1996 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

1996 UK local government election March 2020 March 2020 thumb|400px|right|Map of the results of the 1996 Wigan council election. Elections to Wigan council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1996, with an extra vacancy in Abram to be filled. Going into the election there were noticeably fewer candidates than usual, with the total candidate number and the five uncontested wards only narrowly lower than the all-time lows set at the 1990 election. This was mainly caused by the lack of any minor party candidates, and the Liberal Democrat slate dropping by half upon the previous election, to seven - their scarcest outing since their lowest ebb throughout their merger in 1990, but more reminiscent of their patchy participation of the seventies. Turnout had been consistently poor in recent elections, and this election continued the downward trend, dropping below a quarter of the electorate for the second time (the first being the all-time low set in 1992) to 24.2%. Labour once again surpassed their vote share high, this time recording a zenith of over three-quarters of votes cast, but simultaneously attained their third lowest vote figure in history (1975 and 1992 being lower). The Conservatives managed to increase modestly upon their rock-bottom standing of the previous year, but on accumulated votes they failed to surpass anything other than their nadir. The Lib Dems figure reflected their seventies-style participation, with their vote share reduced to single figures for the first since 1980, and their lowest vote figure since 1978. Following Labour's overwhelming victories scored in recent years, both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives were looking at a wipe-out, or near that for the Lib Dems, if they couldn't vastly improve upon recent performances. The Conservatives, long confined to the ward of Swinley, failed to improve their vote meaningfully and were handily defeated, ending their 23-year representation on the council. The Lib Dems were facing a similarly arduous task, and in their former-bastion of Langtree actually suffered a swing away from them. However, they managed a sizeable swing of 14.4% in Beech Hill to hold on to their second seat in the council by a mere 34 vote majority. This left Labour with the largest majority since the council's creation of 66. 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 1996 Labour Party (UK) 24 3 0 +3 96.0 75.4 33,824 +2.6% Liberal Democrats (UK) 1 0 2 -2 4.0 9.8 4,408 -4.9% Conservative Party (UK) 0 0 1 -1 0.0 14.8 6,627 +4.6% This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections: PartyPrevious councilNew council Labour 66 69 Liberal Democrats 4 2 Independent Labour 1 1 Conservatives 1 0 Total 72 72 Working majority #FFBF00 60 darkgray #FFBF00 66 darkgray Ward results Abram Labour Party (UK) A. Bennett 1,416 90.6 -0.1 Labour Party (UK) E. Smethurst 1,243 Conservative Party (UK) A. Eccles 147 9.4 +0.1 1,096 81.2 -0.3 1,563 16.7 -3.6 Labour Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) -0.1 Ashton-Golborne Labour Party (UK) P. Kirkwood 1,827 79.9 +3.1 Conservative Party (UK) M. Winstanley 459 20.1 +5.4 1,368 59.8 -2.3 2,286 23.4 -2.8 Labour Party (UK) -1.1 Aspull-Standish Labour Party (UK) C. Ready 2,027 66.4 +17.4 Liberal Democrats (UK) T. Beswick 577 18.9 -23.5 Conservative Party (UK) J. Davies 449 14.7 +6.0 1,450 49.5 +40.9 3,053 27.1 -4.9 Labour Party (UK) Liberal Democrats (UK) +20.4 Atherton Labour Party (UK) J. Clarke 1,914 85.4 N/A Conservative Party (UK) R. Oxley 328 14.6 N/A 1,586 70.7 N/A 2,242 25.1 N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Bedford-Astley Labour Party (UK) J. Jones 1,283 64.6 -3.7 Liberal Democrats (UK) R. Bleakley 703 35.4 +12.2 580 29.2 -15.9 1,986 23.2 -3.7 Labour Party (UK) -7.9 Beech Hill Liberal Democrats (UK) J. McGarty 1,445 48.8 +14.6 Labour Party (UK) J. Dewey 1,411 47.7 -14.2 Conservative