2019 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 2018 2 May 2019 (2019-05-02) 2021 →
22 of 66 seats (One Third) toWirral Metropolitan Borough Council 34 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	37.1% (0.8%)
First party Second party   Leader Phil Davies Ian Lewis Party Labour Conservative Leader since 29 March 2012 (2012-03-29)[1] 8 May 2017 (2017-05-08)[2] Leader's seat Birkenhead and Tranmere Wallasey Last election 12 seats, 45.5% 8 seats, 35.3% Seats before 34 21 Seats won 10 8 Seats after 32 22 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 31,778 28,467 Percentage 35.8% 32.1% Swing 9.7% 3.2%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Pat Cleary[n 1] Phil Gilchrist Party Green Liberal Democrats Leader since 22 May 2014 (2014-05-22)[4] 16 May 2013 (2013-05-16)[3] Leader's seat Birkenhead and Tranmere Eastham Last election 1 seat, 8.6% 2 seats, 10.2% Seats before 1 5 Seats won 2 2 Seats after 3 6 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 14,803 10,283 Percentage 16.7% 11.6% Swing 8.1% 1.4%
Map of results of 2019 election
Leader of the Council before election Phil Davies Labour Leader of the Council after election Pat Hackett (Labour) No Overall Control

The2019 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members ofWirral Metropolitan Borough Council in England.^[5] This election was held on the same day as otherlocal elections.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Party		Seats	±
	Labour	32	2
	Conservative	22	1
	Liberal Democrat	6	1
	Green	3	2
	Independent	3	2
Source:The Guardian[6]

Overall result compared with2018.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election result, 2019
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	22	10	1	3	2	45.5	35.8	31,778	9.7
	Conservative	22	8	1	0	1	36.4	32.1	28,467	3.2
	Green	21	2	2	0	2	9.1	16.7	14,803	8.1
	Liberal Democrats	16	2	1	0	1	9.1	11.6	10,283	1.4
	UKIP	7	0	0	0		0.0	2.5	2,182	2.4
	Independent	2	0	0	0	2	0.0	1.4	1,203	1.3

^[7]

Birkenhead consists of the wards ofBidston and St James,Birkenhead and Tranmere,Claughton,Oxton,Prenton andRock Ferry.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results, 2019 (Birkenhead)
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	6	3	1	2	1	50.0	39.5	8,271	15.2
	Green	5	2	2	0	2	33.3	29.8	6,239	10.6
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	1	0	1	16.7	15.1	3,167	1.0
	Conservative	6	0	0	0		0.0	6.9	1,447	4.4
	Independent	2	0	0	2	2	0.0	5.7	1,203	N/A
	UKIP	2	0	0	0		0.0	3.0	631	N/A

^[7]

Wallasey consists of the wards ofLeasowe and Moreton East,Liscard,Moreton West and Saughall Massie,New Brighton,Seacombe andWallasey.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results, 2019 (Wallasey)
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	6	4	0	0		66.7	44.0	10,143	8.2
	Conservative	6	2	0	0		33.3	36.8	8,486	1.3
	Green	6	0	0	0		0.0	10.0	2,310	5.2
	UKIP	4	0	0	0		0.0	5.2	1,202	4.7
	Liberal Democrats	4	0	0	0		0.0	4.0	925

^[7]

Wirral South consists of the wards ofBebington,Bromborough,Clatterbridge,Eastham, andHeswall.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results, 2019 (Wirral South)
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	5	2	0	0		40.0	35.8	7,757	3.7
	Labour	5	2	0	0		40.0	32.2	6,970	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	4	1	0	0		20.0	19.4	4,196	3.7
	Green	5	0	0	0		0.0	12.6	2,726	8.2

^[7]

Wirral West consists of the wards ofGreasby, Frankby and Irby,Hoylake and Meols,Pensby and Thingwall,Upton, andWest Kirby and Thurstaston.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results, 2019 (Wirral West)
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	5	4	1	0	1	80.0	46.8	10,777	3.2
	Labour	5	1	0	1	1	20.0	27.7	6,394	7.3
	Green	5	0	0	0		0.0	15.3	3,528	8.5
	Liberal Democrats	5	0	0	0		0.0	8.7	1,995	0.9
	UKIP	1	0	0	0		0.0	1.5	349	N/A

^[7]

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:^[8]

After the election the composition of the council was:^[6]

The disproportionality of the 2019 election was 9.56 using theGallagher Index.

