2008 Manchester City Council election

Elections to Manchester City Council took place on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election^[1] - every ward of the city returned one councillor at this election out of the three councillors a ward in the city has.

2008 Manchester City Council election

← 2007 1 May 2008 (2008-05-01) 2010 →
32 of 96 seats on Manchester City Council 49 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Labour Liberal Democrats Seats before 61 33 Seats won 19 13 Seats after 61 34 Seat change 1 Popular vote 39,300 27,773 Percentage 43.0% 30.4%
Map of the results of the 2008 Manchester City council election, with Labour in red and the Liberal Democrats in yellow.
Leader before election Richard Leese Labour Leader following election Richard Leese Labour

Four national political parties - the Conservative Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party - each stood a candidate in every ward in this election. There were candidates from other political parties standing in some of the wards, but there were no independent candidates standing for election this year in the city.

The Labour Party retained overall control of the council. The Green Party lost their only seat in Hulme to Labour, and the Conservatives failed to gain their first elected councillor, though became the third party on the council due to having one councillor through an earlier defection. The Liberal Democrats, who had suffered two defections since the last election - firstly the aforementioned Tory defection, and another to Labour - gained two councillors (in Miles Platting & Newton Heath and Northenden) but lost one (in Longsight) to Labour.

Voting took place between 7am and 10pm on Thursday 1 May 2008 and counting took place that night at the Town Hall. Overall turnout fell slightly to 27%.^[2][3]

Election result

Changes compared to the 2007 election.

2008 Manchester City Council Election Result[3]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	19		59.4	42	61	62.5	39,300	43.0	2.4
	Liberal Democrats	13	1	40.6	21	34	35.4	27,773	30.4	1.4
	Conservative	0		0.0	1	1	1.1	12,999	14.2	3.2
	Green	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	7,602	8.3	0.1
	BNP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,765	1.9	0.8
	Respect	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	655	0.6	0.1
	Left List	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	612	0.6	N/A
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	371	0.4	0.7
	Socialist Alternative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	295	0.3

Ward results

Below is a list of the 32 individual wards with the candidates standing in those wards and the number of votes the candidates acquired. The winning candidate per ward is in bold.

Ancoats and Clayton

Ancoats and Clayton^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Carmody*	1,428	59.7	−4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Connell	403	16.9	−3.2
	Conservative	David Morgan	334	14.0	+8.3
	Green	Sophy Hansford	226	9.5	+3.2
Majority			1,025	42.9	−1.6
Turnout			2,391	23.4	−1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.8

Ardwick

Ardwick^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom O'Callaghan*	1,180	62.1	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Sajjad	346	18.2	−6.6
	Conservative	Claire Babington	221	11.6	+4.3
	Green	Andrew Speke	152	8.0	−2.6
Majority			836	44.0	+11.4
Turnout			1,899	17.9	−3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.6

Baguley

Baguley^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Tony Burns*	1,123	46.7	−5.9
	Conservative	Nathan Cruddas	565	23.5	+3.5
	Socialist Alternative	Lynn Worthington	295	12.3	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Rodgers	243	10.1	+0.4
	Green	Lynne Richmond	179	7.4	+0.1
Majority			558	23.2	−9.5
Turnout			2,405	22.9	−0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.7

Bradford

Bradford^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Swannick*	1,467	67.1	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Jenkinson	286	13.1	−0.7
	Conservative	Rod Keller	224	10.2	+1.1
	Green	Andrew Bullen	209	9.6	+3.3
Majority			1,181	54.0	−3.0
Turnout			2,186	22.0	−0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.5

Brooklands

Brooklands^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Glynn Evans*	1,274	44.2	−6.1
	Conservative	Marie Raynor	1,106	38.4	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Bridges	362	12.6	+0.8
	Green	Tamisin MacCarthy-Morrogh	146	5.1	+0.3
Majority			168	5.8	−11.5
Turnout			2,882	28.6	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.7

Burnage

Burnage^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Cameron*	2,096	64.8	+10.5
	Labour	Tom Murphy	768	23.7	−12.3
	Conservative	Peter Schofield	228	7.1	+1.3
	Green	Angela Tibke	142	4.4	+0.5
Majority			1,328	41.1	+22.8
Turnout			3,234	31.0	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+11.4

Charlestown

Charlestown^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark Hackett*	1,328	46.0	−13.0
	BNP	Stephen Moran	687	23.8	+23.8
	Conservative	Gareth Brown	425	14.7	−1.3
	Green	Michael Prior	186	6.4	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandra Reynolds-Cocroft	178	6.2	−4.1
	UKIP	Catherine Ritchie	84	2.9	−6.2
Majority			641	22.2	−20.7
Turnout			2,888	29.8	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-18.4