Party (UK) J. Cartwright 103 3.5 -0.4 34 1.1 -26.5 2,959 33.7 +2.1 Liberal Democrats (UK) +14.4 Bryn Labour Party (UK) M. Millington 1,969 86.5 -1.0 Conservative Party (UK) M. Green 307 13.5 +1.0 1,662 73.0 -2.0 2,276 23.0 -4.8 Labour Party (UK) -1.0 Hindley Labour Party (UK) A. Robinson Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Hindley Green Labour Party (UK) S. Murphy 1,733 82.2 +1.2 Conservative Party (UK) C. Butterworth 375 17.8 +8.5 1,358 64.4 -6.8 2,108 18.8 -1.9 Labour Party (UK) -3.6 Hindsford Labour Party (UK) W. Smith Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Hope Carr Labour Party (UK) B. Jarvis 1,780 59.6 +2.5 Liberal Democrats (UK) P. Hough 649 21.7 -11.7 Conservative Party (UK) D. Morris 558 18.7 +9.2 1,131 37.8 +14.2 2,987 29.9 -2.6 Labour Party (UK) +7.1 Ince Labour Party (UK) K. Baldwin 1,643 92.6 N/A Conservative Party (UK) C. Duffy 131 7.4 N/A 1,512 85.2 N/A 1,774 22.8 N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Langtree Labour Party (UK) D. Brown 1,983 68.2 +5.1 Liberal Democrats (UK) J. Barrington 612 21.0 -6.7 Conservative Party (UK) F. Parkinson 313 10.7 +1.6 1,371 47.1 +11.9 2,908 25.2 -3.4 Labour Party (UK) Liberal Democrats (UK) +5.9 Leigh Central Labour Party (UK) J. Hession Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Leigh East Labour Party (UK) S. Kennedy 1,733 82.6 +11.6 Conservative Party (UK) A. Oxley 364 17.3 +7.8 1,369 62.3 +13.6 2,097 20.5 -5.2 Labour Party (UK) +1.9 Lightshaw Labour Party (UK) D. Kelly 2,616 82.5 -0.8 Conservative Party (UK) J. Gorse 553 17.4 +0.8 2,063 65.1 -1.6 3,169 28.5 -3.3 Labour Party (UK) -0.8 Newtown Labour Party (UK) M. Coghlin 1,596 85.9 -4.9 Conservative Party (UK) W. Maddocks 152 8.2 +8.2 Liberal Democrats (UK) J. Beswick 110 5.9 -3.2 1,444 77.7 -4.0 1,858 21.2 -1.7 Labour Party (UK) -6.5 Norley Labour Party (UK) B. Bourne Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Orrell Labour Party (UK) E. Swift 1,698 71.0 -2.8 Conservative Party (UK) F. Rylance 694 29.0 +2.8 1,004 42.0 -5.5 2,392 25.9 -0.8 Labour Party (UK) -2.8 Swinley Labour Party (UK) G. Walsh 1,692 58.8 -1.0 Conservative Party (UK) E. Cartwright 875 30.4 +1.3 Liberal Democrats (UK) A. Robinson 312 10.8 -0.3 817 28.4 -2.3 2,879 32.4 +2.1 Labour Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) -1.1 Tyldesley East Labour Party (UK) A. Stephenson Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) N/A Whelley Labour Party (UK) A. Coyle 1,664 89.0 -1.9 Conservative Party (UK) T. Sharpe 205 11.0 +1.9 1,459 78.1 -3.8 1,869 23.2 -2.0 Labour Party (UK) -1.9 Winstanley Labour Party (UK) R. Winkworth 1,991 83.6 -2.8 Conservative Party (UK) G. Whiston 389 16.3 +2.8 1,602 67.3 -5.5 2,380 20.0 -2.7 Labour Party (UK) -2.8 Worsley Mesnes Labour Party (UK) W. Brogan 1,848 89.1 -1.2 Conservative Party (UK) A. Sutton 225 10.8 +1.2 1,623 78.3 -2.3 2,073 21.0 -0.2 Labour Party (UK) -1.2 By-elections between 1996 and 1998 Aspull Standish By-Election 13 March 1997 http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/byelections/index.htm Local Authority Byelection Results gwydir.demon.co.uk 2012-06-13 29 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100329041227/http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/byelections/index.htm dead Labour Party (UK) G. Davies 1,287 70.2 +3.8 Conservative Party (UK) 275 15.0 +0.3 Liberal Democrats (UK) 270 14.7 -4.2 1,012 55.2 +5.7 1,832 16.0 -11.1 Labour Party (UK) +1.7 Ince By-Election 26 June 1997 Labour Party (UK) J. Hurst 685 92.1 -0.5 Conservative Party (UK) 59 7.9 +0.5 626 84.2 -1.0 744 9.6 -13.2 Labour Party (UK) -0.5 Hope Carr By-Election 6 November 1997 Labour Party (UK) C. Hale 1,045 49.7 -9.9 Green Party of England and Wales Chris Maile 636 30.2 +30.2 Conservative Party (UK) 321 15.3 -3.4 Liberal Democrats (UK) 102 4.8 -16.9 409 19.5 -18.3 2,104 21.0 -8.9 Labour Party (UK) -20.0 References expanded Category:1996 English local elections 1996 Category:1990s in Greater Manchester