Political Party		Vote Share	Seat Share	Difference	Difference²
	Labour	35.82	45.45	9.63	92.74
	Conservative	32.09	36.36	4.27	18.23
	Green	16.69	9.09	7.60	57.76
	Liberal Democrat	11.59	9.09	2.50	6.25
	UKIP	2.46	0.00	2.46	6.05
	Independent	1.36	0.00	1.36	1.85
				TOTAL	182.88
				TOTAL /2	91.44
				${\displaystyle \sqrt{\frac{\text{TOTAL}}{2}}}$	9.56

Party		Leader	Leader since	Leader's ward	Up for re-election?	Last election		This election
						% of votes	Wards	Defending	Prior Composition
	Labour	Phil Davies (outgoing)[9]	29 March 2012	Birkenhead and Tranmere	Y[n 2]	45.5%	12	12	34 / 66
	Conservative	Ian Lewis	8 May 2017	Wallasey	N	35.3%	7	7	21 / 66
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Gilchrist	16 May 2013	Eastham	N	10.2%	2	1	5 / 66
	Green	Pat Cleary[n 1]	22 May 2014	Birkenhead and Tranmere	N	8.6%	1	0	1 / 66
	Independent	Moira McLaughlin	22 February 2019[10]	Rock Ferry	N	0.1%	0	2[n 3]	5 / 66

At the last regular election (2018), The Conservatives, Greens and Labour all ran a full slate of candidates with theLiberal Democrats contesting all but one of the seats available with other parties only putting forward a handful of candidates between them.

The Green Party selected Steve Hayes on 13 June 2018 to contest the seat ofBirkenhead and Tranmere after Pat Cleary wasre-elected in May.^[11]

On 17 September, incumbentHoylake and Meols councillor of 20 years Gerry Ellis announced that he had been deselected by the Conservative Party.^[12] Ellis appealed against the deselection, claiming he had been "unlawfully" discriminated against because of his age. In December, Alison Wright was announced as the new Conservative candidate.^[13]

On 17 October,Phil Davies announced in a party email that he would stand down as Council Leader in May as well as not seeking re-election for hisBirkenhead and Tranmere seat after serving onWirral Council for over 27 years.^[9]

Labour's selection process began in October with the left targeting seats such asLiscard,Bidston and St James,Pensby and Thingwall,Rock Ferry andNew Brighton.^{[citation needed]} Both Ron Abbey (Leasowe and Moreton East) and Chris Meaden (Rock Ferry) were not selected. Bernie Mooney's re-selection for Liscard was questioned due to apparent irregularities in the selection process.^[14][15] Her candidacy was upheld by the regional party.^{[citation needed]} However, on 27 February she was found to be in breach of Labour rules and subsequently removed from the panel of candidates by theLocal Campaign Forum.^[16]

TUSC suspended their electoral activity in November so did not put forward any candidates.^[17]

In January, Meaden resigned theLabour whip and sought re-election as anindependent.^[18]

Labour targetedEastham andWallasey and hoped to hold on toPensby and Thingwall andOxton, the latter of which was held by theLiberal Democrats in the subsequent two elections.^[19]

The Conservatives' main target seat wasPensby and Thingwall, whichthey lost by just 23 votes in 2018.^[20]

The Liberal Democrats hoped to regain a third councillor inOxton, and the Greens were looking to take a second inBirkenhead and Tranmere and to make headways inPrenton.^[21][22]

On 26 March, Wirral Labour criticised the Conservatives for starting aCrowdfunder page for the election which had, so far, raised £20.^[23] This came despite itself having used crowdfunding with Tory leader Ian Lewis saying that they [Labour] needed to "get with the programme".^{[citation needed]}

OutgoingOxton councillor Paul Doughty was suspended from Labour in April due to campaigning for the Independent Group.^[24]

Representatives from all four parties in Council as well as the Independent Group appeared onSunday Politics North West on 7 April talking about the issues facing the election campaign.^[25] Particular attention was given to theGreen belt as well as the alleged rifts in the local Labour Party.^{[citation needed]}

Leasowe and Moreton East Conservative candidate Debbie Caplin was criticised by Labour for comments she made toThe Observer in 2016 in which she described her hometown ofMoreton as "horrible".^[26] Tory Leader Ian Lewis defended her comments as being taken out of context stating that "Debbie, her family and her neighbours had been let down by years of Labour neglect".^{[citation needed]}

Greenbelt leak controversy

On Monday 8 April, a report leaked by Pensby and Thingwall councillor Phil Brightmore claimed that 20 Green belt sites ranging from 2 to 1,705 houses had been "saved" from development.^[27] However, the following day a statement released by Wirral Council dismissed that any sites had been removed from the list of [Green belt] sites identified for potential release.^{[citation needed]}

Further leaked documents suggested that Labour were deciding on potential sites based on political preference.^[28]

A full list of 21 "accepted" sites published on 23 April was described by Liberal Democrat planning spokesperson Stuart Kelly as a "shabby back-room carve up of green belt sites based on what was politically advantageous to Labour".^[29]

A 12 April article in theWirral Globe put forward each party's priorities for the election.^[30]

Labour lost control of the Council losing two seats to theGreens and one to theConservatives.^[40]

Labour councillors chose the new leader of their groupPat Hackett on 5 May.^[41] Hackett was elected Council leader on 14 May with 31 votes compared to 25 for Conservative leader Ian Lewis and 10 abstentions.^[42] The meeting also saw Labour lose their majority on every committee with chairs given to each opposition party.

Results compared directly with the last local election in2018.

Bebington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jerry Williams[39]	2,210	50.1	9.5
	Conservative	Geoff Jones[43]	1,085	24.6	5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Crowfoot	696	15.8	10.5
	Green	Rachel Heydon	424	9.6	4.8
Majority			1,125	25.5	3.7
Registered electors			11,916
Turnout			4,459	37.4	0.4
Rejected ballots			44	1.0	0.8
	Labourhold		Swing	1.9

^[44][45]

Bidston and St James

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Kenny[46]	1,572	67.7	8.0
	Green	James Parkhouse	353	15.2	10.4
	Conservative	Vida Wilson[43]	245	10.6	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Parsons	151	6.5	2.8
Majority			1,219	52.2	10.9
Registered electors			10,330
Turnout			2,368	22.9	1.1
Rejected ballots			47	2.0	1.8
	Labourhold		Swing	5.5

^[47][48]

Birkenhead and Tranmere

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Steve Hayes[49]	2,198	65.9	16.2
	Labour	Bill McGenity[50]	1,058	31.7	16.1
	Conservative	June Cowin[43]	78	2.3	0.2
Majority			1,140	34.2	32.3
Registered electors			10,109
Turnout			3,360	33.2	3.7
Rejected ballots			26	0.8	0.6
	Greengain fromLabour		Swing	16.2

^[51][52]

Bromborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joe Walsh[53]	1,608	48.0	13.1
	Conservative	Des Drury[54]	728	21.7	0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Vicky Downie[55]	570	17.0	5.9
	Green	Sheena Hatton	446	13.3	7.6
Majority			880	26.3	12.6
Registered electors			11,771
Turnout			3,390	28.8	0.8
Rejected ballots			38	1.1	0.8
	Labourhold		Swing	6.4

^[56][57]

Clatterbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Helen Cameron[58]	2,608	53.2	2.1
	Labour	Kieran Morgan[59]	1,428	29.1	4.8
	Green	Jim McGinley	865	17.6	13.3
Majority			1,180	24.1	2.6
Registered electors			11,401
Turnout			4,960	43.5	0.5
Rejected ballots			59	1.2	1.0
	Conservativehold		Swing	1.4

^[60][61]

Claughton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Foulkes[62]	1,596	45.8	13.1
	Conservative	Nicholas Hanna[43]	544	15.6	6.9
	Green	Liz Heydon	461	13.2	6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Teggin	389	11.2	0.9
	UKIP	Alex Fay	386	11.1	New
	Independent	Mo Morgan	108	3.1	New
Majority			1,052	30.2	6.2
Registered electors			11,478
Turnout			3,502	30.5	0.2
Rejected ballots			18	0.5	0.2
	Labourhold		Swing	3.1

^[63][64]

Eastham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Mitchell[65]	2,286	55.0	6.8
	Labour	Ruth Molyneux[66]	1,122	27.0	9.1
	Conservative	Phil Merry[43]	440	10.6	2.4
	Green	Harry Gorman	311	7.5	4.8
Majority			1,164	28.0	15.9
Registered electors			11,007
Turnout			4,192	38.1	0.7
Rejected ballots			33	0.8	0.6
	Liberal Democratshold		Swing	8.0

^[67][68][69]

Greasby, Frankby and Irby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Burgess-Joyce[70]	2,838	52.3	6.5
	Labour	Tim Watson[71]	958	17.6	6.3
	Green	Cathy Page	688	12.7	9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Forshaw	597	11.0	2.8
	UKIP	Jack Bland	349	6.4	New
Majority			1,880	34.6	0.3
Registered electors			11,481
Turnout			5,447	47.4	2.3
Rejected ballots			17	0.3	0.2
	Conservativehold		Swing	0.1

^[72][73]

Heswall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Hodson[74]	2,896	60.1	9.2
	Green	Barbara Burton	680	14.1	9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Thompson	644	13.4	4.9
	Labour	Brian Parsons[75]	602	12.5	4.7
Majority			2,216	46.0	6.1
Registered electors			10,845
Turnout			4,861	44.8	2.8
Rejected ballots			39	0.8	0.6
	Conservativehold		Swing	3.1

^[76][77]

Hoylake and Meols

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Wright[13]	2,265	50.3	3.6
	Labour	Thomas Laing	997	22.1	7.6
	Green	Alix Cockcroft	778	17.3	5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Reisdorf	465	10.3	3.7
Majority			1,268	28.1	4.4
Registered electors			10,463
Turnout			4,554	43.5	0.6
Rejected ballots			49	1.1	0.8
	Conservativehold		Swing	2.3

^[78][79][80]

Leasowe and Moreton East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karl Greaney[14]	1,729	47.9	10.7
	Conservative	Debbie Caplin[81]	1,428	39.6	6.0
	Green	Michael Dixon	453	12.5	9.2
Majority			301	8.3	16.7
Registered electors			10,806
Turnout			3,649	33.8	1.0
Rejected ballots			39	1.1	0.8
	Labourhold		Swing	8.4

^[82][83]

Liscard

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Spoor[84]	1,733	51.0	12.6
	Conservative	Michael Taylor[85]	609	17.9	3.6
	UKIP	Rodney Melbourne	374	11.0	New
	Green	Perle Sheldricks	360	10.6	5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Arrowsmith	319	9.4	0.2
Majority			1,124	33.1	9.0
Registered electors			11,095
Turnout			3,431	30.9	1.0
Rejected ballots			36	1.0	0.5
	Labourhold		Swing	4.5

^[86][87]

Moreton West and Saughall Massie

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Williams[81]	2,738	63.4	1.8
	Labour	Stan Webster[88]	1,146	26.5	6.8
	Green	Helen O'Donnell	330	7.6	4.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Tyrrell	107	2.5	0.4
Majority			1,592	36.8	8.5
Registered electors			10,671
Turnout			4,368	40.9	0.4
Rejected ballots			47	1.1	0.9
	Conservativehold		Swing	4.3

^[89][90]

New Brighton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Hackett	2,248	57.0	2.1
	Conservative	Keith Raybould[91]	682	17.3	8.5
	Green	Cynthia Stonall	541	13.7	5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Charlie Smethurst	256	6.5	2.0
	UKIP	Paula Walters	218	5.5	2.9
Majority			1,566	39.7	6.4
Registered electors			11,214
Turnout			3,959	35.3	0.9
Rejected ballots			14	0.4	0.2
	Labourhold		Swing	3.2