Cheetham

Cheetham^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Pagel*	1,735	49.9	−14.7
	Conservative	Wajid Ali	673	19.3	+8.8
	Respect	Kay Phillips	502	14.4	+14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sham Raja	429	12.3	−3.5
	Green	Luke Smith	141	4.1	−5.1
Majority			1,062	30.5	−18.3
Turnout			3,480	29.2	−2.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.7

Chorlton

Chorlton^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sheila Newman*	2,126	45.2	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Lianne Williams	1,867	39.7	−1.6
	Green	Brian Candeland	448	9.5	−2.8
	Conservative	David Hopps	260	5.5	−0.5
Majority			259	5.5	+4.5
Turnout			4,701	46.0	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

Chorlton Park

Chorlton Park^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bernie Ryan	1,693	53.4	−2.0
	Labour Co-op	John Hacking	763	24.0	+0.6
	Green	Kathryn Brownbridge	359	11.3	−1.2
	Conservative	Christopher Green	358	11.3	+2.5
Majority			930	29.3	−2.7
Turnout			3,173	30.5	−0.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-1.3

City Centre

City Centre^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Ramsbottom*	568	36.1	+3.3
	Labour	Anthony McCaul	479	30.5	+4.7
	Conservative	Rob Adlard	386	24.6	+2.0
	Green	Peter Birkinshaw	139	8.8	−2.5
Majority			89	5.7	−1.4
Turnout			1,572	15.0	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-0.7

Crumpsall

Crumpsall^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Leese*	1,773	56.5	−3.6
	Conservative	Kim Glasspole	597	19.0	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rashid Shahbaz	354	11.3	−1.8
	Green	Eithne Quinn	208	6.6	−1.7
	UKIP	Bob Willescroft	206	6.6	+6.6
Majority			1,176	37.5	−4.1
Turnout			3,138	30.0	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

Didsbury East

Didsbury East^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Sandiford*	2,050	52.5	+6.6
	Labour	Andrew Simcock	1,053	27.0	−5.2
	Conservative	Louise Quigley	492	12.6	−0.4
	Green	Gerry Gee	310	7.9	−1.0
Majority			997	25.5	+11.8
Turnout			3,905	38.0	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+5.9

Didsbury West

Didsbury West^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Shaw*	1,283	47.2	+1.5
	Labour	Jenny Lennox	620	22.8	−1.7
	Conservative	David Bean	451	16.6	+2.3
	Green	James Alden	281	10.3	−3.1
	UKIP	Robert Gutfreund-Walmsley	81	3.0	+0.9
Majority			663	24.4	+3.2
Turnout			2,716	27.8	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+1.6

Fallowfield

Fallowfield^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Royle*	1,178	51.4	−4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kas Afzal	643	28.1	+6.1
	Conservative	Colin Power	263	11.5	+0.9
	Green	Daniel Lee	207	9.0	−2.6
Majority			535	23.4	−10.5
Turnout			2,291	22.8	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.3

Gorton North

Gorton North^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jackie Pearcey*	1,468	48.7	−3.6
	Labour	John Hughes	1,156	38.3	−2.4
	Conservative	Jane Percival	242	8.0	+4.2
	Green	Karl Wardlaw	150	5.0	+1.8
Majority			312	10.3	−1.3
Turnout			3,016	27.5	−4.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-0.6

Gorton South

Gorton South^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Glover*	1,262	42.8	−9.3
	Labour	Julie Reid	1,017	34.5	−3.0
	Left List	Sue McPherson	292	9.9	+9.9
	Conservative	William Clapham	217	7.4	+3.2
	Green	Deborah Clarke	164	5.6	+1.2
Majority			245	8.3	+3.9
Turnout			2,952	25.2	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-3.1

Harpurhey

Harpurhey^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Karney*	1,475	57.3	−1.6
	Conservative	Will Palmer	500	19.4	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Page	317	12.3	−1.7
	Green	Katherine Smith	283	11.0	+5.8
Majority			975	37.9	−7.0
Turnout			2,575	21.1	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.7

Higher Blackley

Higher Blackley^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ken Barnes*	1,328	43.8	−4.6
	BNP	Derek Adams	828	27.3	+3.4
	Conservative	Vivienne Clarke	467	15.4	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Walker	248	8.2	−0.8
	Green	Michael Daw	164	5.4	+1.8
Majority			500	16.5	−8.0
Turnout			3,035	30.3	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.0

Hulme

Hulme^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Emily Lomax	961	42.2	−7.9
	Green	Steven Durrant	911	40.0	+7.4
	Conservative	Jamie Hutchinson	215	9.4	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Glenn Hinks	190	8.3	−2.7
Majority			50	2.2	−15.3
Turnout			2,277	21.7	+0.8
	Labour gain from Green		Swing	-7.6

Levenshulme

Levenshulme^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Whitmore*	1,530	55.7	+4.5
	Labour	Quammer Ahmad	715	26.0	−1.4
	Green	Justine Hall	327	11.9	−0.4
	Conservative	Abbas Khurshid	175	6.4	−2.7
Majority			815	29.7	+5.9
Turnout			2,747	26.7	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+2.9

