained its majority on the council.^[2]

2024 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2026 →
15 out of 45 seats to Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council 23 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Graham Morgan Kai Taylor Party Labour Green Leader's seat Swanside Prescot South Last election 31 seats, 59.0% 7 seats, 23.2% Seats before 31 7 Seats after 31 7 Seat change   Third party Fourth party   Leader None Ian Smith Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Prescot North Last election 4 seats, 7.9% 3 seat, 7.5% Seats before 4 3 Seats after 4 3 Seat change
Winner of each seat at the 2024 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
Leader before election Graham Morgan Labour Leader after election Graham Morgan Labour

Background

Result of the council election when these seats were last contested in 2021

Result of the most recent council election in 2023

The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Knowsley was a district of the Merseyside metropolitan county.^[3] The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority was created in 2014 and began electing the mayor of the Liverpool City Region from 2017. The body was given strategic powers covering a region that encompassed the former Merseyside metropolitan county with the addition of Halton Borough Council.^[4]

Since its formation, Knowsley has continuously been under Labour control. The Liberal Democrats had become the main opposition party by the late 1990s, and continued to win seats on the council until the 2010 election, when Labour won every seat. Labour continued to win every seat in subsequent elections until the 2016 election, when three Liberal Democrats were elected. The first Green Party councillor was elected to the borough in the 2018 election, with the Green Party winning a further two seats in each of the 2019 election and 2021 election to become the council's main opposition. After the 2023 election, Labour held 31 seats, the Greens held seven, independent councillors held four and the Liberal Democrats held three.^[5]

The positions up for election in 2024 were last elected in 2021. That election was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6] In that election, Labour won twelve seats on 55.3% of the vote, the Green Party and independents won two seats each on 23.1% and 9.8% respectively and the Liberal Democrats won one seat on 5.9% of the vote.^[7]

Electoral process

The council previously elected its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year.^[8][9] However, following a boundary review, all forty-eight councillors will be elected at the same time. The election will take place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by up to three councillors. Electors will be able to vote for as many candidates as there are seats to fill, and the candidates with the most votes in each ward will be elected.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Knowsley aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations will take place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters will be able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Previous council composition

After 2023 election			Before 2024 election			After 2024 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	31		Labour	31		Labour	31
	Green	7		Green	7		Green	7
	Independent	4		Independent	4		Independent	4
	Liberal Democrats	3		Liberal Democrats	3		Liberal Democrats	3

Changes 2023–2024:

• February 2024: Steve Guy (Independent) is disqualified having not attended any council meetings for six months. A by-election is scheduled for 21 March 2024.^[10]
• 21 March 2024: The Whitefield by-election is won by Brian Johns (Independent).^[11]

Result

2024 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	12		80.0	19	31	68.9	16,273	63.1	+4.1
	Green	1		6.7	6	7	15.6	5,388	23.2	-2.3
	Independent	1		6.7	3	4	8.9	2,496	9.7	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	1		6.7	1	3	6.7	971	3.8	-3.7
	Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	325	1.3	-0.3
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	224	0.9	+0.4
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	116	0.4	N/A

Ward results

The results for each ward were:^[12]

Cherryfield

Cherryfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sean Donnelly	1,254	84.1	+10.0
	Green	Patrick Francis Gilmore	237	15.9	−0.1
Majority			1017	68.2
Turnout			1491	18.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Halewood North

Halewood North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Flute	1,300	71.8	+3.2
	Independent	Lili Berry	511	28.2	N/A
Majority			789	43.6
Turnout			1811	22.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Halewood South

Halewood South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edna Finneran	978	50.6	+4.2
	Independent	Suzanne Harvey	955	49.4	N/A
Majority			23	1.2
Turnout			1933	23.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Northwood

Northwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Rawlinson	1,004	73.1	−9.4
	TUSC	Neill Dunne	224	16.3	N/A
	Green	Russell Greenway	146	10.6	−6.9
Majority			780	56.8
Turnout			1374	15.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Page Moss

Page Moss

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Ken McGlashan	1,010	67.0	+0.3
	Green	John Carine	419	27.8	−5.5
	Conservative	Ruth Shuk Fun Lee	78	5.2	N/A
Majority			591	39.2
Turnout			1507	17.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Prescot North

Prescot North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Smith	971	49.7	−2.2
	Labour	Tommy Grierson	891	45.6	+0.3
	Conservative	Peter Stanley Leadbeater	91	4.7	−0.9
Majority			80	4.1
Turnout			1953	21.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Prescot South

Prescot South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Graham Wickens	1,029	60.0	−9.1
	Labour	Diane Sedman	686	40.0	+9.1
Majority			343	20.0
Turnout			1715	23.3
	Green hold		Swing

Roby

Roby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Megan Dever	1,383	59.2	+11.5
	Green	Carmen Escalante-Callejo	953	40.8	−8.2
Majority			430	18.4
Turnout			2336	30.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Shevington

Shevington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aimee Wright	1,150	80.4	−5.7
	Green	Cathy Connolly	281	19.6	+5.7
Majority			869	60.8
Turnout			1431	17.6
	Labour hold		Swing

St Gabriels

St Gabriels

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chantelle Lunt	923	52.0	+8.2
	Green	Crispin Evans	852	48.0	−6.8
Majority			71	4.0
Turnout			1775	24.8
	Labour hold		Swing

St Michaels

St Michaels

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joan Lilly	1,154	83.4	+5.2
	Green	James Brian Taylor	230	16.6	−5.2
Majority			924	66.8
Turnout			1384	19.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Stockbridge

Stockbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynn O’Keeffe	1,086	83.1	+3.5
	Green	Paul Ryan	221	16.9	−3.5
Majority			865	66.2
Turnout			1307	15.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Swanside

Swanside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Morgan	1,595	82.3	+1.1
	Green	Jade Escalante-Callejo	259	13.4	−5.4
	Conservative	William George Finnan	83	4.3	N/A
Majority			1336	68.9
Turnout			1937	25.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Whiston and Cronton

Whiston and Cronton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Terry Byron	1,026	51.9	+4.0
	Green	Michael Antony Rutland	761	38.5	−13.6
	Reform UK	Adam Heatherington	116	5.9	N/A
	Conservative	Olusoji Arosanyin	73	3.7	N/A
Majority			265	13.4
Turnout			1976	26.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Whitefield

Whitefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Steve Smith	1,030	55.3	N/A
	Labour Co-op	Louise Harbour	833	44.7	−7.8
Majority			197	10.6
Turnout			1863	23.1
	Independent hold		Swing

References

1. "Notice of election | Knowsley Council". www.knowsley.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
2. Thorp, Liam; Haygarth, Dan; Jessett, Elliot (2 May 2024). "Knowsley Council local elections 2024 live results in full as they happen". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
3. Local Government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 7. ISBN 0-11-750847-0.
4. "Establishment of a Combined Authority for the Liverpool City Region" (PDF). 21 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
5. Thorp, Liam; Rand, Lisa (2023-05-04). "Knowsley Local Elections 2023: Results live as they happen". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
6. "Coronavirus: English local elections postponed for a year". BBC News. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
7. Thorp, Liam; McKeon, Christopher (2021-05-07). "Knowsley Council 2021 election results as they happen". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
8. "Local government structure and elections". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
9. "Election Timetable in England" (PDF).
10. Teale, Andrew (2024-03-21). "Previewing the four local by-elections of 21st March 2024". Britain Elects. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
11. "The Whitefield Ward by-election result is now in with Brian Johns (Independent) elected as Borough Councillor". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
12. "Local election results 2024". Knowsley Council. Retrieved 2024-05-05.