Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, generally known as Sefton Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 66 councillors have been elected from 22 wards.[1]
Sefton was created under the Local Government Act 1972 as a metropolitan borough, with Merseyside County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974.[2] Merseyside County Council was abolished in 1986 and Sefton became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:[3][4]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 1973–1986 | |
No overall control | 1986–2012 | |
Labour | 2012–present |
The leaders of the council since 1973 have been:[5]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Glover | Conservative | 1 May 1973 | May 1981 | |
Eric Storey | Conservative | May 1981 | May 1982 | |
Ron Watson | Conservative | May 1982 | 8 May 1986 | |
Joe Benton | Labour | 8 May 1986 | 3 May 1990 | |
Peter Comer | Labour | 3 May 1990 | 2 May 1991 | |
Dave Martin | Labour | 2 May 1991 | May 2000 | |
John Pugh | Liberal Democrats | May 2000 | Jun 2001 | |
David Bamber | Liberal Democrats | 26 Jul 2001 | 5 May 2002 | |
Dave Martin | Labour | 16 May 2002 | 24 Jun 2004 | |
Tony Robertson | Liberal Democrats | 24 Jun 2004 | 17 May 2011 | |
Peter Dowd | Labour | 17 May 2011 | May 2015 | |
Ian Maher | Labour | 21 May 2015 | 18th January 2024 | |
Marion Atkinson | Labour | 18th January 2024 |
Year | Conservative | Labour | Liberal Democrats‡ | Independent | Other | Control | Notes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973[6] | 37 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 3 Ratepayers | Conservative | ||||||
1975[7] | 40 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 2 Ratepayers | Conservative | ||||||
1976[8] | 43 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 1 Ratepayers | Conservative | ||||||
1978[9] | 44 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 Ratepayers | Conservative | ||||||
1979[10] | 41 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 1 Ratepayers | Conservative | New ward boundaries.[11] | |||||
1980[12] | 39 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 2 Ratepayers | Conservative | ||||||
1982[13] | 39 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 4 SDP | Conservative | ||||||
1983[14] | 39 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 1 SDP | Conservative | ||||||
1984[15] | 36 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 1 SDP | Conservative | ||||||
1986[16] | 30 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 2 SDP, 1 vacancy | No overall control | ||||||
1987[17] | 27 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 3 SDP | No overall control | ||||||
1988[18] | 25 | 24 | 20 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1990[19] | 24 | 27 | 18 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1991[20] | 22 | 27 | 20 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1992[21] | 25 | 27 | 17 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1994[3] | 24 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1995[3] | 21 | 29 | 19 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1996[3] | 13 | 32 | 24 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1998[22] | 14 | 31 | 23 | 1 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
1999[23] | 15 | 30 | 24 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
2000[24] | 19 | 22 | 25 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | New ward boundaries, number of seats reduced from 69 to 66.[25] | |||||
2002[26] | 16 | 26 | 21 | 0 | 3 | No overall control | ||||||
2003[27] | 17 | 25 | 21 | 0 | 3 | No overall control | ||||||
2004[28] | 19 | 20 | 27 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | Whole council elected after boundary changes.[1] | |||||
2006[29] | 19 | 21 | 26 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
2007[30] | 18 | 22 | 26 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
2008[31] | 18 | 21 | 27 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
2010[32] | 15 | 23 | 28 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | ||||||
2011[33] | 14 | 28 | 23 | 0 | 1 UKIP | No overall control | ||||||
2012[34] | 8 | 36 | 20 | 2 | 0 | Labour | ||||||
2014[35] | 7 | 40 | 17 | 2 | 0 | Labour | ||||||
2015[36] | 7 | 42 | 16 | 0 | 1 Independent Conservative, 1 Community action not politics | Labour | ||||||
2016[37] | 6 | 38 | 17 | 4 | 1 Independent Conservative | Labour | ||||||
2018[38] | 8 | 43 | 12 | 3 | 0 | Labour | ||||||
2019[39] | 6 | 43 | 12 | 3 | 2 Formby Residents Action Group | Labour | ||||||
2021[40] | 8 | 48 | 8 | 0 | 2 Formby Residents Action Group | Labour | ||||||
2022[41] | 7 | 48 | 8 | 1 | 2 Formby Residents Action Group | Labour | ||||||
2023[42] | 5 | 51 | 9 | 1 | 1 Lydiate, Maghull, Aintree, and Lunt Community Independent | Labour | ||||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 1,079 | ||||
Liberal Democrats | 1,013 | ||||
Labour | 497 | ||||
Labour | 479 | ||||
Conservative | 337 | ||||
Conservative | 308 | ||||
Turnout | 3,713 | 13.0 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 924 | 48.6 | -7.8 | ||
Conservative | 658 | 34.6 | +2.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 190 | 10.0 | -1.4 | ||
Independent | 128 | 6.7 | +6.7 | ||
Majority | 266 | 14.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,900 | 19.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 1,570 | 50.4 | -1.4 | ||
Conservative | 1,389 | 44.6 | +8.5 | ||
Labour | 158 | 5.1 | -2.1 | ||
Majority | 181 | 5.8 | |||
Turnout | 3,117 | 30.4 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Darren Hardy | 900 | 62.8 | -11.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jim Murray | 472 | 33.0 | +7.1 | |
Socialist Alternative | 60 | 4.2 | +4.2 | ||
Majority | 428 | 29.8 | |||
Turnout | 1,432 | 17.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Neil Douglas | 3,251 | 53.9 | +11.9 | |
Conservative | 1,800 | 29.8 | -11.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 981 | 16.3 | -0.8 | ||
Majority | 1,451 | 24.1 | |||
Turnout | 6,032 | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Paul Cummins | 806 | 52.4 | +13.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Tonkiss | 431 | 28.0 | -22.8 | |
BNP | Michael McDermott | 159 | 10.3 | +10.3 | |
Conservative | Antonio Spatuzzi | 143 | 9.3 | -0.6 | |
Majority | 375 | 24.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,539 | 17.2 | |||
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David McIvor | 922 | 40.5 | -7.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Gibson | 769 | 33.8 | +13.4 | |
Labour | Sue Hanley | 419 | 18.4 | -13.1 | |
BNP | Michael McDermott | 94 | 4.1 | +4.1 | |
UKIP | Peter Harper | 71 | 3.1 | +3.1 | |
Majority | 153 | 6.7 | |||
Turnout | 2,275 | 22.8 | |||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Anne Thompson | 903 | 65 | ||
UKIP | Jack Colbert | 293 | 21 | ||
Independent | Juliet Edgar | 97 | 7 | ||
TUSC | Graham Woodhouse | 48 | 3 | ||
Independent | Janice Blanchard | 29 | 2 | ||
Green | Laurence Rankin | 25 | 2 | ||
Turnout | 1,399 | 15.77 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John Pugh | 1,680 | 56 | ||
Conservative | Ann Pearmain | 790 | 26 | ||
Labour | Frank Hanley | 417 | 14 | ||
UKIP | Terry Durance | 69 | 2 | ||
Green | Nick Senior | 45 | 1 | ||
Majority | 890 | 30 | |||
Turnout | 3,001 | 28.5 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Dan McKee | 636 | 81.5 | +5.3 | |
Independent | Ian Smith | 144 | 18.5 | +18.5 | |
Majority | 492 | 63.0 | |||
Turnout | 780 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Tom Spring | 1,001 | 82.5 | +9.7 | |
Conservative | Katie Burgess | 119 | 9.8 | +2.4 | |
Independent | Champian | 94 | 7.7 | +7.7 | |
Majority | 882 | 72.7 | |||
Turnout | 1,214 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |