The 2019 Cheshire West and Chester Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Cheshire West and Chester Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Five fewer seats were contested because of boundary changes. No party gained overall control. The Labour Party gained a seat but lost control of the council; the Conservatives lost 8 seats, while the Independents gained 4, the Liberal Democrats gained 2, and the Green Party gained one.[1]
Quick Facts All 70 seats on Cheshire West and Chester Council 36 seats needed for a majority, First party ...
Cheshire West and Chester Council election, 2019|
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First party |
Second party |
Third party |
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Leader |
Samantha Dixon |
Lynn Riley |
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Party |
Labour |
Conservative |
Independent |
Leader since |
July 2014 (2014-07) |
17 May 2016 (2016-05-17) |
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Leader's seat |
Chester City and The Garden Quarter |
Frodsham |
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Last election |
38 seats, 34.7% |
36 seats, 36.7% |
1 seat, 3.0% |
Seats before |
38 |
35 |
2 |
Seats won |
35 |
28 |
4 |
Seat change |
3 |
7 |
2 |
Popular vote |
59,096 |
63,003 |
9,348 |
Percentage |
34.0% |
35.7% |
8.2% |
Swing |
0.7% |
1.0% |
5.2% |
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Fourth party |
Fifth party |
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Party |
Liberal Democrats |
Green |
Last election |
0 seats, 9.7% |
0 seats, 6.4% |
Seats before |
0 |
0 |
Seats won |
2 |
1 |
Seat change |
2 |
1 |
Popular vote |
19,705 |
8,609 |
Percentage |
13.4% |
7.9% |
Swing |
3.7% |
1.5% |
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Results of the 2019 election by ward |
Leader of the Council before election
Samantha Dixon
Labour |
Leader of the Council after election
Louise Gittins
Labour |
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At the 2015 election, Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) was the only council to be won by Labour from the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats had lost their last seat on the council, while both UKIP and the Green Party had increased their vote share but failed to win seats. With only a narrow Labour majority, the Conservatives were hopeful of regaining the council. However, the aftermath of the Brexit referendum had significantly reshaped British party politics and BBC journalist Phil McCann noted that CWaC was the most evenly divided borough in the North West in terms of Leave/Remain, making the effect of Brexit on the election difficult to predict.[2]
Between the 2015 and 2019 elections, a boundary review was carried out. The number of councillors was reduced from 75 to 70, with some wards merged and others split. In total, there were 219 candidates – 70 Conservative, 66 Labour, 49 Liberal Democrat, 18 Green, 11 independents (including Eveleigh Moore-Dutton, elected in 2015 as a Conservative), 4 UKIP and 1 For Britain Movement. 24 existing councillors stood down.[3]
Councillor changes
New councillors
- Paul Bowers (Green, Helsby)
- Kate Cernik, (Labour, Northwich Winnington and Castle)
- Robert Cernik, (Labour, Northwich Winnington and Castle)
- Mandy Clare (Labour, Winsford Dene)
- Steve Collings (Labour Great Boughton)
- Andrew Cooper (Labour, Northwich Leftwich)
- Lisa Denson (Labour, Westminster)
- Simon Eardley (Conservative, Saughall and Mollington)
- Gillian Edwards (Independent, Weaver and Cuddington)
- Mal Gaskill (Liberal Democrats, Winsford Swanlow)
- Gareth Gould (Labour, Strawberry)
- Graham Heatley (Conservative, Gowy Rural)
- Phil Herbert (Independent, Hartford and Greenbank)
- Adam Langan (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
- Gina Lewis (Labour, Winsford Over and Verdin)
- Sheila Little (Labour, Blacon)
- Phil Marshall (Conservative, Marbury)
- Joanne Moorcroft (Labour, Winsford Gravel)
- Nathan Pardoe (Labour, Winsford Wharton)
- Trish Richards (Labour, Blacon)
- Paul Roberts (Liberal Democrats, Farndon)
- Helen Treeby (Conservative, Rudheath)
- Christine Warner (Labour, Ledsham and Manor)
- Elton Watson (Conservative, Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead)
- Peter Wheeler (Labour, Ledsham and Manor)
- Rachel Williams (Conservative, Malpas)
Re-elected councillors
- Val Armstrong (Labour, Lache)
- Martin Barker (Independent, Parkgate)
- Mike Baynham (Conservative, Winsford Over and Verdin)
- Richard Beacham (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
- Robert Bisset (Labour, Central and Grange)
- Tommy Blackmore (Labour, Winsford Over and Verdin)
- Keith Board (Conservative, Great Boughton)
- Matt Bryan (Labour, Upton)
- Razia Daniels (Conservative, Handbridge Park)
- Andrew Dawson (Conservative, Frodsham)
- Martyn Delaney (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
- Hugo Deynem (Conservative, Sandstone)
- Samantha Dixon (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
- Paul Donovan (Labour, Sutton Villages)
- Michael Edwardson (Labour, Wolverham)
- Charles Fifield (Conservative, Weaver and Cuddington)
- Carol Gahan (Labour, Blacon)
- Lynn Gibbon (Conservative, Marbury)
- Louise Gittins (Labour, Little Neston)
- Myles Hogg (Conservative, Willaston and Thornton)
- Jill Houlbrook (Conservative, Upton)
- Brian Jones (Labour, Whitby Groves)
- Mike Jones (Conservative, Tattenhall)
- John Leather (Conservative, Tarvin and Kelsall)
- Nicole Meardon (Labour, Sutton Villages)
- Eveleigh Moore Dutton (Independent, Tarporley)
- Sam Naylor (Labour, Northwich Witton)
- Margaret Parker (Conservative, Gowy Rural)
- Stuart Parker (Conservative, Christleton and Huntington)
- Patricia Parkes (Conservative, Hartford and Greenbank)
- Lynn Riley (Conservative, Frodsham)
- Diane Roberts (Labour, Netherpool)
- Peter Rooney (Labour, Whitby Park)
- Bob Rudd (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
- Karen Shore (Labour, Central and Grange)
- Mark Stocks (Conservative, Shakerley)
- Neil Sullivan (Conservative, Handbridge Park)
- Harry Tonge (Conservative, Tarvin and Kelsall)
- Gill Watson (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
- Helen Weltman (Conservative, Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead)
- Andy Williams (Labour, Neston)
- Mark Williams (Conservative, Christleton and Huntington)
- Paul Williams (Conservative, Weaver and Cuddington)
- Norman Wright (Conservative, Marbury)
Overall election result
The election saw Labour narrowly lose its majority, winning 35 seats of the 70 available – a result local election analyst Andrew Teale attributed chiefly to the boundary changes – but remain the largest party.[4] The Conservatives fell back considerably, with just 28 seats, but still won the largest share of the vote. The Liberal Democrats returned to the council, winning 2 seats in Winsford Swanlow (formerly Labour) and Farndon (formerly Conservative), and the Greens won their first ever seat on CWaC, taking Helsby from the Conservatives.
Independents also surged – incumbents Martin Barker in Parkgate and Eveleigh Moore-Dutton in Tarporley held their seats, and two further independents won a seat from the Conservatives in the multi-member wards of Weaver and Cuddington, and Hartford and Greenbank.[5] In April 2020, Hartford and Greenbank Independent Cllr Phil Herbert joined the Conservative Group.[6]
Results by ward
Blacon
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Central and Grange
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Chester City and The Garden Quarter
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Christleton and Huntington
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Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead
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Farndon
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Frodsham
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Gowy Rural
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Great Boughton
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Handbridge Park
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Hartford and Greenbank
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Helsby
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Lache
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Ledsham and Manor
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Little Neston
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Malpas
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Marbury
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Neston
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Netherpool
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Newton and Hoole
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Northwich Leftwich
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Northwich Winnington and Castle
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Northwich Witton
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Parkgate
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Rudheath
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Sandstone
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Saughall and Mollington
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Shakerley
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Strawberry
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Sutton Villages
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Tarporley
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Tarvin and Kelsall
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Tattenhall
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Upton
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Weaver and Cuddington
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Westminster
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Whitby Groves
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Whitby Park
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Willaston and Thornton
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Winsford Dene
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Winsford Gravel
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Winsford Over and Verdin
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Winsford Swanlow
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Winsford Wharton
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Wolverham
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Did not stand for election.
"Election 2019: Cheshire West and Chester councillor candidates revealed". Chester Standard. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Elections 2019 - Results by Ward". Cheshire West & Chester Council. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.