Hartlepool Borough Council election, 2002
Elections to Hartlepool Borough Council in the ceremonial county of County Durham in England were held on 2 May 2002. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1] At the same time an election took place for a directly elected mayor, which was won by independent candidate Stuart Drummond.[2]
Mayoral election
Campaign
Five candidates stood in the election for mayor, one each from the three main political parties and two independents. The Labour candidate for mayor was Leo Gillen, a local businessman who had led the campaign in favour of introducing a directly elected mayor.[3] The Liberal Democrats selected the leader of the council since 2000, Arthur Preece, as their candidate for mayor, while the Conservatives chose councillor Stephen Close.[4] The first independent candidate, Stuart Drummond, was better known as H'Angus the Monkey the official mascot for the local football team Hartlepool United F.C..[2][5] The other independent candidate was Ian Cameron, another local businessman.[6]
Drummond campaigned on a pledge to give free bananas to all school pupils under 11 in Hartlepool.[5] He received backing from the football club who paid his deposit[7] and he promised that he would attempt to keep a local sports centre open, improve sporting facilities, tackle crime[8] and reduce the number of councillors.[5] His candidacy began as something of a joke but became more serious as he attracted support during the campaign.[9]
A supplementary voting system was used in the mayoral election with second preferences being used if no candidate received over half of the vote.[10] A local bookmaker initially made Drummond a 100-1 outsider in the mayoral election but soon had to suspend betting after receiving a lot of bets from local people.[11]
Results
Stuart Drummond won the mayoral election defeating the Labour candidate Leo Gillen on second preferences.[2] Drummond said that his victory was due to disillusionment with local politicians and said that he was serious about doing a good job for Hartlepool as mayor.[12] Local Member of Parliament Peter Mandelson praised Drummond on his victory and described him as being "very committed".[13] However other political opponents described the results as having made Hartlepool "a laughing stock".[12]
Hartlepool Mayoral Election 2 May 2002 [14] |
Party |
Candidate |
1st Round |
% |
2nd Round |
Total |
First Round Votes Transfer Votes
|
|
Independent |
Stuart Drummond |
5,696 |
29.1% |
1,699 |
7,395 |
|
|
Labour |
Leo Gillen |
5,438 |
27.8% |
1,324 |
6,762 |
|
style="background-color: #E9E9E9"; width: 2px;" | |
Independent |
Ian Cameron |
5,174 |
26.5% |
|
|
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Arthur Preece |
1,675 |
8.6% |
|
|
|
|
Conservative |
Stephen Close |
1,561 |
8.0% |
|
|
|
|
Independent win |
Council election
In the previous election in 2000 the Labour party had lost control of the council which since then had been run by a coalition between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.[15] Elections took place in 16 of the 17 wards with only Greatham ward not holding an election.[10] Most attention was on the mayoral election but there was a large swing of 14.2% to Labour in the council election. However they were only able to gain one seat in Seaton ward from the Conservatives.[16]
After the election, the composition of the council was
Summary of results
Hartlepool Local Election Result 2002 |
Party |
Seats |
Gains |
Losses |
Net gain/loss |
Seats % |
Votes % |
Votes |
+/− |
|
Labour |
9 |
|
|
+1 |
56.3 |
49.4 |
9,550 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
3 |
|
|
-1 |
18.8 |
24.7 |
4,768 |
|
|
Conservative |
2 |
|
|
-1 |
12.5 |
18.3 |
3,529 |
|
|
Independent |
2 |
|
|
+1 |
12.5 |
4.8 |
934 |
|
|
UKIP |
0 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
2.8 |
540 |
|
Ward results
Brinkburn[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
John Lauderdale |
698 |
61.5 |
|
|
Labour |
Alison Lilley |
437 |
38.5 |
|
Majority |
262 |
23.0 |
|
Turnout |
1,135 |
|
|
Brus[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Denis Waller |
559 |
62.9 |
|
|
Conservative |
Christopher McKenna |
205 |
23.1 |
|
|
Independent |
Mary Power |
125 |
14.1 |
|
Majority |
354 |
39.8 |
|
Turnout |
889 |
|
|
Dyke House[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Sandra Fenwick |
640 |
68.8 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Lynn Thompson |
290 |
31.2 |
|
Majority |
350 |
37.6 |
|
Turnout |
930 |
|
|
Elwick[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Independent |
Stan Kaiser |
288 |
48.1 |
|
|
Conservative |
Hilary Thompson |
214 |
35.7 |
|
|
Labour |
Ron Watts |
97 |
16.2 |
|
Majority |
74 |
12.4 |
|
Turnout |
599 |
|
|
Fens[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Patricia Rayner |
865 |
62.1 |
|
|
Labour |
George English |
527 |
37.9 |
|
Majority |
338 |
24.2 |
|
Turnout |
1,392 |
|
|
Hart[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
Thomas Burey |
762 |
57.9 |
|
|
Labour |
Alice Savage |
555 |
42.1 |
|
Majority |
207 |
15.8 |
|
Turnout |
1,317 |
|
|
Jackson[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Carl Richardson |
683 |
70.8 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Sheila Bruce |
282 |
29.2 |
|
Majority |
401 |
41.6 |
|
Turnout |
965 |
|
|
Owton[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Anthony Groom |
504 |
70.1 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Kenneth Fox |
215 |
29.9 |
|
Majority |
289 |
40.2 |
|
Turnout |
719 |
|
|
Rift House[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Iain Wright |
725 |
50.3 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Ronald Foreman |
716 |
49.7 |
|
Majority |
9 |
0.6 |
|
Turnout |
1,441 |
|
|
Rossmere[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Michael Johnson |
777 |
67.0 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Howard Smith |
286 |
24.7 |
|
|
UKIP |
David Pascoe |
97 |
8.4 |
|
Majority |
491 |
42.3 |
|
Turnout |
1,160 |
|
|
St Hilda[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Independent |
Stephen Allison |
521 |
38.1 |
|
|
Labour |
Patrick Price |
484 |
35.4 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Kevin Kelly |
364 |
26.6 |
|
Majority |
37 |
2.7 |
|
Turnout |
1,369 |
|
|
Stranton[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Mary Fleet |
415 |
58.9 |
|
|
Liberal Democrat |
Peter Whitham |
290 |
41.1 |
|
Majority |
225 |
17.8 |
|
Turnout |
705 |
|
|
Throston[17] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Labour |
Stephen Wallace |
826 |
46.0 |
|
|
Conservative |
Robert Addison |
525 |
29.3 |
|
|
UKIP |
Eric Wilson |
443 |
24.7 |
|
Majority |
301 |
16.7 |
|
Turnout |
1,794 |
|
|
References