1988 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

1988 UK local government election March 2020 March 2020 thumb|500px|right|Map of the results of the 1988 Wigan council election. Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1988, with one third of the seats up for election as well as an extra vacancy in Beech Hill. Following the previous election, two by-elections had taken place, with the Labour Party successfully defending their seats in Ince and Newtown. This year's election seen an improvement in participation, with all wards fought and five parties contesting in some form, by way of the Greens fielding their first ever slate of four candidates and the return of long-time Communist contender H. Kedward in Leigh Central. Despite this, the number of candidates contesting actually fell by five from the previous year's 64, as the turbulent new merger of the old SDP-Liberal Alliance, Social and Liberal Democrats, fielded just half the number of candidates they'd managed in 1987 and, at 11, the lowest since 1980. This was reflected by the results on the night as the SLD suffered a large drop in their vote, returning them to third place behind the Conservatives and reducing their vote total to four figure for the first time since the aforementioned 1980 election. The overwhelming beneficiary of SLD losses were Labour, helping their vote share hit a record high of 68.6% and the highest vote figure gained - beyond the anomaly of 1979 - since the council's creation. Seat wise, Labour made two gains of the night, one in the SLD-Labour marginal of Aspull-Standish and the other in the more significant SLD bastion of Langtree, which until this point had only elected SLD candidates, where Labour managed to equal SLD votes and draw the larger straw. Labour achieved a record capture of seats, with opposition wins curtailed to an exceptional SLD performance - and gain - of one of the seats fought in Beech Hill and a Conservative hold in their bastion of Swinley. Overall turnout fell from 37.1% to 32.4%. http://www.wigan.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3692F771-E969-41EE-B068-1F9F20DFE0B7/0/WiganResults1973to2007.pdf Wigan Council results from 1973 to 2008 wigan.gov.uk 2012-01-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20111120022015/http://www.wigan.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3692F771-E969-41EE-B068-1F9F20DFE0B7/0/WiganResults1973to2007.pdf 2011-11-20 dead Election result Wigan local election result 1988 Labour Party (UK) 23 2 1 +1 92.0 68.6 52,325 +9.3 Conservative Party (UK) 1 0 0 0 4.0 17.1 13,083 +1.8 Social and Liberal Democrats 1 1 2 -1 4.0 12.6 9,640 -10.5 Green Party (UK) 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.5 1,155 +1.5 Communist Party of Great Britain 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 62 +0.1 This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections: PartyPrevious councilNew council Labour 62 63 Social and Liberal Democrats 6 5 Conservatives 3 3 Independent Labour 1 1 Green 0 0 Communist 0 0 Total 72 72 Working majority #FFBF00 52 darkgray #FFBF00 54 darkgray Ward results Abram Labour Party (UK) A. Bennett 2,094 86.8 +6.8 Green Party (UK) P. Tarleton 319 13.2 +13.2 1,775 73.5 +4.8 2,413 25.2 -9.6 Labour Party (UK) -3.2 Ashton-Golborne Labour Party (UK) T. Jones 2,140 78.1 +12.8 Conservative Party (UK) S. Edwards 598 21.8 +0.6 1,542 56.3 +12.2 2,738 27.9 -6.6 Labour Party (UK) +6.1 Aspull-Standish Labour Party (UK) A. Durkin 2,201 47.9 +6.6 Social and Liberal Democrats P. Wilson 1,645 35.8 -6.2 Conservative Party (UK) K. Hart 751 16.3 -0.4 556 12.1 +11.4 4,597 43.5 -5.9 Labour Party (UK) Social and Liberal Democrats +6.4 Atherton Labour Party (UK) J. Clark 2,755 81.8 +5.6 Conservative Party (UK) M. Hatton 613 18.2 -5.6 2,142 63.6 +11.3 3,368 35.9 +0.9 Labour Party (UK) +5.6 Bedford-Astley Labour Party (UK) J. Jones 1,954 62.5 +4.0 Conservative Party (UK) D. Angell 861 27.5 +27.5 Green Party (UK) S. Philbrock 310 9.9 +9.9 1,093 35.0 +18.0 3,125 31.5 -2.7 Labour Party (UK) -11.7 Beech Hill Social and Liberal Democrats J. McGarty 1,725 47.7 +18.8 Labour Party (UK) T. Bishop 1,621 44.9 -12.3 Social and Liberal Democrats L. Marshall 1,603 Labour Party (UK) S. Turner 1,437 Conservative Party (UK) E. Bispham 266 7.4 -6.4 Conservative Party (UK) J. Whitehead 194 104 2.9 -25.3 3,612 40.9 +4.8 Social and Liberal Democrats Labour Party (UK) +15.5 Labour Party (UK) Bryn Labour Party (UK) C. Brown 2,532 82.0 +9.1 Conservative Party (UK) R. Clayton 557 18.0 +3.0 1,975 63.9 +6.1 3,089 31.3 -6.2 Labour Party (UK) +3.0 Hindley Labour Party (UK) A. Robinson 2,394 87.2 +54.5 Green Party (UK) A. Wood 352 12.8 +12.8 2,042 74.3 +52.8 2,746 28.5 -7.9 Labour Party (UK) +20.8 Hindley Green Labour Party (UK) S. Murphy 2,198 80.6 +8.4 Social and Liberal Democrats J. Cranfield 530 19.4 -8.4 1,668 61.1 +16.9 2,728 24.1 -4.1 Labour Party (UK) +8.4 Hindsford Labour Party (UK) W. Smith 2,543 78.6 +14.6 Conservative Party (UK) M. Sharland 691 21.4 +21.4 1,852 57.3 +29.3 3,234 30.2 -1.7 Labour Party (UK) -3.4 Hope Carr Labour Party (UK) A. Roberts 2,013 63.0 +7.1 Conservative Party (UK) E. Manson 1,183 37.0 +5.8 830 26.0 +1.3 3,196 32.1 -4.0 Labour Party (UK) +0.6 Ince Labour Party (UK) J. Horrocks 2,074 89.0 +1.2 Conservative Party (UK) D. Edwards 165 7.1 +1.1 Social and Liberal Democrats S. Cairns 92 3.9 -2.4 1,909 81.9 +0.5 2,331 29.3 -4.7 Labour Party (UK) +0.0 Langtree Labour Party (UK) J. Ball 1,924 41.8 +2.9 Social and Liberal Democrats K. White 1,924 41.8 -2.5 Conservative Party (UK) J. Wolstenholme 753 16.4 -0.4 0 0.0 -5.5 4,601 42.0 -4.3 Labour Party (UK) Social and Liberal Democrats +2.9 Leigh Central Labour Party (UK) G. Macdonald 2,032 82.1 N/A Conservative Party (UK) M. Turner 380 15.3 N/A Communist Party of Great Britain H. Kedward 62 2.5 N/A 1,652 66.8 N/A 2,474 27.6 N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Leigh East Labour Party (UK) J. Riley 1,973 70.9 +9.2 Conservative Party (UK) M. Stewart 810 29.1 +5.1 1,163 41.8 +4.1 2,783 27.0 -2.3 Labour Party (UK) +2.0 Lightshaw Labour Party (UK) N. Holt 2,857 73.3 +14.7 Conservative Party (UK) J. Wright 721 18.5 -7.6 Social and Liberal Democrats J. Wilson 318 8.2 -7.1 2,136 54.8 +22.3 3,896 36.8 -2.1 Labour Party (UK) +11.1 Newtown Labour Party (UK) C. Hitchen 2,352 86.5 +9.5 Conservative Party (UK) I. Nicholson 368 13.5 +0.1 1,984 72.9 +9.3 2,720 29.9 -4.6 Labour Party (UK) +4.7 Norley Labour Party (UK) E. Maddocks 2,337 88.5 +3.0 Conservative Party (UK) J. Carrington 167 6.3 -0.4 Social and Liberal Democrats R. Richardson 136 5.1 -2.6 2,170 82.2 +4.4 2,640 33.5 -4.0 Labour Party (UK) +1.7 Orrell Labour Party (UK) E. Swift 2,262 59.9 +13.5 Conservative Party (UK) W. Smith 1,515 40.1 +8.0 747 19.8 +5.5 3,777 37.0 -3.8 Labour Party (UK) +2.7 Swinley Conservative Party (UK) W. Chadwick 2,019 48.3 +8.3 Labour Party (UK) M. Gallagher 1,627 38.9 +1.9 Social and Liberal Democrats W. Claypole 359 8.6 -14.4 Green Party (UK) G. Wood 174 4.1 +4.1 392 3.4 +6.4 4,179 46.7 -6.3 Conservative Party (UK) +3.2 Tyldesley East Labour Party (UK) A. Stephenson 2,086 67.5 +11.5 Social and Liberal Democrats A. Shaw 1,003 32.5 -11.5 1,083 35.0 +23.0 3,089 28.7 -6.9 Labour Party (UK) +11.5 Whelley Labour Party (UK) A. Coyle 2,174 81.4 +4.4 Conservative Party (UK) F. Sidebotham 310 11.6 -0.6 Social and Liberal Democrats L. Peet 185 6.9 -3.8 1,864 69.8 +5.0 2,669 30.3 -5.7 Labour Party (UK) +2.5 Winstanley Labour Party (UK) R. Winkworth 2,031 54.1 +11.8 Social and Liberal Democrats C. Hilton 1,723 45.9 +1.1 308 8.2 +5.7 3,754 32.1 -10.1 Labour Party (UK) +5.3 Worsley Mesnes Labour Party (UK) W. Brogan 2,151 85.8 +12.1 Conservative Party (UK) J. Grimshaw 355 14.2 +4.8 1,796 71.7 +14.9 2,506 25.3 -6.2 Labour Party (UK) +3.6 References expanded Category:1988 English local elections 1988 Category:1980s in Greater Manchester