Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2003

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 1 May 2003. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party lost overall control of the council to no overall control, for the first time since 1980.

20 seats were contested in the election, with 7 being won by the Labour Party, 7 by the Conservatives and 6 by the Liberal Democrats.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 27
• Conservative 19
• Liberal Democrat 14

Election result

Bolton Local Election Result 2003
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	7	0	4	-4	35.0	35.1	27,668	-5.2%
	Conservative	7	3	0	+3	35.0	34.1	26,833	+0.4%
	Liberal Democrat	6	2	1	+1	30.0	29.0	22,878	+5.8%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	627	-0.4%
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	563	+0.1%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	218	+0.0%

Council Composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

31	16	13
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dems

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

27	19	14
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dems

Ward results

Astley Bridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stuart Lever	2,285	50.0	-3.7
	Labour	Christopher White	1,402	30.7	-4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Greenalgh	882	19.3	+7.7
Majority			883	19.3	+0.3
Turnout			4,569	41.0	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to LD 5.8

Blackrod

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Martyn Cox	1,456	36.8	+11.2
	Labour	Kevan Helsby	1,362	34.4	-3.7
	Conservative	Michael Hollick	1,138	28.8	-7.5
Majority			94	2.4
Turnout			3,956	42.0	+11.0
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing	Con to LD 9.3

Bradshaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Hall	2,600	53.7	-1.8
	Labour	Eric Hyland	1,302	26.9	-2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Howarth	944	19.5	+4.1
Majority			1,298	26.8	+0.4
Turnout			4,846	44.0	+9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to LD 3.1

Breightmet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donald Grime	1,426	41.2	-5.3
	Conservative	Richard Elliott	1,370	39.6	-1.5
	Liberal Democrat	Edward Hill	666	19.2	+6.8
Majority			56	1.6	-3.8
Turnout			3,462	38.0	+10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to LD 6.0

Bromley Cross

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Wilkinson	3,065	61.3	+1.6
	Labour	Anthony Muscat Terribile	1,048	20.9	-5.3
	Liberal Democrat	Stewart Ball	890	17.8	+3.7
Majority			2,017	40.4	+6.9
Turnout			5,003	46.0	+10.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to LD 4.5

Burnden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mohammad Idrees	1,453	39.5
	Labour	Martin McMulkin	1,421	38.6
	Liberal Democrat	David Connor	686	18.6
	Socialist Alliance	David Sumner	119	3.2
Majority			32	0.9
Turnout			3,679	38.0	+0.0
	Conservative gain from Labour

Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Valibhai Patel	1,693	49.8	+40.1
	Labour	John Noble	1,191	35.0	-9.2
	Conservative	Mohammed Iqbal	319	9.4	-12.0
	Socialist Labour	Lynne Lowe	198	5.8	+2.0
Majority			502	14.8
Turnout			3,401	47.0	+13.0
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing	Con to LD 26.0

Daubhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Fitzpatrick	1,335	41.7	-14.0
	Liberal Democrat	Linden Greensitt	1,091	34.0	+17.0
	Conservative	John Heyes	779	24.3	-3.1
Majority			244	7.7	-20.6
Turnout			3,205	40.0	+12.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to LD 15.5

Deane-cum-Heaton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hanscomb	3,285	54.8	-0.6
	Labour	John Gillatt	1,598	26.6	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Christine Macpherson	1,116	18.6	-0.6
Majority			1,687	28.2	-1.7
Turnout			5,999	45.0	+11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 0.8

Derby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosa Kay	1,868	49.7	-27.0
	Conservative	Yakub Jiva	1,101	29.3	+17.8
	Liberal Democrat	Sara McGeehan	500	13.3	+6.4
	Socialist Alliance	Neil McAlister	202	5.4	+5.4
	Socialist Labour	Dorothy Entwistle	84	2.2	-2.7
Majority			767	20.4	-44.8
Turnout			3,755	44.0	+10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Con 22.4

Farnworth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Raymond Stones	1,627	59.1	+0.1
	Conservative	Stanley Jackson	556	20.2	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Rock	402	14.6	-1.8
	Socialist Labour	William Kelly	167	6.1	-0.8
Majority			1,071	38.9	-2.3
Turnout			2,752	34.0	+14.0
	Labour hold		Swing	LD to Con 2.1

Halliwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cliff Morris	1,848	53.2	+0.4
	Conservative	James Hinegan	732	21.1	-1.7
	Liberal Democrat	Anne Warren	683	19.7	+3.6
	Socialist Alliance	John Greenwood	151	4.3	+4.3
	Socialist Labour	Howard Broadbent	61	1.8	-3.5
Majority			1,116	32.1	+2.1
Turnout			3,475	41.0	+9.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to LD 2.6

Harper Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Dennis	1,673	50.8	-6.5
	Conservative	Robert Tyler	807	24.5	+2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Wendy Connor	699	21.2	+6.3
	Socialist Labour	William Kelly	117	3.5	-1.9
Majority			866	26.3	-8.6
Turnout			3,296	37.0	+16.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to LD 6.4

Horwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Cronnolley	2,284	51.8	-3.7
	Labour	Joyce Kellet	1,170	26.5	+0.3
	Conservative	Olive Fairhurst	864	19.6	+3.0
	Socialist Alliance	Robert Ince	91	2.1	+0.0
Majority			1,114	25.3	-3.7
Turnout			4,409	45.0	+9.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	LD to Con 3.4

Hulton Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip Ashcroft	2,064	38.5	+2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Derek Gradwell	1,756	32.8	-1.5
	Labour	David Chadwick	1,540	28.7	-0.5
Majority			308	5.7	+3.6
Turnout			5,360	40.0	+12.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	LD to Con 1.8

Kearsley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Rothwell	1,863	51.9	+3.5
	Labour	Derek Burrows	1,348	37.5	-4.7
	Conservative	Sheila Kesler	381	10.6	+1.2
Majority			515	14.4	+8.2
Turnout			3,592	41.0	+14.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	Labour to LD 4.1

Little Lever

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Woodward	1,658	40.4	+3.6
	Labour	Robert Evans	1,554	37.9	-11.5
	Liberal Democrat	William Crook	669	16.3	+5.1
	Green	Alwynne Cartmell	218	5.3	+5.3
Majority			104	2.5
Turnout			4,099	49.0	+15.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Labour to Green 8.4

Smithills

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Joe Higson	2,398	64.1	+5.1
	Conservative	Douglas Bagnall	705	18.8	-0.6
	Labour	Barbara Ramsden	640	17.1	-1.3
Majority			1,693	45.3	+5.7
Turnout			3,743	50.0	+14.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	Labour to LD 3.3

Tonge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Sherrington	1,510	49.7	-2.7
	Conservative	Nigel Ford	1,092	35.9	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Langdon	438	14.4	+1.1
Majority			418	13.8	-4.3
Turnout			3,040	39.0	+7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Con 2.1

Westhoughton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Wilkinson	1,762	56.0	+6.2
	Labour	James Kilcoyne	805	25.6	-11.6
	Conservative	Jane Frappola	579	18.4	+5.4
Majority			957	30.4	+17.8
Turnout			3,146	39.0	+11.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	Labour to LD 8.9