^[92][93]

Oxton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Corkhill[21]	2,627	59.8	12.2
	Labour	Jeff Davies[94]	1,298	29.6	9.4
	UKIP	Chris Bunker	245	5.6	New
	Conservative	Tina McDonnell[95]	220	5.0	3.6
Majority			1,329	30.3	21.7
Registered electors			10,950
Turnout			4,405	40.2	1.1
Rejected ballots			15	0.3	0.2
	Liberal Democratsgain fromIndependent		Swing	10.8

^[96][97]

Pensby and Thingwall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Collins[98]	2,201	44.8	1.4
	Labour	Phil Brightmore[99]	1,705	34.7	9.2
	Green	Allen Burton	700	14.2	8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Thompson	307	6.2	0.8
Majority			496	10.1	N/A
Registered electors			10,390
Turnout			4,950	47.6	6.7
Rejected ballots			37	0.7	0.5
	Conservativegain fromLabour		Swing	5.3

^{[100][101][102]}

Prenton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Chris Cooke[49]	2,915	63.6	29.5
	Labour	Angie Davies[103]	1,467	32.0	17.4
	Conservative	Hilary Jones[104]	200	4.4	7.7
Majority			1,448	31.6	N/A
Registered electors			10,995
Turnout			4,614	42.0	6.4
Rejected ballots			32	0.7	0.4
	Greengain fromLabour		Swing	23.5

^{[105][106][107]}

Rock Ferry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Yvonne Nolan[15]	1,280	45.0	29.9
	Independent	Chris Meaden[18]	1,095	38.5	New
	Green	Moira Gommon	312	11.0	4.4
	Conservative	Johnathan Andrew[43]	160	5.6	5.5
Majority			185	6.5	57.3
Registered electors			10,043
Turnout			2,861	28.5	4.7
Rejected ballots			14	0.5	0.3
	Labourgain fromIndependent		Swing	28.7

^{[108][109][110]}

Seacombe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Jones[39]	1,582	63.9	13.2
	UKIP	Chris Wellstead	375	15.1	New
	Green	Diane Johnson	286	11.5	4.8
	Conservative	John Laing[43]	234	9.4	3.6
Majority			1,207	48.7	15.4
Registered electors			10,143
Turnout			2,494	24.6	0.5
Rejected ballots			17	0.7	0.5
	Labourhold		Swing	7.7

^[111][112]

Upton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Smith[39]	1,775	49.4	8.8
	Conservative	Emma Sellman[113]	937	26.1	2.5
	Green	Lily Clough	636	17.7	11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Davies	243	6.8	2.6
Majority			838	23.3	6.3
Registered electors			12,234
Turnout			3,631	29.7	1.9
Rejected ballots			40	1.1	0.8
	Labourhold		Swing	3.2

^[114][115]

Wallasey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Hayes[81]	2,795	52.6	2.0
	Labour	Paul Martin[116]	1,705	32.1	6.6
	Green	James Brady	340	6.4	3.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Codling	243	4.6	1.3
	UKIP	Kriss Cringle	235	4.4	New
Majority			1,090	20.5	4.5
Registered electors			11,795
Turnout			5,334	45.2	0.9
Rejected ballots			16	0.3	0.2
	Conservativehold		Swing	2.3

^{[117][118][119]}

West Kirby and Thurstaston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jenny Johnson[120]	2,536	55.1	6.4
	Labour	James Laing[121]	959	20.8	4.4
	Green	Yvonne McGinley	726	15.8	8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Redfern	383	8.3	2.1
Majority			1,577	34.3	2.0
Registered electors			10,200
Turnout			4,638	45.5	0.6
Rejected ballots			34	0.7	0.5
	Conservativehold		Swing	1.0

^[122][123]

•italics denote the sitting councillor •bold denotes the winning candidate

• "Statement of Persons Nominated - All Wards 2019"(PDF).Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. 3 April 2019. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 April 2019. Retrieved4 April 2019.

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