Longsight

Longsight^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Luthfur Rahman	2,005	61.6	+14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Liaqat Ali*	858	26.4	−21.1
	Green	Spencer Fitz-Gibbon	237	7.3	−2.8
	Conservative	Daniel Valentine	153	4.7	−0.3
Majority			1,147	35.3	+25.3
Turnout			3,253	31.4	+0.0
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+17.6

Miles Platting and Newton Heath

Miles Platting and Newton Heath^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Damien O'Connor	1,441	45.6	+5.0
	Labour	Christine Carroll*	1,256	39.5	−3.1
	BNP	Joseph Cegla	250	7.9	−0.3
	Conservative	Vaseem Valentine	147	4.6	+0.6
	Green	Jonathan Mercer	83	2.6	+0.2
Majority			185	5.8	+3.8
Turnout			3,177	31.0	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+4.0

Moss Side

Moss Side^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Alistair Cox*	1,776	68.0	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Zeke Ukairo	271	10.5	−5.1
	Green	Nigel Woodcock	225	8.6	−0.4
	Conservative	Kashif Ali	185	7.1	−1.2
	Respect	Ali Shelmani	153	5.9	+5.9
Majority			1,505	57.7	+6.0
Turnout			2,610	24.6	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.9

Moston

Moston^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Murphy*	1,551	49.5	−6.0
	Conservative	Gareth Morris	936	29.9	+9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Hartley	398	12.7	+2.8
	Green	Tom Redford	246	7.9	+3.7
Majority			615	19.6	−15.8
Turnout			3,131	28.6	−0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.9

Northenden

Northenden^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Eakins	1,562	43.8	+2.5
	Labour	Michael Kane*	1,554	43.6	−1.0
	Conservative	Sarah Lovell	293	8.2	−0.3
	Green	Lance Crookes	159	4.5	−1.1
Majority			8	0.2	−3.0
Turnout			3,568	33.7	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+1.7

Old Moat

Old Moat^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Fender*	1,391	50.5	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sufiyan Rana	947	34.4	+5.3
	Green	Lia Sims	213	7.7	−1.2
	Conservative	Paul Lally	205	7.4	−1.0
Majority			444	16.1	−8.5
Turnout			2,756	26.8	+1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.2

Rusholme

Rusholme^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Shannon*	1,090	42.7	+0.4
	Labour	Atiha Chaudry	693	27.2	+1.8
	Left List	Nahella Ashraf	320	12.5	−5.7
	Conservative	Dola Miah	291	11.4	+4.9
	Green	Penny Collins	158	6.2	−1.4
Majority			397	15.6	−1.3
Turnout			2,552	25.7	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-0.7

Sharston

Sharston^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Tommy Judge*	1,115	47.2	−5.3
	Conservative	Jimmy McCullough	773	32.7	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Fisher	274	11.6	−0.7
	Green	Karen Duffy	199	8.4	−1.3
Majority			324	13.7	−13.3
Turnout			2,361	21.1	−0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.2

Whalley Range

Whalley Range^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Grant*	1,683	39.3	−10.9
	Labour	Amina Lone	1,271	29.7	−5.3
	Conservative	Fawad Hussain	945	22.1	+17.0
	Green	Mary Candeland	381	8.9	−0.8
Majority			412	9.6	−5.5
Turnout			4,280	40.5	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-8.1

Withington

Withington^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brendon Jones	1,267	57.7	−3.0
	Labour	Leif Jerram	508	23.1	+0.6
	Green	Felicity Paris	223	10.2	+0.5
	Conservative	Zoe Slater	199	9.1	+2.0
Majority			759	34.5	−3.7
Turnout			2,197	20.6	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-1.8

Woodhouse Park

Woodhouse Park^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian O'Neil*	1,227	60.6	−4.7
	Conservative	Stephen Heath	473	23.4	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Podbylski	166	8.2	−0.6
	Green	Jody Bradford	159	7.9	+0.1
Majority			754	37.4	−9.6
Turnout			2,018	20.8	−0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.9

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

Didsbury West By-Election 29 January 2009^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lianne Caroline Williams	1,439	55.6	+8.4
	Labour	David Clive Ellison	638	24.7	+1.9
	Conservative	David Michael Bean	336	13.0	−3.6
	Green	Geoff Evans	173	6.7	−3.6
Majority			801	31.0	+6.6
Turnout			2,586	26.1	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.2

Moston By-Election 9 April 2009^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rita Anne Tavernor	1,353	38.7	−10.8
	BNP	Derek George Adams	815	23.3	+23.3
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy John Hartley	696	19.9	+7.2
	Conservative	Phil Donohue	558	16.0	−13.9
	Green	Karl Wardlaw	74	2.1	−5.8
Majority			538	15.4	−4.2
Turnout			2,586	26.1	−1.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-17.0